DSC ANALYSIS OF NOVEL POLYETHILENE BIOFILM CARRIERS

Abstract

MBBR (Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor) wastewater treatment technology relies heavily on the type of used HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) carriers, that use immobilized biofilm for the removal of organic and inorganic substances in the treated wastewater. Present work explored DSC (Differential Scanning Calorimetry) analysis on four novel variants of HDPE carriers. DSC is a thermoanalytical technique in which the difference in the amount of heat required to increase the temperature of a sample and reference is measured as a function of temperature. The four novel carriers were composed of novel recipes of mixes of polyethylene with inorganic and organic compounds (patent pending), designed for greater microbial biofilm development. DSC analysis. DSC analysis was carried out in order to understand the behavior of the developed carriers, in various scenarios. High density polyethylene (HDPE) is a weak, semi- crystalline, thermoplastic polymer that is part of the polyolefin class. Analysis revealed that the temperatures at which the melting process of crystalline zones in the macromolecular structures occur, gradually decreases from the sample with only HDPE in composition to the one with addition of a mix of inorganic and organic compounds.