నైరూప్య

AEROBIC GRANULATION - AN ECONOMICALLY VIABLE OPTION FOR THE TREATMENT OF WASTEWATER

B.K. Bindhu, G. Madhu

Aerobic granulation technology is an improvement over conventional activated sludge process. Granulation in sequencing batch reactors leaves a small footprint, as separate settling units are not required. Aerobic granulation was experimented in a laboratory scale sequencing batch reactor with a short settling time of 3 min and organic loading rate as 6 kg chemical oxygen demand/(m3.d). Compact and dense granules of excellent settling velocity of 72 m/hr were developed with a sludge volume index of 23 ml/g with in 5 weeks. A COD removal efficiency of 97.6 % was achieved in steady state. The possibility of a very short settling time was successfully proved by this experiment