title: Bioaugmentation and anaerobic treatment of pharmaceutical effluent in fluidized bed reactor.
abstract: The start-up of an anaerobic fluidized bed reactor was carried out using a single inoculum (supernatant of anaerobic digester) and later on with multiple inoculum (a mixture of supernatant of anaerobic digester and volatile fatty acid (VFA)) to achieve a faster start-up. Then regular experiments were carried out to study the effect of hydraulic retention time (HRT) on COD removal (%) and biogas production. The pharmaceutical effluent with COD of 2000 to 4000 mg/L was treated in a fluidized bed reactor using an enricher-reactor concept with a hydraulic retention times of 3 (Uf = 6 Umf) to 24 (Uf = 1.5 Umf) hr. The maximum COD removal (%) of 91.2 and a maximum biogas production of 5.62 L/d were obtained at 24 hr HRT for a maximum COD concentration of 4000 mg/L corresponding to a fluidization velocity (Uf) of 20 m/hr (1.5 Umf) using a granular activated carbon bed of average size 700 microns.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Chennai-600 036, India.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saravanane
authors.forename: D V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Murthy
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Krishnaiah
mesh_terms: D001421:Bacteria, Anaerobic / Q000502:physiology*; D019149:Bioreactors; D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism; D004345:Drug Industry; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D005740:Gases; D007220:Industrial Waste; D014835:Volatilization; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D005740:Gases; D007220:Industrial Waste; D002244:Carbon