Optimization of aeration style and cycle time for treatment of oil refinery wastewater using powdered activated carbon and sequential batch reactor

Abstract EN

The current work was aimed to examine treatment of oil refinery wastewater (ORWW) using powdered activated carbon (PAC) added sequencing batch reactor (SBR) techniques.

The treatment process were categorized into preliminary and batch experiments.

For preliminary experiments, optimum PAC dosage and aeration rate were 10 g/L and 2 L/min, respectively.

For batch experiments, cycle time and aeration styles(aerobic, intermittently aerated and anaerobic) were checked by using response surface methodology (RSM).

Obtained results showed that the optimum cycle time and aeration type were 6hr and partial aeration style, respectively.

Minimum removal efficiency for ammonia, turbidity, electrical conductivity, and color, from fresh ORWW in normal-SBR (NPAC-SBR) were 0%, 22%, 21%, and 12%, respectively.

While for PAC added SBR (PAC-SBR), maximum removals for the mentioned pollutants were62%,86%, 42 %, and 86%, respectively.

Commonly, adding PAC, increasing cycle time and fully aeration process were enhanced performance of the SBR technique.