Treatment of Hospital wastewater with submerged aerobic fixed film reactor coupled with tube-settler

Nadeem A Khan; Awais Bokhari; Muhammad Mubashir; Jiří Jaromír Klemeš; Rachida El Morabet; Roohul Abad Khan; Majed Alsubih; Mudassar Azam; Sidra Saqib; Ahmad Mukhtar; Apurav Koyande; Pau Loke Show

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.131838

Treatment of Hospital wastewater with submerged aerobic fixed film reactor coupled with tube-settler

Chemosphere. 2022 Jan;286(Pt 3):131838. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.131838. Epub 2021 Aug 10.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Civil Engineering, Jamia Millia Islamia, Jamia Millia Islamia, Okhla, New Delhi, Delhi, 110025, India.
² Chemical Engineering Department, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Lahore Campus, Lahore, Punjab, 54000, Pakistan; Sustainable Process Integration Laboratory, SPIL, NETME Centre, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Brno University of Technology, VUT Brno, Technická 2896/2, 616 69, Brno, Czech Republic. Electronic address: bokhari@fme.vutbr.cz.
³ Department of Petroleum Engineering, School of Engineering, Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation, 57000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
⁴ Sustainable Process Integration Laboratory, SPIL, NETME Centre, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Brno University of Technology, VUT Brno, Technická 2896/2, 616 69, Brno, Czech Republic.
⁵ Department of Geography, LADES, FLSH-M, Hassan II University of Casablanca, Mohammedia, 28810, Morocco.
⁶ Department of Civil Engineering, King Khalid University, Abha, 61421, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien), Getreidemarkt 9/166, Wien, 1060, Austria.
⁸ Chemical Engineering Department, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Lahore Campus, Lahore, Punjab, 54000, Pakistan.
⁹ Department of Chemical Engineering, NFC Institute of Engineering and Fertilizer Research Faisalabad, Pakistan.
¹⁰ Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham, 43500, Semenyih, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
¹¹ Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham, 43500, Semenyih, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia. Electronic address: showpauloke@gmail.com.

PMID: 34399260
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.131838

Abstract

In this study, Hospital wastewater was treated using a submerged aerobic fixed film (SAFF) reactor coupled with tubesettler in series. SAFF consisted of a column with an up-flow biofilter. The biological oxygen demand (BOD)₅, chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrate and phosphate were the chosen pollutants for evaluation. The pollutants removal efficiency was determined at varying organic loading rates and hydraulic retention time. The organic loading rate was varied between 0.25 and 1.25 kg COD m^-3 d^-1. The removal efficiency of SAFF and tubesettler combined was 75 % COD, 67 % BOD and 67 % phosphate, respectively. However, nitrate saw an increase in concentration by 25 %. SAFF contribution in the removal of COD, BOD₅ and Phosphate was 48 %, 46 % and 29 %, respectively. While for accumulation of nitrate, it was responsible for 56%, respectively. Tubesettler performed better than SAFF with 52 %, 54 % and 69 % reduction of COD, BOD₅ and phosphate, respectively. But in terms of nitrate, tubesettler was responsible for 44 % accumulation. The nutrient reduction decreased with an increase in the organic loading rate. Nitrification was observed in the SAFF and tubesettler, which indicated a well-aerated system. An anaerobic unit is required for completing the denitrification process and removing nitrogen from the effluent. The better performance of tubesettler over SAFF calls for necessitates extended retention time over design criteria. Further studies are beneficial to investigate the impact of pharmaceutical compounds on the efficiency of SAFF.

Keywords: Hospital wastewater; Nutrients; Organic loading rate; Removal efficiency; Submerged aerobic fixed film; Tubesettler.

MeSH terms

Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis
Bioreactors*
Hospitals
Nitrification
Nitrogen
Waste Disposal, Fluid
Wastewater*

Substances

Waste Water
Nitrogen