Water Science & Technology Vol 55 No 8-9 pp 159–164 © IWA Publishing 2007 doi:10.2166/wst.2007.254

Effect of temperature and salinity on the wastewater treatment performance of aerobic submerged fixed bed biofilm reactors

G. Chapanova, M. Jank, S. Schlegel and H. Koeser

The influence of temperature (5–35 °C) and salinity (up to 20 g/l NaCl) on the wastewater purification process in completely mixed and aerated submerged fixed bed biofilm reactors (SFBBRs) was studied. C- and N-conversion in SFBBRs designed according to the DWA (German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste) rules for carbon removal was investigated for several months on synthetic wastewater.

The DOC degradation rate was even at, according to the DWA, high DOC/BOD loading rates not much affected by temperatures between 5–35 °C and salt contents up to 20 g/L NaCl. At these high DOC loadings an appreciable ammonium conversion could also be observed. The ammonium conversion proved to be sensitive to temperature and salinity. At 5 °C the ammonium removal rate decreased by a factor of five compared to 25–35 °C. Under many operation conditions investigated more than 50% of the converted ammonium was transformed into gaseous nitrogen. The addition of 20 g/L NaCl caused a strong inhibition of the ammonium removal rate over the whole temperature range investigated.

Keywords: Ammonia conversion; biofilm; DWA design rules; nitrogen elimination; salt; submerged fixed bed; temperature; wastewater

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