A review of the performance of aerobic bioreactors for treatment of food processing wastewater

Aerobic treatment is an alternative to the slower anaerobic treatment processes for concentrated industrial wastewater such as food processing wastewater. This paper reviews the performance of various aerobic treatment methods for the treatment of food processing wastewaters. It was noted that the total chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiencies and process capacities were affected by the variations in organic loading rates. The review shows that most suspended growth bioreactors are effective at low organic loading rates for treating food processing wastewaters. All biofilm reactors have a similar level of COD removal, but the highest COD removal efficiency at a high organic loading rate was observed in flexible fibre biofilm reactor (FFBR). Attached growth processes exhibited better performance for treating high strength food processing wastewater effectively, compared with conventional suspended methods. The high specific surface area and low sludge production of flexible fibre biofilm reactors are other advantages, compared with other attached growth biofilm systems. A flexible fibre biofilm reactor is a sound alternative from a process and economic perspective.