Title: Multilevel contact oxidation treatment of brewery wastewater using spiral biological carriers and their nitrogen removal mechanism

Authors: Tianlong Zheng; Peng Li; Chuanfu Wu; Qunhui Wang; Xuesong Li; Hengyu Ai; Ariunbileg Sharavsambuu

Addresses: Department of Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 30 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, China ' Department of Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 30 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, China ' Department of Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 30 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, China ' Department of Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 30 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, China; Beijing Key Laboratory on Resource-oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 30 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, China ' School of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China ' Department of Environmental Engineering, Harbin University of Science and Technology, Harbin 150080, PR China ' Department of Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, 30 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, China

Abstract: In this study, spiral biological carriers were used to treat brewery wastewater in a multilevel contact oxidation process. The optimal operational conditions are the following: hydraulic retention time of 6.5 h; temperature of above 21°C; pH of 7.2; and dissolved oxygen concentration ranges of 4.0-6.0 mg/L, 3.0-4.0 mg/L, 2.0-3.0 mg/L, and 2.0-3.0 mg/L in four contact oxidation tanks, respectively. Under the optimal conditions, the removal efficiencies of total nitrogen, ammonia, and CODcr of the system were 77.0%, 87.6%, and 92.2% respectively. Effluent quality met the discharge standard of pollutants for the beer industry (GB 19821-2005). In addition, the aerobic-anoxic micro-and macro-environments were formed in the spiral biological carriers. This could be explained by the specific surface character and three-dimensional spiral structure of these carriers which strengthened the simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND) process. The removal efficiency of total nitrogen of the reactor was up to 82.4%.

Keywords: brewery wastewater; environmental technology; multilevel contact oxidation treatment; nitrogen removal; spiral biological carriers; nitrification; denitrification; SND; wastewater treatment.

DOI: 10.1504/IJETM.2015.068418

International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management, 2015 Vol.18 No.1, pp.30 - 43

Received: 20 Dec 2013
Accepted: 29 Dec 2014

Published online: 06 May 2015 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article