Development of granular sludge for textile wastewater treatment

• Published in: Water research (Oxford) Vol. 44; no. 15; pp. 4341 - 4350
• Main Authors: Muda, Khalida, Aris, Azmi, Salim, Mohd Razman, Ibrahim, Zaharah, Yahya, Adibah, van Loosdrecht, Mark C.M., Ahmad, Azlan, Nawahwi, Mohd Zaini
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.08.2010; Elsevier
• Subjects: Aerobiosis; Anaerobic conditions; Anaerobic treatment; Anaerobiosis; Applied sciences; Bacteria - growth & development; Bacteria - metabolism; Bacteria - ultrastructure; Biomass; Bioreactors - microbiology; Color removal; Exact sciences and technology; General purification processes; Granular materials; Granulation; Granule characterization; Granules; Industrial Waste - prevention & control; Microorganisms; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Minerals - metabolism; Other industrial wastes. Sewage sludge; Particle Size; Pollution; Reactors; Reproducibility of Results; Sequencing batch reactor; Sewage - chemistry; Sewage - microbiology; Sludge; Textile wastewater; Textiles; Waste Disposal, Fluid - methods; Waste water; Wastes; Wastewaters; Water treatment and pollution; Textile wastewater; Granulation; Sequencing batch reactor; Granule characterization; Color removal; Discoloration; Nitrogen compounds; Aerobe; Biomass; Waste water; Biological purification; Ammonia; Bioreactor; Batchwise; Surveillance; Anaerobe; Industrial waste water; Poison; Physicochemical purification; Waste water purification; Textile industry
• ISSN: 0043-1354; 1879-2448
• DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2010.05.023

Microbial granular sludge that is capable to treat textile wastewater in a single reactor under intermittent anaerobic and aerobic conditions was developed in this study. The granules were cultivated using mixed sewage and textile mill sludge in combination with anaerobic granules collected from an anaerobic sludge blanket reactor as seed. The granules were developed in a single sequential batch reactor (SBR) system under alternating anaerobic and aerobic condition fed with synthetic textile wastewater. The characteristics of the microbial granular sludge were monitored throughout the study period. During this period, the average size of the granules increased from 0.02 ± 0.01 mm to 2.3 ± 1.0 mm and the average settling velocity increased from 9.9 ± 0.7 m h −1 to 80 ± 8 m h −1. This resulted in an increased biomass concentration (from 2.9 ± 0.8 g L −1 to 7.3 ± 0.9 g L −1) and mean cell residence time (from 1.4 days to 8.3 days). The strength of the granules, expressed as the integrity coefficient also improved. The sequential batch reactor system demonstrated good removal of COD and ammonia of 94% and 95%, respectively, at the end of the study. However, only 62% of color removal was observed. The findings of this study show that granular sludge could be developed in a single reactor with an intermittent anaerobic–aerobic reaction phase and is capable in treating the textile wastewater.