Anoxic and oxic biological fluidized bed treatment of amines and phenol

Significant amounts of nitrogenous organic compounds found in industrial wastewaters can have major deleterious effects on the environment and public health; therefore, the removal of these compounds has become an essential component in industrial wastewater treatment. In this work the biodegradability of diisopropylamine and monoethylamine - compounds commonly found in petroleum refinery wastewater - was investigated under oxic and anoxic conditions. Biological fluidized bed reactors were employed in the investigation of single-stage carbon oxidation and nitrification with the amines and phenol as the compounds targeted for removal. Complete carbonaceous oxidation was achieved with a 50% nitrification rate. The feasibility of utilizing the amines and phenol as the organic carbon source for denitrification in an anoxic biological fluidized bed process was also examined. Carbon removal under anoxic conditions was greater than 85% at carbon loading rates less than 0.05 mg TOC/mg biomass-day and decreased to 60% at higher loading rates. Over the range of loading rates tested, the average ratio of mg TOC removed to mg NO₃⁻-N utilized was observed to be 1.26.