Mineralization of reactive azo dyes present in simulated textile waste water using down flow microaerophilic fixed film bioreactor

• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2014.10.040
• Publication Date: 2014-10-20T02:48:15Z
• Authors: Kshama Balapure; Nikhil Bhatt; Datta Madamwar
• Keywords: Microaerophile; Hydraulic retention time

The present research emphasizes on degradation of azo dyes from simulated textile wastewater using down flow microaerophilic fixed film reactor. Degradation of simulated textile wastewater (COD 7200mg/L and dye concentration 300mg/L) was studied in a microaerophilic fixed film reactor using pumice stone as a support material under varying hydraulic retention time (HRT) and organic loading rate (OLR). The intense metabolic activity of the inoculated bacterial consortium in the reactor led to 97.5% COD reduction and 99.5% decolorization of simulated wastewater operated under OLR of 7.2kgCODm(3)/d and 24h of HRT. FTIR, (1)H NMR and GC-MS studies revealed the formation of lower molecular weight aliphatic compounds under 24h of HRT, leading to complete mineralization of simulated wastewater. The detection of oxido-reductive enzyme activities suggested the enzymatic reduction of azo bonds prior to mineralization. Toxicity studies indicated that microbial treatment favors detoxification of simulated wastewater.