Treatment of a High-Salt Petrochemical Effluent Using a Moving Bed Biological Reactor.

Wastewater treatment technologies have been recently improved to a great extent in order to get higher contaminant removal efficiency and to meet the stringent effluent regulations. In this context, a moving bed biological reactor (MBBR) provides large contact surface for growth of microorganisms and low volume resulting in higher performance of treatment plants. This study aims at determining the effectiveness of an in-house designed and built-up MBBR reactor in increasing COD removal efficiency in a Mahshahr Petrochemical Zone Wastewater Treatment Plant located in southwest of Iran. After 187 days of operating the reactor continuously, COD removal efficiency improvement achieved for salinity of 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, and 2% was from 89.5 to 93%, 74 to 87%, 62 to 84%, and 54 to 76%, respectively, compared to the existing treatment plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]