Fluidized Bed Bioreactor Technology: Implementation and Operation for Industrial Contaminated Water Treatment

With the emergence of increasingly stringent regulations for organics, nitrate, perchlorate, selenium, hexavalent chromium and other contaminants in water and wastewater, the need for more cost-effective treatment of these compounds from industrial sources is of paramount importance. In general, biological treatment is a comprehensive, sustainable solution that can offer a lower cost alternative to more expensive physical and chemical treatment methods. For well over a decade, the fluidized bed bioreactor (FBR) technology has been successfully utilized across many different industrial markets for the treatment of water and wastewater recalcitrant contaminants. The FBR is an active, fixed-film bioreactor that fosters the growth of microorganisms on a hydraulically fluidized bed of fine media. These microorganism are utilized to aerobically, anoxically, and/or anaerobically to treat organics and anions of concern. Several case studies demonstrating the efficacy of the FBR technology on various contaminated wastewater streams are available. For these case studies, background information and performance results are highlighted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the FBR system as an industrial wastewater treatment technology.