Research Information System
BIOPROCESS ENGINEERING, vol.16, no.1, pp.35-38, 1996 (SCI-Expanded)
Biological treatment systems for high strength wastewaters are usually operated in continuous mode such as activated sludge systems. When operated at steady-state, continuous systems result in constant effluent standards. However, in the presence of shock loadings and/or toxic compounds in feed wastewater, system performance drops quite significantly as a result of partial loss of microbial activity. In fed-batch operation, wastewater is fed to the aeration tank with a flow rate determined by effluent standards. In this type of operation, wastewater can be fed to biological oxidation unit intermittently or continuously with a low flow rate without any effluent removal. Feed flow rate is adjusted by measuring COD concentration in the effluent. As a result of intermittent addition of wastewater high COD concentrations and toxic compounds are diluted in large volume of aeration tank and inhibition effects of those compounds are reduced. As a result, biological oxidation of these compounds take place at a much higher rate.