ANAEROBIC-DIGESTION OF BLACK-OLIVE WASTE-WATER

A study of the kinetics of the anaerobic digestion of wastewater obtai ned in the manufacture of black olives was carried out. A 1-litre, con tinuous-flow, completely-mixed, bioreactor operated at 35-degrees-C an d containing a Sepiolite-immobilized biomass at a concentration of 10. 5 g VSS per litre was used The bioreactor worked satisfactorily at hyd raulic retention times of 2.5 to 10 days and eliminated more than 93% of the initial COD in all instances. Guiot's kinetic model was used to determine the macroenergetic parameters of the system, which was foun d to have a yield coefficient for the bio-mass (Y) of 0.035 g VSS/g CO D and a specific rate of substrate uptake for cell maintenance (m) of 0.078 g COD/g VSS day. Based on the experimental results, the rate of substrate uptake R, (g COD/g VSS day), was correlated with the concent ration of biodegradable substrate, S(b) (g COD/litre), through an equa tion of the Michaelis-Menten type.