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Treatment of a High-Salt Petrochemical Effluent Using a Moving Bed Biological Reactor

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Abstract

Wastewater treatment technologies have been recently improved to a great extent in order to get higher contaminant removal efficiency and to meet the stringent effluent regulations. In this context, a moving bed biological reactor (MBBR) provides large contact surface for growth of microorganisms and low volume resulting in higher performance of treatment plants. This study aims at determining the effectiveness of an in-house designed and built-up MBBR reactor in increasing COD removal efficiency in a Mahshahr Petrochemical Zone Wastewater Treatment Plant located in southwest of Iran. After 187 days of operating the reactor continuously, COD removal efficiency improvement achieved for salinity of 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, and 2% was from 89.5 to 93%, 74 to 87%, 62 to 84%, and 54 to 76%, respectively, compared to the existing treatment plant.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Petrochemical Company, Petrochemical Special Economic Zone Organization, Mahshahr, Iran

    Hamid Shabani

  2. National Petrochemical Company, Petrochemical Research and Technology Company - Mahshahr Centre, Mahshahr, Iran

    Amin Ahmadpour

  3. Department of Chemical Engineering, Mahshahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mahshahr, Iran

    Alireza Bozorgian

  4. Department of Process Engineering, Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

    Ali Eslamimanesh

  5. Discipline of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Howard College Campus, King George V Avenue, Durban, 4041, South Africa

    Amir H. Mohammadi

  6. Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, Durban University of Technology, Steve Biko Campus, Durban, 4001, South Africa

    Amir H. Mohammadi

Authors
  1. Hamid Shabani
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  2. Amin Ahmadpour
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  3. Alireza Bozorgian
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  4. Ali Eslamimanesh
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  5. Amir H. Mohammadi
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Correspondence to Alireza Bozorgian.

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Shabani, H., Ahmadpour, A., Bozorgian, A. et al. Treatment of a High-Salt Petrochemical Effluent Using a Moving Bed Biological Reactor. Water Air Soil Pollut 233, 408 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-022-05876-3

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