Effect of organic load and reactor height on the performance of anaerobic mesophilic and thermophilic fixed film reactors in the treatment of pharmaceutical wastewater

Abstract

Two anaerobic fixed film reactors were operated at 30°C and 55°C (as mesophilic and thermophilic reactors) with actual pharmaceutical wastewater to observe the effects of organic loading rate (OLR) and height of the reactor. Both the reactors were operated at OLR of 0.53, 0.85, 1.17 and 1.49 kg COD m⁻³d⁻¹ at HRT of 4.7 days. COD, TVA, SS, VSS, NH₄ ⁺‐N, PO₄ ³⁻‐P and SO₄ were also measured. AMFFR showed better performance than ATFFR in terms of COD removal, and the effective height of the reactor was in the range of 30–90 cm.

Keywords:

• Pharmaceutical wastewater
• mesophilic
• thermophilic
• fixed film reactor