Abstract
The inhibitory effect of Ni upon a biological system of activated sludge has been analyzed in two semicontinuous sequential reactors feeding synthetic wastewater. One of the reactors was used as control while in the other given amounts of NiSO4 were added to the influent to achieve a concentration of 30 ppm Ni(II). An analysis of the characteristic biokinetic parameters has been made and the correspondence with the operating conditions stated. A series of O2 uptake tests were proposed and the results analyzed together with the specific rate of substrate removal (U) in order to explain the toxic influence of Ni(II). An accumulation of undigested substrate on the floes seems to explain certain aspects derived of the presence of Ni. The sludge residence time (SRT), within a certain range, can be used as a control operating variable to mitigate the inhibitory effect of Ni, since a somewhat contrary effect upon the settling characteristics of the sludge must be also considered.
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Abbreviations
- C0 :
-
Initial concentration of oxygen, mg L−1
- C:
-
oxygen concentration at time t, mg L−1
- k :
-
Kinetic constant of substrate disappearance, d−1
- k d :
-
Kinetic constant of biomass disappearance, d−1
- K s :
-
Substrate concentration defined in Equation (7), mg L−1
- k u :
-
Kinetic constant of oxygen consumption, hr−1
- N :
-
Number of cycles a day in the reactor, d−1
- Q :
-
Flow rate, L d−1
- r s :
-
Rate of substrate disappearance, d−1
- r b :
-
Rate of biomass growth, d−1
- S e, S 0 :
-
Substrate concentrations, in the effluent and initially in the reactor as COD, L−1
- t :
-
Time, d or hr
- t h :
-
Hydraulic residence time. t h= V/Q, hr or d
- t r :
-
Refloculation time in settling experiments, min
- t s :
-
Sludge residence time, t s = V/Q w, hr or d
- U :
-
Specific rate of substrate removal referred to COD, mg L−1 U = (S 0 − S e)/(X t h)
- U 0 :
-
Specific rate of substrate removal referred to oxygen, mg L−1
- v s :
-
Settling velocity in the constant rate period, cm min−1
- V :
-
Reactor volume or volume in general, L or mL
- V i :
-
Influent fed to the aerobic system, L
- X :
-
Biomass concentration as MLSS, mg L−1
- Y :
-
Biomass yield, mg MLSS mg−1 COD
- μ:
-
Kinetic constant of biomass growth, d−1
- V m :
-
Volume in the oxygen uptake experiments, mL
- V LM :
-
Volume of mixed liquor employed for O2 uptake experiments, mL.
- aer:
-
Aeration
- e :
-
effluent
- max:
-
maximum
- net:
-
net value
- o:
-
initial
- set:
-
settling
- w :
-
wasted
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Lombraña, J.I., Varona, F. & Mijangos, F. Biokinetic behavior and settling characteristics in an activated sludge under the effect of toxic Ni(II) influentes. Water Air Soil Pollut 69, 57–68 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00478347
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00478347