Effect of Filling Kinetic of Sequencing Batch Reactor on the Poultry Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

The biological treatment of an industrial poultry wastewater was studied in a jacketed cylindrical Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR), in order to verify the effect of the filling step in the process performance. The experiments were carried out in a reactor with 7 L total capacity, starting with 2 L initial volume (activated sludge plus raw wastewater). Thus, the equation of the biomass concentration balance during filling step was solved. This solution allows us to understand the filling kinetic and determining the specific growth rate through the biomass concentration curve, that is a pseudo specific growth rate. Nevertheless, the real specific growth rate was determined from the biomass curve and consequently, the difference between these rates resulted in the dilution rate. Similar interpretation was carried out when the substrate balance was solved but, assuming that the substrate consumption followed a first order kinetic. The results showed the complexity and importance of the filling phase during the SBR operation applied to industrial wastewater.