R. A. Pandey

Bioreactors for treatment of VOCs and odours – A review

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and odorous compounds discharged into the environment create ecological and health hazards. In the recent past, biological waste air treatment processes using bioreactors have gained popularity in control of VOCs and odour, since they offer a cost effective and environment friendly alternative to conventional air pollution control technologies. This review provides an overview of the various bioreactors that are used in VOC and odour abatement, along with details on their configuration and design, mechanism of operation, insights into the microbial biodegradation process and future R&D needs in this area.

Cavitationally induced biodegradability enhancement of a distillery wastewater

Hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) was evaluated as a pretreatment option for the complex/recalcitrant biomethanated distillery wastewater (B-DWW). The effect of various process parameters such as inlet pressure, dilution and reaction time on reduction of COD/TOC and enhancement of biodegradability index (BI:BOD(5):COD ratio) of the B-DWW was studied with an aim to maximize the biodegradability index and reducing the toxicity of the distillery wastewater. It was observed that higher operating pressure (13 bar) yielded the maximum BI whereas the lower pressure (5 bar) is suitable for the reduction in the toxicity of B-DWW. The toxicity of the distillery wastewater was analyzed by measuring the COD, TOC and color of the wastewater sample. The HC pretreatment under optimized conditions leads to a BI of 0.32, COD and TOC reduction of 32.24% and 31.43%, respectively along with a color reduction by 48%. These results indicate the potential of HC as a pretreatment option for enhancing the biodegradability index of the recalcitrant wastewater such as B-DWW along with reduced toxicity of wastewater as observed from COD, TOC and color reduction profile under optimized conditions.

Wet air oxidation as a pretreatment option for selective biodegradability enhancement and biogas generation potential from complex effluent.

This study looks at the possibility of wet air oxidation (WAO) based pretreatment of complex effluent to selectively enhance the biodegradability (without substantial COD destruction) and facilitate biogas generation potential. A lab-scale wet air oxidation reactor with biomethanated distillery wastewater (B-DWW) as a model complex effluent (COD 40,000 mg L(-1)) was used to demonstrate the proof-of-concept. The studies were conducted using a designed set of experiments and reaction temperature (150-200°C), air pressure (6-12 bar) and reaction time (15-120 min) were the main process variables of concern for WAO process optimization. WAO pretreatment of B-DWW enhanced the biodegradability of the complex wastewater by the virtue of enhancing its biodegradability index (BI) from 0.2 to 0.88, which indicate favorable Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP) for biogas generation. The kinetics of COD destruction and BI enhancement has also been reported.

Optimal conditions for bio-oxidation of ferrous ions to ferric ions using Thiobacillus ferrooxidans

A chemo-biochemical process using Thiobacillus ferrooxidans for desulphurization of gaseous fuels and emissions containing hydrogen sulphide (H2S) has been developed. In the first stage, H2S present in fuel gas and emissions is selectively oxidized to elemental sulphur using ferric sulphate. The ferrous sulphate produced in the first stage of the process is oxidized to ferric sulphate using Thiobacillus ferrooxidans for recycle and reuse in the process. The effects of process variables, temperature, pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), elemental sulphur, ferric and magnesium ions on bio-oxidation of ferrous ions to ferric ions were investigated using flask culture experiments. The bio-oxidation of ferrous ions to ferric ions could be achieved efficiently in the temperature range of 20(+/-1)-44(+/-1) degrees C. A pH range of 1.8(+/-0.02)-2.2(+/-0.02) was optimum for the growth of culture and effective bio-oxidation of ferrous ions to ferric ions. The effect of TDS on bio-oxidation of ferrous ions indicated that a preacclimatized culture in a growth medium containing high dissolved solid was required to achieve effective bio-oxidation of ferrous ions. Elemental sulphur ranging from 1000 to 100,000 mg/l did not have any effect on efficiency of ferrous ion oxidation. The efficiency of bio-oxidation of ferrous ions to ferric ions was not affected in the presence of ferric ions up to a concentration of 500 mg/l while 3 mg/l of magnesium ion was optimal for achieving effective bio-oxidation.

Utilization of lignocellulosic waste for ethanol production : Enzymatic digestibility and fermentation of pretreated shea tree sawdust

Enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation methods were evaluated on alkaline peroxide pretreated shea tree sawdust conversion to ethanol. Optimum pretreatment conditions of 120 °C reaction temperature, 30 min reaction time, and 20 mL L−1 of water hydrogen peroxide concentration (1%(v/v)H2O2) solubilized 679 g kg−1 of hemicellulose and 172 g kg−1 of lignin. 617 g kg−1 cellulose was retained in the solid fraction. The maximum yield of reducing sugar with optimized enzyme loadings by two enzyme preparations (cellulase and β-glucosidase) was 165 g kg−1 of dry biomass. The ethanol yield was 7.35 g L−1 after 72 h incubation period under the following conditions: 2% cellulose loading, enzyme concentration was 25 FPU (g cellulose)−1 loading, yeast inoculums was 10% (v/v), 32 oC, and pH 4.8. The pretreatments gave information about the hindrances caused by lignin presence in lignocellulosic materials and that hemicelluloses are better hydrolyzed than lignin, thereby enhancing enzymatic digestibility of the sawdust material.

Treatment of mixtures of toluene and n-propanol vapours in a compost-woodchip-based biofilter.

The present work describes the biofiltration of mixture of n-propanol (as a model hydrophilic volatile organic compound (VOC)) and toluene (as a model hydrophobic VOC) in a biofilter packed with a compost–woodchip mixture. Initially, the biofilter was fed with toluene vapours at loadings up to 175 g m−3 h−1 and removal efficiencies of 70%–99% were observed. The biofilter performance when removing mixtures of toluene and n-propanol reached elimination capacities of up to 67 gtoluene m−3 h−1 and 85 g n− propanol m−3 h−1 with removal efficiencies of 70%–100% for toluene and essentially 100% for n-propanol. The presence of high n-propanol loading negatively affected the toluene removal; however, n-propanol removal was not affected by the presence of toluene and was effectively removed in the biofilter despite high toluene loadings. A model for toluene and n-propanol biofiltration could predict the cross-inhibition effect of n-propanol on toluene removal.

Impact of domestic wastewaters on soil microbial populations

The effect of different types of treated and untreated domestic wastewaters on soil microbiological properties was evaluated. A pot culture experiment was done using black cotton soil and different treatments of wastewater applied at a rate of 5 cm week−1. Chemical and microbiological analyses showed the shifting pattern of the parameters studied. The population of bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes were increased with each application of wastewater, while the growth of Rhizobium, a symbiotic N fixer was suppressed by raw sewage, diluted sewage and settled sewage application. The population of Azotobacter was slightly increased due to these applications. Compared with the untreated wastewaters, the treated wastewaters seem to have less effect on microflora both qualitatively and quantitatively. There was no appreciable change in the percent soil organic C thereby indicating that most of the organic matter added to the soil was stabilized by the microorganisms.

Microalgal bioremediation of food-processing industrial wastewater under mixotrophic conditions: Kinetics and scale-up approach

AbstractThe Chlorella microalgae were mixotrophically cultivated in an unsterilized and unfiltered raw food-processing industrial wastewater. Both inorganic carbon (CO2-air) and organic carbon (wastewater) were provided simultaneously for microalgae growth. The aim of the study is to find out the utilization rates of total organic carbon (TOC) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) under mixotrophic conditions for a given waste water. About 90% reduction in TOC and COD were obtained for all dilutions of wastewater. Over 60% of nitrate and 40% of phosphate were consumed by microalgae from concentrated raw wastewater. This study shows that microalgae can use both organic and inorganic sources of carbon in more or less quantity under mixotrophic conditions. The growth of microalgae in food-processing industrial wastewater with all studied dilution factors, viz. zero (raw), 1.6 (dilution A), and 5 (dilution B) suggests that the freshwater requirement could be reduced substantially (20%–60%). The degradation kinetics also suggests that the microalgae cultivation on a high COD wastewater is feasible and scalable.

Bioremediation of synthetic high–chemical oxygen demand wastewater using microalgal species Chlorella pyrenoidosa

ABSTRACT The microalgal species Chlorella pyrenoidosa was cultivated in synthetic wastewater of initial chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrate, and phosphate concentrations of 5000, 100, and 40 mg/L, respectively. The aim of the study was to find out the tolerance of microalgae to different COD concentrations and the extent of COD degradation at those concentrations. Three dilutions of wastewater (initial COD concentrations 5000, 3000, and 1000 mg/L) and three inoculum sizes (0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 g/L) were considered for the study. The experimental parameters such as total organic carbon, total inorganic carbon, COD, optical density, total solids, nitrate, and phosphate were measured on a daily basis. Biodegradation kinetics was determined for all cases using first-order reaction and Monod degradation equations. Optimal results showed that up to 90% reduction in TOC was obtained for 1000 COD wastewater while only 38% reduction in total organic carbon (TOC) was achieved for 5000 COD wastewater. Over 95% reduction in nitrate and nearly 90% removal of phosphate were obtained with the lowest microalgal inoculum concentration (i.e., 0.1 g/L) for all COD dilutions. This study showed that microalgal species C. pyrenoidosa can successfully degrade the organic carbon source (i.e., acetate) with significant removal efficiencies for nitrate and phosphate.

Heavy metals in coal carbonization wastewater and their complexation — Some observations

Effluents from low temperature carbonization, high temperature carbonization and producer gas plants in India have been found to contain heavy metals. The level of metals differ from plant to plant and is attributed to operational conditions of carbonization units and quality of coal used. Phenols and organic bases present in the effluent can form organometallic complexes with metal ions present. Such complexes are of environmental significance being toxic, mutagenic and teratogenic in nature. The present investigation showed that LTC wastewater forms complexes with Fe, Cu, and Co, however it does not form any complex with Mn and Zn.