Proceedings of the 19th IAHR-APD Congress 2014, Hanoi, Vietnam

ISBN 978604821338-1

TREATMENT OF SEAFOOD PROCESSING WASTEWATER USING A MOVING BED BIOFILM REACTOR (MBBR)

NGUYEN THI NHU NGOC, LE MINH TAI & TO THI HIEN

VNUHCM - University of Science, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam,
e-mail: tohien@hcmus.edu.vn

ABSTRACT
The continuously operated laboratory scale moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) with Kaldnes K3 carrier was proposed
for treatment seafood processing wastewater. The reactor was operated at 6 organic loading rates 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3; 4 and 5
kgCOD/m 3.day with the constant hydraulic retention time 8 h. The results showed that the suitable organic loading rate
was 4 kgCOD/m 3.day. The average results of COD, NH 4+-N, Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN) and Total Phosphorus (TP)
removal efficiencies were 95.9%, 89.6%, 76.5% and 66.8%, respectively. The effluent met Vietnam Technical Regulation
on the effluent of aquatic products processing industry QCVN 11:2008/BTNMT, column B. The study has shown that
MBBR can be operated at the high organic loading rate compare to other aerobic processes and it is feasible for
simultaneous organic compounds and nutrient removal from seafood processing wastewater.

Keywords: moving bed biofilm reactor, Kaldnes K3 carrier, seafood processing wastewater

1. INTRODUCTION aiming at removing the major organics and nutrients

from
Vietnam, with a coastline of over 3260 kilometers (km)
and more than 3000 islands and islets scattered offshore, The wastewater. Furthermore, effects of the organic
plus up to 2860 rivers and estuaries, has been considered loading rate on the performance of the MBBR were
one of the most countries with rich seafood resources. investigated.
The fishery sector plays an important role in the national
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
economy. Production in the fishery sector has grown
more and more to meet domestic demands and export. 2.1. Seafood processing wastewater
However, similar to most processing industries, seafood
The wastewater used in this study was collected after fish
processing operations produce wastewater, which
processing at Thu Duc market, Thu Duc District, Ho Chi
contains high organic and nutrient concentration. The
Minh City twice a week to limit the wastewater from
levels of contaminants vary largely between factory and
undergoing biodegradation on account of microbial
seafood type. Adequate treatment is therefore imperative
action.
before the effluent is discharged.
2.2. Set-up and operation of the MBBR
Biofilm processes have proved to be reliable for organic
carbon and nitrogen removal without some of the A glass reactor with a rectangular shape was used in the
problems of activated sludge processes (Yang et al., experiments with the effective volume of 30 L, followed
2009). The moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) process by a 10 L volume setting tank. The reactor was occupied
was introduced about 30 years ago and it has since with Kaldnes carrier elements (Figure 1, made of
become popular in Europe (Odegaard, 2006; Trapani et polyethylene, surface area 350 m 2/m3, diameter 25 mm.
al., 2008, 2010). The basic idea of the MBBR is to have a The filling ratio (volumetric filling in empty reactor) was
continued operation biofilm reactor with the high density about 50%. Aeration was provided in the bottom of the
of biomass and without backwashing or sludge return. reactor. The experimental set-up is shown in Figure 2.
MBBR technology employs a great deal of carriers
operating in mixed motion within an aerated wastewater
treatment basin. Each individual carrier increases
productivity through providing protected surface area to
support the growth of heterotrophic and autotrophic
bacteria within its cells. The high-density population of
bacteria that achieves high-rate biodegradation within the
system, while also offering process reliability and ease of
operation. Contrary to most biofilm reactors, the MBBR
utilizes the whole tank volume for biomass growth, and
would be more efficient and stable to removal pollutants.
Figure 1. The Kaldnes K3 carrrier
In this paper, an aerated MBBR with Kaldnes K3 carrier
was used to treat wastewater from seafood processing,

1
 started with an OLR of 1 kgCOD/m 3.day. During 60 days
of reactor operation, the influent COD (COD in) levels
Initially, the reactor was inoculated with the activated gradually increased from 350 to 1700 mg/L in seven
sludge collected from the full-scale facility in Binh Chieu phases, with OLRs increasing from 1 to 5
Industrial Parks, Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City. kgCOD/m 3.day. HRT was maintained 8h in the MBBR.
The total suspended solid (SS) content was 3000 mg/L. Each phase took about a week to reach steady state.
The performance of the MBBR was investigated in
Table 2. Operation strategy of MBBR reactor
different organic loading rate (OLR). The OLR was
gradually increased from 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 4 to 5 Days HRT OLR COD in COD eff
kgCOD/m 3.day by keeping hydraulic retention time (h) (kgCOD/m3.day) (mg/L) (mg/L)
(HRT) at 8 h and increasing COD concentration from 350 1-7 8 1 361.19.5 44.25.0
to 1700 mg/L. The feed was made by diluting the raw 8-15 8 1.5 481.321.1 23.49.5
wastewater to the desired COD concentration with the 16-20 8 2 634.946.5 17.96.4
tap water. The pH in the reactor ranged between 7.3 and 21-28 8 2.5 850.042.7 37.014.0
8.0 during the experiments. 29-36 8 3 1026.450 25.410.6
37-44 8 4 1332.074.0 54.011.7
45-60 8 5 1673.662.0 223.0117.3

Figure 3 shows the evolution of COD in the influent and

Figure 2. Experimental model
2.3. Analytical methods
During the period of continuous operation, pollution
parameters of the samples taken from the influent and
effluent of the MBBR were analyzed immediately. COD,
pH were determined every day, other parameters (Total
Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN), N_NH 4+, N_NO 2-, N_NO 3-,
Total Phosphorus (TP)) were conducted three times a
week according to Standard Methods for Water and
Wastewater Examination (APHA, 2005).
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
3.1. Wastewater characteristics
Table 1. Seafood processing wastewater from Thu Duc market
effluent and the removal efficiency obtained with the
enhancement of influent pollutant concentration. In the
first phase OLR 1 kgCOD/m 3.day, the activated sludge
spent time to acclimate with wastewater. However, the
COD removal efficiency of the reactor was rather high,
about 84.7% after 1 day operation. COD concentration
dropped from 356.4 mg/L in influent to 54.4 mg/L in
effluent. After a week, the COD removal efficiency rise
sharply from 84.7% to 91.1% at the end of phase. In the
second phase OLR 1.5 kgCOD/m 3.day, with feed COD
481.31.1 mg/L, the effluent COD (COD eff)
concentration was very low, about 23.49.5 mg/L. The
COD removal efficiency was in the range 93.6 97.8%.
From OLR 2 to 3 kgCOD/m 3.day, COD removal
efficiency was table and reached 97% at the end of each
phase. COD effluent concentration was always lower the
number of column A, QCVN 11: 2008/BTNMT (COD <
50 mg/L).

Parameters Unit Concentration QCVN

11:2008/BTNMT
A B
pH - 6-9 6-9 5.5-9
COD mg/L 4400-4600 50 80
N_NH4+ mg/L 211-908 10 20
TKN mg/L 327-1763 30 60
Figure 3: The performance of MBBR in the term of COD removal
TP mg/L 26.5-238.3 - -

Note: QCVN 11:2008/BTNMT: Vietnam Technical Regulation on the
effluent of aquatic products processing industry
Raw wastewater collected after fish processing was
analyzed to determined pollution parameters before
feeding the reactor. Table 1 shows wastewater
characteristics in this study. As shown in the table, the
raw wastewater contains very high organics and
nutrients and all pollution parameters exceed Vietnam
regulation many times.
3.2. Organic removal efficiency
When the OLR increased to 4 kgCOD/m 3.day, COD
removal efficiency dropped from 97% at the end of OLR
3 kgCOD/m 3.day to 94.2% at the beginning of OLR 4
kgCOD/m 3.day. COD effluent concentration was 75.8
mg/L, higher than the number of column A, QCVN 11:
2008/BTNMT but met QCVN 11:2008, column B. In the
following days, COD removal efficiency rise steadily to
96% and remained stable until the end of phase. In the
OLR 4 kgCOD/m 3.day, COD effluent concentration was
always lower than 60 mg/L and met Vietnam Technical
Regulation (column B, QCVN 11:2008/BTNMT).

The conditions used during operation of the MBBR When the OLR finally increased from 4 to 5
reactor are shown in Table 2. The MBBR reactor was kgCOD/m 3.day, COD removal efficiency dropped from

2
96% to 92.5%, COD effluent concentration rise sharply
from 50.5 mg/L at the end of OLR 4 kgCOD/m 3.day to
128.8 mg/L in the beginning of the OLR 5
kgCOD/m 3.day, indicating that the bacteria activity was
inhibited in some way. Four days later, COD removal
efficiency rise gradually from 92.5% to 97%, COD
effluent concentration decreased to 49.8 mg/L. It can be
explained that in these days the pump was stuck so that
the loading rate decreased. After the pump was repaired,
the loading rate was stable, COD removal efficiency
dropped significant to 86.7% and fluctuated in low
efficiency. At the end of OLR 5 kgCOD/m 3.day, COD
removal efficiency was stable at 85%. COD effluent
concentration reached 237.2 30.9 mg/L and was higher
than Vietnam National Technical Regulation . It can be
explained that the bacteria activity was inhibited in OLR
5 kgCOD/m 3.day. The results showed that the MBBR
with K3 carrier could be operated with high OLR
compare to other aerobic processes.
Figure 4: a) b) c)
The biomass attached to K3 carrier at the end of OLR:
a) 1; b) 1.5; c) 5 kgCOD/m3.day
The biomass attached to the K3 carrier increased during
operation time. The inside surface area of K3 carrier was
covered with a brown biofilm. The amount of SS is 119.3
mg attached per K3 carrier at the end of operation time.
3.3. Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen removal efficiency
Figure 5: The performance of MBBR in the term of TKN removal
Figure 5 shows the evolution of TKN in the influent and
effluent and the removal efficiency obtained in each
organic loading rate. In these days started operation,
there was lack of TKN data because the study
concentrated on stability of the MBBR reactor. From OLR
1.5 kgCOD/m 3.day, TKN parameter was analyzed three
times in each OLR. The influent TKN concentration was
increased from 25.2 to 178.8 mg/L corresponding to OLR
increased from 1.5 to 5 kgCOD/m 3.day. TKN removal
efficiency was rather stable in high performance until
OLR 4 kgCOD/m 3.day, about 74.67.2%. TKN effluent
concentration was always lower than the number in
column B, QCVN 11:2008/BTNMT. When K3 carrier was
covered by the brown biofilm, oxygen diffusion was
decreased from upper to lower biofilm layer, upper layer
was aerobic and lower layers were anoxic or even
anaerobic. It resulted in higher treatment quality and
assist in removing TKN levels by promoting nitrification
in the aerobic layer and denitrification in the anoxic and
anaerobic layers.
In the last OLR, TKN influent concentration rose sharply
and TKN effluent concentration was higher than Vietnam
National Technical Regulation.
3.4. Phosphorus removal efficiency
Figure 6 shows the performance of MBBR reactor in the
term of phosphorus removal. It can be seen that the
highest removal efficiency was obtained in OLR 1.5 and
2.5 kgCOD/m 3.day, from 92.9 to 96.4%. In higher OLRs,
phosphorus removal efficiency fluctuated significantly
and tended to reduce. The average removal efficiency of
OLR 3, 4 and 5 kgCOD/m 3.day were 75.7, 66.8 and 24%,
respectively.
Figure 6: The performance of MBBR in the term of TP removal
It can be explained that phosphorus concentration was
reduced because microorganisms used phosphorus as
nutrient for their growth. When phosphorus
concentration rose, it was in excess of assimilation ability
of microorganisms.
CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study show that the MBBR with
Kaldnes K3 carrier could be operated in higher organic
loading rate compare to other aerobic processes. Good
treatment performance could be achieved in the highest
organic load rate of 4 kgCOD/m 3.day. The average
removal efficiency of COD, TKN and TP were 95.9%,
89.6%, 76.5% and 66.8%, respectively. The effluent met
standards QCVN 11:2008/BTNMT, column B.
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