TREATMENT OF DISTILLERY WASTEWATER IN ANAEROBIC SEQUENCING BATCH REACTOR

K.AKIL, M.E., Ph.D.,

Assistant Professor of Civil Engg., Hindusthan College of Engineering and Technology.

Dr. S. JAYANTHI, M.E., Ph.D.,

Associate Professor of Civil Engg., Government College of Technology.

R. RATHEESH KUMAR, & C. GIRIJA B.Tech.,

PG Scholars, Government College of Technology.

INTRODUCTION
Distilleries are one of the most polluting industries generating large volumes of high strength wastewater On an average 8-15L of effluent is generated for every litre of alcohol produced (Saha et. al, 2005) In India, there are 319 industries producing 3.25 billion litres of alcohol and generating 40.4 billion litres of wastewater annually (Pant et. al, 2007)

INTRODUCTION
Alcohol production in distilleries consists of four main steps viz. feed preparation, fermentation, distillation and packaging (Satyawali et.al, 2008) The liquid waste from alcohol production can mainly be divided into: stillage from separation and distillation process, cleaning water from fermenters, distillation columns and floors and refrigeration water from cooling after distillation.

IMPACTS OF DISTILLERY SPENT WASH

Molasses spent wash has very high levels of BOD, COD as well as high potassium, phosphorus and sulphate content (Pathade, 1999, Wilkie et. al, 2000) contains low molecular weight compounds such as lactic acid, glycerol, ethanol and acetic acid (Wilkie et. al, 2000) contains 2% of a dark brown pigment called melanoidins that impart colour to the spent wash (Kalavathi et.al, 2001)

IMPACTS OF DISTILLERY SPENT WASH

Melanoidins are toxic to many microorganisms involved in wastewater treatment (Sirianuntapiboon et.al, 2004) High COD, total nitrogen and total phosphate content of the distillery effluent may result in the eutrophication of the natural water bodies (Kumar et. al, 1997, FitzGibbon et. al, 1998)

IMPACTS OF DISTILLERY SPENT WASH

coloured components reduce sunlight penetration in rivers and lakes which in turn decrease both photosynthetic activity and dissolved oxygen concentration affecting aquatic life. land disposal of distillery effluent can lead to groundwater contamination (Joshi, 1999 & Jain et. al, 2005). Undiluted effluent has toxic effect on fishes and other aquatic organisms.

IMPACTS OF DISTILLERY SPENT WASH

Spent wash is reported to inhibit seed germination, reduce soil alkalinity, cause soil manganese deficiency and damage agricultural crops (Agarwal et. al,1994 & Kannan et.al, 2008)

ANAEROBIC SEQUENCING BATCH REACTORS

Anaerobic sequencing batch reactors (ASBR) are reactors that operate in four cyclic steps: feed, reaction, settling and discharge. Anaerobic sequencing batch reactors allow typical biological anaerobic metabolism from substrate consumption to methane and carbon dioxide production

FEED
The first step involves the addition of substrate to the reactor where the contents are continuously mixed to establish a close contact between the substrate and the bacteria for reaction. The volume of substrate fed depends on a number of factors, including the desired hydraulic retention time (HRT), organic loading and expected settling characteristics (Ndon U.J. and Dague R.R.,1997)

REACT
The mixing (may be continuous or intermittent) should however be gentle to avoid the disruption of bacterial flocs formation. The length of the react period will depend on the required effluent quality and substrate characteristics

SETTLE
At the end of reaction period, to enable the biomass to floc and settle, mixing of the contents is stopped. The required time for the settling step depends on biomass concentration, temperature and type of biomass (Ndon & Dague, 1997)

DECANT
At the end of the settling step, decantation takes place. During effluent drawdown, microorganisms with poor settling characteristics are also removed from the reactor, leaving the heavier bacterial flocs (Sung & Dague 1995)

ADVANTAGES OF ASBR
Operational simplicity, Efficient quality control of effluent and Flexibility of use for both, low strength and high strength wastewaters. Distinct advantages of ASBR when compared to CSTR system include: high biomass concentration, a high degree of process flexibility, and no requirement to apply a separate clarifier. (Ratusznei et. al, 2000)

DARK FERMENTATION
Fermentative conversion of organic substrate to biohydrogen in the absence of light Complex process accomplished by diverse group of bacteria similar to anaerobic conversion

DARK FERMENTATION
Microorganisms hydrolyse complex organic substrates into monomers which are then converted to lower molecular weight organic acids and alcohols with the liberation of hydrogen gas by hydrogen producing bacteria There is a need of inhibiting hydrogen consuming bacteria such as methanogens

ADVANTAGES OF DARK FERMENTATION

High rate of H2 evolution Convert organic substrates and sugar wastes Produce valuable coproducts Fermentation technology is cheap

STUDIES AT GCT ON ASBR

Seed sludge The inoculum (Distillery sludge) was collected from the sludge recycling port in the biogas plant of a distillery at Erode. Substrate The substrate consisted of the spent wash of a distillery at Udumalpet, Coimbatore.

CHARACTERISTICS OF DISTILLERY SPENT WASH

Characteristics COD BOD Total solids Total suspended solids Total dissolved solids Total volatile solids Dissolved volatile solids Volatile fatty acids Sulphates pH 93,000 mg/L 82,000 mg/L 1,19,000 mg/L 42,200 mg/L 70,800 mg/L 30,800 mg/L 21,300 mg/L 3,586 mg/L 18,476 mg/L 4.18 Concentration

ASBR FOR METHANE PRODUCTION

ASBR FOR HYDROGEN PRODUCTION

ASBR SEQUENCING CHARACTERISTICS (4hr seq.)

Parameter
Seq. characteristics
No. of sequences per day Length of sequence, hr Vol. of feed per day, ml Vol. of feed per seq, ml Vol. decanted per day, ml Vol. decanted per seq, ml Feeding time, min Reaction time, min Settling time, min Decanting time, min

Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT), hr

72
6 4 1167 194.5 1167 194.5 10 180 40 10

48
6 4 1750 291.7 1750 291.7 10 180 40 10

24
6 4 3500 583.3 3500 583.3 10 180 40 10

16
6 4 5250 875 5250 875 10 180 40 10

12
6 4 7000 1166.7 7000 1166.7 10 180 40 10

ASBR SEQUENCING CHARACTERISTICS (6hr seq.)

Parameter
Seq. characteristics
No. of sequences per day Length of sequence, hr Vol. of feed per day, ml Vol. of feed per seq, ml Vol. decanted per day, ml Vol. decanted per seq, ml Feeding time, min Reaction time, min Settling time, min Decanting time, min

Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT), hr

72
4 6 1167 291.75 1167 291.75 15 270 60 15

48
4 6 1750 437.5 1750 437.5 15 270 60 15

24
4 6 3500 875 3500 875 15 270 60 15

16
4 6 5250 1312.5 5250 1312.5 15 270 60 15

12
4 6 7000 1750 7000 1750 15 270 60 15

ASBR SEQUENCING CHARACTERISTICS (8hr seq.)

Parameter
Seq. characteristics
No. of sequences per day Length of sequence, hr Vol. of feed per day, ml Vol. of feed per seq, ml Vol. decanted per day, ml Vol. decanted per seq, ml Feeding time, min Reaction time, min Settling time, min Decanting time, min

Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT), hr

72
3 8 1167 389 1167 389 15 360 90 15

48
3 8 1750 583.3 1750 583.3 15 360 90 15

24
3 8 3500 1166.7 3500 1166.7 15 360 90 15

16
3 8 5250 1750 5250 1750 15 360 90 15

12
3 8 7000 2333.3 7000 2333.3 15 360 90 15

ANALYTICAL METHODS
The major parameters analysed for monitoring the performance of the reactor included pH, Chemical oxygen demand (COD), Bio-chemical oxygen demand (BOD), Total Solids (TS), Total Volatile Solids (VS), Total Fixed Solids (FS), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), and Volatile Suspended Solids (VSS), Volatile Fatty Acids (VFA), Carbonate Alkalinity and Biogas production. All analysis was performed in accordance with Standard Methods

CONCLUSION
For industries using large quantities of water such as distilleries, it is essential to treat and reuse their wastewater. ASBR can extensively be used for distillery wastewater treatment as an alternative for continuous systems owing to its superior biological solids retention and process control.

CONCLUSION
The emission standards can more easily be attained through control of the cycle duration and discharge operation of batch reactions, which allow for better effluent quality control.

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