Tratamento de águas residuárias de suinocultura em reator anaeróbico de leito fixo utilizando bucha vegetal de cucurbitácea como material suporte

Abstract

This study evaluated the removal of organic matter in upflow anaerobic fixed bed reactor operated continuously with loofah of cucurbit as support material for immobilization of biomass for different volumetric organic loads (VOCs). The reactor was operated for 21 days with VOC 20, 10 and 5 g total COD (L.day) -1, in the first, second and third phase, respectively. Knowing that pig farming is an activity which generate polluting waste, especially for the soil, surface water and groundwater, the application of anaerobic laboratory scale aimed at removing chemical oxygen demand (COD) for hydraulic retention time (HRT) 8 hours with dilution of the pig farming wastewater in order to achieve the above VOC. The system returned efficiencies exceeding 60%, 60% and 70% for steps 1, 2 and 3, respectively, it is considered very satisfactory due be performed in a single reactor and fixed HRT of 8 hours. Thus, the anaerobic fixed bed reactor proved efficient with the use of cucurbit loofah and affluent dilution and may be an alternative in the treatment of swine wastewater.