A comparative study of sequencing batch reactor and moving-bed sequencing batch reactor for piggery wastewater treatment

This research aims to comparatively study the efficiency of piggery wastewater treatment by the moving-bed sequencing batch reactor (moving-bed SBR) system with held medium, and the conventional sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system, by varying the organic load from 0.59 to 2.36 kgCOD/m3.d. The COD treatment efficiency of the SBR and moving-bed SBR was higher than 60% at an organic load of 0.59 kgCOD/m3.d and higher than 80% at the organic loads of 1.18-2.36 kgCOD/m3.d. The BOD removal efficiency was greater than 90% at high organic loads of 1.18-2.36 kgCOD/m3.d. The moving-bed SBR gave TKN removal efficiency of 86-93%, whereas the SBR system exhibited the removal efficiency of 75-87% at all organic loads. The amount of effluent suspended solids for SBR systems exceeded the piggery wastewater limit of 200 mg/L at the organic load of 2.36 kgCOD/m3.d while that for the moving-bed SBR system did not. When the organic load was increased, the moving-bed SBR system yielded better treatment efficiency than that of the SBR system. The wastewater treated by the moving-bed SBR system met the criteria of wastewater standard for pig farms at all organic loads, while that treated by the SBR system was not satisfactory at a high organic load of 2.36 kgCOD/m3.d