Oil field wastewater treatment in Biological Aerated Filter by immobilized microorganisms

As an alternative to the conventional activated sludge (CAS) process, this paper investigates the use of B350M and B350 group microorganisms immobilized on carriers in a pair of Biological Aerated Filter (BAF) reactors to pre-treat oil field wastewater before desalination. By operating the biodegradation system for 142 days with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 4  h and volumetric load 1.07  kg COD (m³  d)^−1  at last, the reactor immobilized with B350M achieved mean degradation efficiencies of 78% for total organic carbon (TOC) and 94% for oil, whereas that with B350 only reached 64% for TOC and 86% for oil. The influent wastewater contains organic substances from C₁₃H₂₈  to C₃₂H₆₆, and a total of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The degradation efficiencies of PAHs in the BAF immobilized with B350M and B350 microorganisms are 90% and 84%, respectively. It is observed that the biological diversity of microorganisms in the reactor containing B350M (seven more strains of bacteria survive) is richer than in that containing B350. A large quantity of filamentous microorganisms developed in both reactors without causing foaming or bulking.

Justification

Wastewater from oil fields need to be treated before it is released into the environment, and in this paper, they  evaluate the capability of immobilized microorganisms to treat the oil field wastewater. I found their research to be very interesting and it is an important topic.

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