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Updated: May 17, 2026

A Novel Bioreactor for High Density Cultivation of Diverse Microbial Communities
Published on: December 25, 2015
Anaerobic/aerobic treatment of a petrochemical wastewater from two aromatic transformation processes by fluidized bed
Edson B Estrada-Arriaga1, Esperanza Ramirez-Camperos, Gabriela E Moeller-Chavez
1Mexican Institute of Water Technology, Subcoordinacion de Tratamiento de Aguas Residuales, Paseo Cuauhnahuac 8532, Col. Progreso, Jiutepec Morelos, México. edson_estrada@tlaloc.imta.mx
Abstract:
An integrated fluidized bed reactor (FBR) has been employed as the treatment for petrochemical industry wastewaters with high organic matter and aromatic compounds, under anaerobic and aerobic conditions. The system was operated at hydraulic residence time (HRT) of 2.7 and 2.2 h in the anaerobic and aerobic reactor, respectively. The degree of fluidization in the beds was 30%. This system showed a high performance on the removal of organic matter and aromatic compounds. At different organic loading rates (OLR), the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal in the anaerobic reactor was close to 85% and removals of the COD up to 94% were obtained in the aerobic reactor. High removals of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, styrene, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene and naphthalene were achieved in this study.
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