Predictive Modeling for Bioactive Fluidized Bed and Stationary Bed Reactors: Application to Dairy Wastewater

Abstract

Bioadsorber models were formulated, and a systematic protocol was developed for adsorber modeling and design. These models were used for forecasting the performance of bioactive and non bioactive reactors in two configurations: fluidized bed reactor (with effluent recycle), and stationary bed reactor. The models incorporated important phenomena associated with adsorption and biofilm degradation, and used total organic carbon (TOC) as a lumped parameter for measuring the wastewater strength. The protocol could be easily applied to bioactive reactors with non-adsorbing media such as sand, polymers and glass. The protocol included the development of experimental techniques for evaluating model parameters. Laboratory-scale adsorption equilibrium and rate studies were conducted to evaluate the equilibrium and mass-transfer parameters, respectively. Biokinetic experiments were performed to determine the biodegradation parameters including kinetic coefficients for biological growth and decay, and the yield coefficient. Adsorption and biodegradation parameters were subsequently used as model inputs for predicting the dynamics of bioactive reactors. Laboratory-scale adsorber column studies for model verification indicated the good predictive capability of the models for bioactive and non bioactive reactors.