Abstract
Sugarcane vinasse has been reported as a high strength industrial wastewater that could cause severe environmental pollution due to its complex and bio-refractory compounds. Thus, the combined coagulation and sequencing batch biofilm reactor (SBBR) system was employed for the sugarcane vinasse treatment. This study aims to determine the recommended conditions of various parameters under coagulation and SBBR and investigate the effectiveness of combined processes. First, the approach of the coagulation process could achieve the maximum COD reduction and decolorization efficiencies of 79.0 ± 3.4% and 94.1 ± 1.9%, respectively, under the recommended conditions. Next, SBBR as an integrated biofilm reactor showed excellent synergistic biodegradability, removing 86.6 ± 4.3% COD concentration and 94.6 ± 3.8% color concentration at 3.0 g·COD/L of substrate loading concentration. The kinetic studies of SBBR revealed that the first-order kinetic model was the best fit for COD reduction efficiency. In contrast, the second-order kinetic model was the best fit for decolorization efficiency. The SBBR reaction was further investigated by ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometry (UV–Vis). In the combined processes, SBBR followed by the coagulation process (SBBR–CP) showed greater COD reduction and decolorization efficiencies (97.5 ± 0.3 and 99.4 ± 0.1%) when compared to the coagulation process followed by SBBR (CP–SBBR). This study demonstrated the removal performance and potential application of the combined sequential process to produce effluent that can be reused for bioethanol production and fertigation. This finding provides additional insight for developing effective vinasse treatment using combined chemical and biological processes.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to the Faculty of Civil Engineering Technology Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), and Fermpro Industries.
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Conceptualization and methodology were prepared by Yee-Shian Wong and Wei-Chin Kee. Formal analysis and investigation were performed by Yee-Shian Wong, Wei-Chin Kee, and Audrey Chai. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Wei-Chin Kee, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. Resources and supervision were provided by Yee-Shian Wong, Soon-An Ong, Nabilah Aminah Lutpi, Sung-Ting Sam, Farrah Aini Dahalan, and Kim-Mun Eng. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Kee, WC., Wong, YS., Ong, SA. et al. Chemical and biological combined treatment for sugarcane vinasse: selection of parameters and performance studies. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 65364–65378 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-27046-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-27046-6