TREATMENT OF SUGAR MILL WASTE IN FLUIDIZED BED REACTOR

Abstract

Application of fluidized bed technology for biological waste water treatment is a breawkaway from traditional tech-nology. Treatment of sugar mill waste by fluidized bed bio-reactor is a much cheaper and more effective treatment process. Basic concept of process consists of passing waste water up through a packed bed of particles at a velocity sufficient to impart motion to fluidize the particles. As flow of waste water passes upward through biological bed, very dense concentration of organisms growing on surface of bed particles consume the biodegradable waste contaminants in fluid. Aim of this work was to study the performance of Fludized Bed Bio Reactor in term of COD reduction for sugar mill waste. The experiments were carried out with spherical glass bedssize 0.710 mm - 0.850 mm. In 75 minutes of operation of FBBR 21% reduction of COD was obtained. For proper reduction of COD two or more columns in series can be used. Immobilization of biomass in FBBR results in high biomass hold up, thus reactor can be operated at higher liquid throughput with practical absence of biomass washout. Thus FBBR may prove to be boon to the sugar mills.