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Biomass growth monitoring using pressure drop in a cocurrent biofilter
Author(s) -
Deront Marc,
Samb Falilou M.,
Adler Nevenka,
Péringer Paul
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
biotechnology and bioengineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.136
H-Index - 189
eISSN - 1097-0290
pISSN - 0006-3592
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0290(19981005)60:1<97::aid-bit11>3.0.co;2-5
Subject(s) - biofilter , bioreactor , pressure drop , biomass (ecology) , wastewater , chemistry , clogging , hydraulic retention time , aeration , volatile suspended solids , drop (telecommunication) , respirometry , packed bed , chromatography , chemical oxygen demand , pulp and paper industry , environmental engineering , environmental science , ecology , history , telecommunications , biochemistry , physics , organic chemistry , archaeology , biology , computer science , engineering , thermodynamics
The possibility of following the biomass growth by pressure drop measurement was investigated in an aerated cocurrent upflow fixed‐bed bioreactor continuously fed with wastewater containing industrial organic pollutants. The experiments were carried out in a biological filtration oxygenated reactor (Biofor) pilot plant packed with expanded clay balls (Biolite) of 2.7‐mm diameter, which served as biomass carriers. The column was equipped for on‐line pressure drop measurements. Correlation between pressure drop measurements and Reynolds numbers of air and water were determined in experiments carried out without biomass. Under operating conditions with biomass, it was demonstrated that column clogging and the operating time between washing cycles can be predicted depending on the volumetric organic load for a given total organic carbon inlet concentration. The biological activity of the fixed biomass was estimated from the oxygen consumption rate per unit time and carrier area. The oxygen consumption rate measurements demonstrated that the biological activity depends on the inlet substrate concentration, and that the Biofor column was most efficient between 75 and 100 g m −3 of total organic carbon inlet concentration. In the course of the wastewater treatment, using pressure drop measurements, the equivalent diameter of the Biolite particles, the reduced column macroporosity, and the biofilm thickness were calculated. An expression correlating biofilm density and biofilm thickness, as determined from the pressure drop measurements, was proposed. Good agreement was found between the fixed biomass in the reactor, determined as volatile suspended solids, and the biologically active biomass, estimated by respirometry. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 60: 97–104, 1998.