Removal of organic matter present in wastewater of a pharmaceutical plant using a RBC (rotating biological contactor)

Abstract

A RBC (Rotating Biological Contactor) system is a technology using a biological process by which microorganisms present in wastewater arefixed to partially-submerged parallel rotating discs forming a biofilm through bioaugmentation processes. This technology allows for the removal of contaminating organic matter from the water improving treatment processes. In this research work, a laboratory-scale RBC composed of four discs submerged approximately 40 % in a volume of 1 l (0.001 m3) was used for the purpose of reducing high levels of COD and BOD contained in the wastewater of a pharmaceutical plant with the aid of two different microbial consortiums. An initial characterization of COD and BOD of the wastewater sample was carried out in order to compare with six samples obtained from the reactor in operation. A maximum COD removal of 2 560 mg O2/l was obtained which, although very high, is beyond of the permissible limits allowed by Colombian law ( ordinance 0631 of 2015) but is significant because it represents an efficient removal percentage of 99.67 % with respect to the values obtained at the initial characterization