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| Author(s): |
Flavio Bentes Freire
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | São Carlos. |
| Institution: | Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC/SBD) |
| Defense date: | 2005-03-21 |
| Examining board members: |
Eduardo Cleto Pires;
Artur de Jesus Motheo;
Geraldo Lippel Sant'Anna Junior;
Cesar Costapinto Santana;
Marcelo Zaiat
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| Advisor: | Eduardo Cleto Pires |
| Abstract | |
The almost total removal of chlorophenols by anaerobic processes has been achieved under high concentrations of organic matter and a considerably large number of carbon sources. However, it is necessary to investigate the performance of such reactors under less idealized conditions. The present work shows the development of a new methodology for evaluating the use of an anaerobic fluidized bed reactor (AFBR) in the pretreatment step of a synthetic substrate containing pentachlorophenol (PCP). In order to do that, the following experimental conditions were used: a single source of carbon; reduced concentrations of organic matter; non-previously adapted biomass, and smaller hydraulic retention times. To achieve the main objective, two reactors, one having a volume of 2.2 L and the other one, 16 L, were especially designed; evaluation steps of support material and the study of several interactions (particle/fluid, particles/fluid, bioparticle/fluid, bioparticles/fluid) were carried out, and the performance of the AFBR with and without PCP was analyzed. The three support materials employed were alumina, basalt and granular activated carbon, all having average diameters of 3 mm. These materials were evaluated through physical characterization methods, microscopy, hydrodynamic and image analyses. The activated coal showed the best results and was exclusively employed in the remainder of the work. The interactions were analyzed by hydrodynamics and adsorption isotherms, to name but a few. Under the experimental conditions employed, the biomass made the particle density increase, a fact that was verified in the determination of the minimum fluidization velocity, the bed porosity and expansion as well as the terminal velocity of isolated particles. The adsorption isotherms showed a decrease of 9% in PCP absorption due to the existence of organic matter. The AFBR showed satisfactory results during the operation without PCP. In the 105 days of operation, the average efficiency of COD removal remained almost always over 90%, while the other performance monitoring parameters remained at typical values, indicating the process stability. The presence of PCP under the concentrations used in the system did not seem to affect neither the quality of the biomass nor the performance monitoring parameters, like COD, alkalinity, pH and volatile acids. Even under less idealized conditions, the reactor showed good performance in removing PCP. The average efficiencies of removal attained around 93% and 70% for concentrations of 1 to 6 mg/L respectively. These concentration levels were kept during 80 days. In view of the results obtained, it is possible to conclude that reasonably good efficiency of PCP removal in AFBR can be attained under simpler operational conditions. (AU) | |