Anaerobic Treatment of Wastewater from the Household and Personal Products Industry in a Hybrid Bioreactor

The anaerobic treatment of wastewater from the household and personal products industry was studied using a 16.3 L hybrid reactor (UASB and biofilter). The top of the UASB reactor was filled with coconut shells to act as the support material for the biofilter. The wastewater was characterized in terms of pH (1.0 – 12.0), COD (1,000 – 5,000 mg/L), BOD5 (700 – 1,500 mg/L), chloride (55 – 850 mg/L), ammonia nitrogen (0.4 – 0.9 mg/L), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (22.1 – 34.0 mg/L), phosphorus (2.0 – 2.5 mg/L), anionic surfactants (100 – 600 mg/L), turbidity (115 – 300 NTU) and total suspended solids (450 – 1,440 mg/L). The bioreactor was operated continuously for 120 days at room temperature (26 ± 5C) with hydraulic retention times of 50, 40 and 60 h. COD and BOD removals and biogas production were evaluated in order to analyze process efficiency. The average removal efficiencies for COD (77%, 72% and 80%) and BOD5 (approximately 90%) were obtained with HRTs of 50, 40 and 60 h, respectively. The average specific biogas production was 0.32 L/g COD (at standard temperature and pressure) for the three experimental runs. These data indicate good reactor efficiency and suggest the possibility of using this system to treat wastewater generated by the household and personal products industry.