Article Sidebar
Published:
Dec 31, 2006Keywords:
Article Details
Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (Tanz. J. Engrg. Technol.) publications are written as a basis for academic discussions. Whereas effort is made by the Editorial Board to screen out inaccurate or misleading statements, data or opinions, Tanz. J. Engrg. Technol. wishes to make it clear that the contents of the articles are the sole responsibility of the authors. Accordingly, the Editorial Board and editors, publisher, College of Engineering and Technology and the University of Dar es Salaam accept no responsibility or liability whatsoever for the opinions, inaccurate or misleading data or statement and views expressed by the authors.
However, the College of Engineering and Technology, the publisher of the Journal, reserve all rights of the articles published in the Journal. Whereas the contents of the articles are available electronically without cost, no part of the publication may be transmitted in any form or reproduced electronically or mechanically, except for short extract in critical scholarly review, research or discourse with an acknowledgement.
Main Article Content
Performance Of Aerobic Bioreactors During Treatment Of Tunning Industry Wastewater
Abstract
The performance of aerobic bioreactors loaded with novel biomass support (the KMT® support particles) during the treatment of tanning industry wastewater is presented in this paper. The wastewater samples were collected from TANWAT Company in Njombe, which extracts tannins from barks of the wattle tree. The wastewater generated from T ANWAT is very acidic with high loading of organic compounds, which are very complex and difficult to biodegrade using conventional methods. The paper introduces a new technology for treatment of heavily loaded industrial wastewater, like tannins, that is the Three-Phase Fluidized Bed Bioreactor (TPFBB) which utilizes the KM'f® support particles. Bench scale bioreactors (BSBs) were used to establish the suitable inoculum for use in the TPFBB. To establish the effect of the KMT® support particles, the BSBs were operated with and without the biomass support particles (BSPs). The BSBs were also inoculated with different types of inoculum (waste stabilization ponds (WSP) and rumen fluid (RF) inoculums) to establish the suitable source of microorganisms. Control samples were also implemented accordingly. The results show that the WSP was a suitable inoculum for which high chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency and tannins concentration reduction efficiency (TCRE) were observed. Tests conducted in the TPFBB with initial COD of about 13,200 ppm shows that the reactor is capable of biodegrading the tannins (at 85% efficiency) after aeration times of up to 7 days in recirculation mode. The final COD values of 1,000 ppm were reached in most cases. For final discharge, however, such a final COD necessitates the use of sub-surface flow constructed wetland (SSFCW) coupled to the TPFBB for final smoothing of the effluent. The TPFBB is recommended for treatment of tannin wastewater to minimize chemical pollution in the receiving water bodies.
