The High Rate Denitrification of Nitric Acid Wastewater in a Fluidized Bed Biofilm Reactor

유동층 생물막 반응기를 이용한 고농도 질산성 폐수의 탈질화에 관한 연구

The objectives of this study are to investigate the effect of media on the removal efficiency of nitrate-nitrogen and the biofilm thickness in the fluidized bed biofilm reactor(FBBR) used for the high rate denitrification of nitric acid wastewater. Granular activated carbon(GAC) of 1.274 mm diameter and sand of 0.455 mm diameter were used as the media in the FBBR of 0.05 m diameter and 1.5 m height. As the nitrate-nitrogen concentration of the influent was increased stepwise from 600 to 4800 mg/l, the nitrate- and nitrite-nitrogen concentration of the effluent, biofilm thickness and biofilm dry density were measured to study the effects of media on the denitrification efficiency. The biofilm thickness increased with the substrate loading rate, and the biofilm dry density decreased with the increase of the biofilm thickness. At the influent nitrate-nitrogen concentration of 2400 mg/l, the removal efficiency in the FBBR with GAC was 88%, while that in the FBBR with sand was 99.6%. The biofilm in the FBBR with GAC was so thick, 754.9 $\mu$m, as to increase the mass transfer resistance, compared to that, 143.7 $\mu$m, in the FBBR with sand. The maximum specific denitrification rate in the FBBR with GAC was 15.0 kg-N/m$^3\cdot$ day, while that in the FBBR with sand was 18.0 kg-N/m$^3\cdot$ day. The biomass concentration in the FBBR with sand exhibited the high value 37 kg/m$^3$.