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Performance evaluation of gravity-driven bioreactor (GDB) for simultaneous treatment of black liquor and domestic wastewater

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Abstract

A lab-scale gravity-driven bioreactor (GDB) was designed and constructed to evaluate the simultaneous treatment of black liquor and domestic wastewater. The GDB was operated with a mixture of black liquor and domestic wastewater at a ratio of 1:1 and maintained at an average organic loading rate of 1235 mg-COD/L-Day. The wastewater was fed to the primary sedimentation tank at a flow rate of approximately 12 mL/min and subsequently passed through serially connected anaerobic and aerobic chambers with the same flow rate. Each wastewater sample was allowed to undergo a hydraulic retention time of approximately 72 h, ensuring effective treatment. The GDB was actively operated for nine samples (W1–W9) at a weekly frequency. The entire process was conducted within the workstation’s ambient temperature range of 30–35 °C to sustain microbial activity and treatment efficiency in an open environment. The performance of the GDB was evaluated in terms of various pollution indicators, including COD, BOD5, lignin removal, TDS, TSS, EC, PO43−, SO42−, microbial load (CFU/mL and MPN index), total nitrogen, and color reduction. The results showed that the GDB achieved promising treatment efficiencies: 84.5% for COD, 71.80% for BOD5, 82.8% for TDS, 100% for TSS, 74.71% for E.C., 67.25% for PO43−, 81% for SO42−, and 69.36% for TN. Additionally, about 80% reduction in lignin content and 57% color reduction were observed after the treatment. The GDB substantially reduced microbial load in CFU/mL (77.98%) and MPN (90%). This study marks the first to report on wastewater treatment from two different sources (black liquor and domestic wastewater) using a simple GDB design. Furthermore, it highlights the GDB’s potential as a cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and efficient solution for wastewater treatment, with no need for supplementary chemical or physical agents and zero operational costs.

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Funding

This research work was part of a project entitled “Development of biological treatment system for pulp and paper industry waste water”. It was sponsored by the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Islamabad, Pakistan, (NRPU) Grant Number 6871.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, Applied and Environmental Microbiology Research Laboratory, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan

    Tabassum Rasool, Muhammad Ansar, Muhammad Ishtiaq Ali, Asif Jamal & Malik Badshah

  2. Centre of Agricultural Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan

    Irfan Ali

  3. Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, Wyoming University, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA

    Zaixing Huang & Michael Urynowicz

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  1. Tabassum Rasool
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, concept, data collection, and analysis were performed by TR, AJ, MIA, MB, MA, IA, ZH, and MU. The first draft of the manuscript was written by TR and AJ, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. The manuscript is submitted after the approval of all coauthors.

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Correspondence to Asif Jamal.

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Rasool, T., Ansar, M., Ali, I. et al. Performance evaluation of gravity-driven bioreactor (GDB) for simultaneous treatment of black liquor and domestic wastewater. Environ Sci Pollut Res 31, 7043–7057 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-31576-4

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