Wastewater Treatment from Antibiotics Plant

Upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors have been widely used for treatment of industrial wastewater. In this study, performance of a lab-scale up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor, treating a chemical synthesis-based pharmaceutical wastewater, was evaluated under different operat- ing conditions. A (P.E) pipe with a diameter of 250 mm and total height of 120 cm and effective height of 100 cm with approximate volume of 49 liter was used as a reactor. The loading rates on reactor were increased in steps to assess the maximum loading capacity of the reactor to study the performance of reactor at different loading rates. The COD concentrations used in the present investigation ranges between 1850 mg/L to 15170 mg/L. The performance of the reactor up to 10.81 kg COD/m3 .d was evaluated and the hydraulic retention times were examined. During this study, which lasted for 120 days, the temperature of the wastewater entering the reactor ranged from 30 to 35 o C and no heat exchanger was used. Finally the removal ratio of COD with hydraulic retention time of 33.7 hours and organic loading rate of 10.81 kg COD/m3 .day were 54 percent respectively.