Performance studies of hybrid reactor for the treatment of sago wastewater

In India the sago producing industries are located mainly in the southern region. The waste water from Sago industries is complex and highly organic. It is noted as a significant contributor of pollution it needs organized treatment. The conventional treatment technologies require large space, power intensive and requires skilled monitoring. Hence the Industries are looking for compact, efficient and cost effective treatment options. One of the most advanced option is fluidized bed bio-reactor, where the biomass is cultured on small media kept fluidized in the rector. It has the advantages of both the attached and suspended growth systems. In order to improve the efficiency, reduce the number of media and overall space and cost, studies were done on a hybrid reactor using polypropylene media. The hybrid reactor is a combination of Activated sludge and FBBR. The efficiency for organics removal, nitrification suspended solids removal. For various initial parameters was studied. The study has indicated the hybrid reactor as highly efficient for treatment of strong sago waste water. For organic loading rate of 2.1 to 10.19 kg COD/cum/day the efficiency varied from 95% to 45%. Microbiological studies of the biofloc were also conducted and reported.