ANOXIC AND OXIC BIOLOGICAL FLUIDIZED-BED TREATMENT OF AMINES AND PHENOL

Significant amounts of nitrogenous organic compounds found in industri al wastewaters can have major deleterious effects on the environment a nd public health; therefore, the removal of these compounds has become an essential component in industrial wastewater treatment. In this wo rk the biodegradability of diisopropylamine and monoethylamine - compo unds commonly found in petroleum refinery wastewater - was investigate d under oxic and anoxic conditions. Biological fluidized bed reactors were employed in the investigation of single-stage carbon oxidation an d nitrification with the amines and phenol as the compounds targeted f or removal. Complete carbonaceous oxidation was achieved with a 50% ni trification rate. The feasibility of utilizing me amines and phenol as the organic carbon source for denitrification in an anoxic biological fluidized bed process was also examined. Carbon removal under anoxic conditions was greater than 85% at carbon loading rates less than 0.05 mg TOC/mg biomass-day and decreased to 60% at higher loading rates. O ver the range of loading rates tested, the average ratio of mg TOC rem oved to mg NO3--N utilized was observed to be 1.26.