INTEGRATED BIOLOGICAL REMOVAL OF COD, NITROGEN AND SULFUR FROM INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATERS

While long established as a viable wastewater treatment alternative by the Food & Beverage and Pulp & Paper industries, anaerobic technology is being increasingly accepted by market sectors such as the Chemical Processing and the Metallurgical industries. Anaerobic removal of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) in wastewaters has been applied extensively since the 1980's, and anaerobic sulfate removal has been proven in full-scale applications since the 1990's. The latest additions are a number of innovative nitrogen removal technologies of which the Anammox® technology is now also applied in a full-scale plant. The integration of these technologies results in significant cost and operational advantages. Recently, the first full-scale plants using such biological removal of COD, N and S, have been brought into operation at some processing facilities, and these plants are presented here as case histories to illustrate the possibilities such technological ingenuity provides.