E3 Journal of Environmental Research and Management
E3 Journal of Environmental Research and Management Vol. 3 (2) pp. 031-036, March 2012; © E3 Journals; ISSN 2141-7466
Denitrification of high salinity, high nitrate wastewater using clinoptilite in a packed bed bioreactor
Abbas Rezaee * , Hatam Godini , Reza Darvish Cheshma Soltani , Hooshyar Hossini , Afshin Nili-AhmadabadiDepartment of Environmental Health, Faculty of Medical Sciences,Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
*Corresponding Author E-mail: rezaee@modares.ac.ir
Accepted 30 January 2012
Abstract
The aim of the present work was to study the treatment of high strength nitrate, high salinity wastewater using a packed bed bioreactor filled with clinoptilolite as a carrier. Biological denitrification was monitored at different loadings rates (0.8-4 kg NO3-/m3•d) and salinities (10-40 g L-1). The experiments were carried out at an ambient temperature of 25 °C with synthetic wastewater. The denitrification rate, COD consumption, and nitrite accumulations were response parameters. In the experimental conditions, a maximum denitrification rate of 3.72 kg NO3-/(m3•d) was achieved with ethanol as a carbon source and salinity at 10g L-1. During denitrification, no more than 0.1 mg NO2- L-1 could be accumulated. This work demonstrates that biological denitrification with the denitrifier attached to clinoptilolite in a packed bed bioreactor can be a promising method for denitrifying brine wastewater.
Keywords: Denitrification, Wastewater, Packed bed, Clinoptilolite, Salinity
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