Abstract

Niusha B. Namdari, Abdolali A. Dabir and Mohsen Abbasi

The aim of the present work was to study the treatment of high strength nitrate, high salinity wastewater using a packed bed bioreactor filled with clinoptilolite as a carrier. Biological denitrification was monitored at different loadings rates (0.8-4 kg NO3 - /m3 ·d) and salinities (10-40 g L-1 ). The experiments were carried out at an ambient temperature of 25 °C with synthetic wastewater. The denitrification rate, COD consumption, and nitrite accumulations were response parameters. In the experimental conditions, a maximum denitrification rate of 3.72 kg NO3 - /(m3 ·d) was achieved with ethanol as a carbon source and salinity at 10g L-1 . During denitrification, no more than 0.1 mg NO2- L -1 could be accumulated. This work demonstrates that biological denitrification with the denitrifier attached to clinoptilolite in a packed bed bioreactor can be a promising method for denitrifying brine wastewater.