TREATMENT OF PARBOILED RICE MANUFACTURING WASTEWATER USINGANAEROBIC FIXED FILM FIXED BED REACTOR PACKED WITH SPECIAL MEDIA
Studies on bench scale reactors packed with two different media matrix – Biopac media and Fugino spirals were undertaken to determine the performance at various organic loading rate (OLR) and on one day hydraulic retention time (HRT). Parboiled rice mill wastewater depicted a COD/BOD ratio of 1.6 indicating good degradable nature of the wastewater. Four different organic loadings of 0.8, 1.6, 2.4 and 3.2 kg COD/m3/day were studied in detail. The results indicated BOD and COD removals in the range of 83.0-92.7% and 80.2-89.0% respectively with respect to Biopac media while it ranged between 79.4–90.6% and 76.7–86.1% respectively in case of Fugino spiral media. It is very clear from the results that, Biopac media packed fixed film reactor gave efficient removals compared to Fugino spiral media packed reactor. Volatile acid concentration was well within the congenial range in both the reactors and volatile acid to alkalinity ratio remained well below 0.8 indicating good performance of the reactors. pH of the treated effluent was in the range of 7.1–7.3 indicating good buffering in the system. Daily gas production was measured. This paper discusses in detail the feasibility of upflow anaerobic fixed film fixed bed reactors packed with special media matrix in treating the parboiled rice manufacturing wastewater. Comparative performance of two special media matrix i.e. Fugino Spirals and Special Ultraviolet Stabilized Biopac media in the treatment of parboiled rice manufacturing wastewater has been studied in detail.
Treatment of rice mill effluent for pollution control by Electrocoagulation
Rice milling is the process of removing the husk and part of the bran from paddy in order to produce edible rice. Parboiled rice production requires a larger amount of water. This water, if not properly treated, could give rise to water pollution. The limitations in the physic-chemical methods and biological methods make Electrocoagulation the favourable alternatives for the removal of pollutants from the industrial effluents. The maximum removal of COD (Chemical oxygen Demand), Oil and Greece, Turbidity and TSS (total suspended solids) has been considered in the present investigation. The process variables are pH, current density and inter space between electrodes. As a part of study this paper presents effect of pH on removal of COD, Oil and Greece, Turbidity and TSS.
Bioremediation of chromium contaminated soil by Pseudomonas fluorescens and indigenous microorganisms.
Chromium is one of the toxic and hazardous pollutants in industrial wastewaters leading to soil contamination. In this study, the feasibility of remediating chromium contaminated soil using indigenous microorganisms and Pseudomonas fluorescens was evaluated. The contaminated soil sample was collected from Vellore and the pH, moisture content and chromium content were found to be 8.4, 22.5% and 5.1 mg/kg respectively. The effect of chromium on engineering properties showed decrease in permeability by 45.15%. For Pseudomonas fluorescens, the optimum pH, moisture content, biomass concentration and carbon source were found as 6.5, 20%, 10 mL and 10 mL/100 g respectively and for isolated mixed culture, the optimum parameters were found as 8.4, 25%, 15 mL and 15mL / 100 g respectively. Under optimum conditions, the reactor study showed 71.7% chromium reduction after 20 days. From the study, the bioremediation of chromium-contaminated soil by indigenous microorganisms was found to be a promising solution and after bioremediation, the engineering properties of the soil were found to be improved.