Efficient degradation of polyacrylate containing wastewater by combined anaerobic-aerobic fluidized bed bioreactors

Polyacrylate containing wastewater (PCW) is the typical sewage discharged by the textile industry. It has extremely poor biodegradability, and chemical methods were used conventionally as the only way for treating PCW. This study is demonstrating a novel biological method. In batch experiment monod kinetics was applied to the experimental data, which indicated that anaerobic treatment used for PCW is feasible. The pilot-scale experiment combined a Spiral Symmetry Stream Anaerobic Bioreactor (SSSAB) and an air-lift external circulation vortex enhancement nitrogen removal fluidized bed bioreactor (AFB). The COD and NH₄⁺-N removal reached up to 95.2% and 96.6%, respectively, which were higher than the value obtained by other chemical methods. High-throughput sequencing analysis indicated that the relative abundance of Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes increased, which contribute to the degradation of PCW. Therefore, PCW can be degraded efficiently by using a SSSAB-AFB technique and thus provides an alternative to the chemical methods.