Petroleum Refinery Effluent Biodegradation in Sequencing Batch Reactor

Petroleum refineries are looking for an alternative wastewater treatment method to ensure that they will meet the regulatory limit of effluent discharge standard set in environmental quality regulations. In this study, the overall goal was to monitor the treatment efficiency by a lab scale process in order to determine the degradation process in a batch biological treatment system. Three different configuration of sequencing batch reactor were used to treat petroleum refinery wastewater (PRWW). Aerobic SBR for raw PRWW, two-stage anaerobic-aerobic SBR for raw PRWW, and aerobic for mixed raw PRWW and domestic wastewater. The process was operated continuously in batch mode with continuous operation and monitoring with regards to COD, Ammonia-nitrogen, Nitrate-nitrogen, Phosphorous, Sulfate, MLSS, MLVSS. The effluent sCOD, Ammonia-nitrogen, Nitrate-nitrogen, TSS, and VSS for aerobic SBR were 54 mg/L, 5.9 mg/L, 1.47 mg/L, 66 mg/L, and 19 mg/L respectively. And for two-stage anaerobic-aerobic SBR were 49 mg/L, 0.8 mg/L, 3.1 mg/L, 60 mg/L, and 17 mg/L respectively. And for the aerobic SBR treating mixed PRWW with domestic were 53 mg/L, 0.8 mg/L, 1.9 mg/L, 76 mg/L, and 52 mg/L respectively. As a result, combined anaerobic-aerobic SBR treating PRWW gave pathway for maximum biodegradation and showed relatively better performance.