Abstract

LOPEZ LOPEZ, Alberto; BARRERA FRAIRE, Jorge; VALLEJO RODRIGUEZ, Ramiro  and  BARAHONA ARGUETA, Carlos. Comparative study between A physicochemical and A biological process to treat slaughterhouse wastewater. INCI [online]. 2008, vol.33, n.7, pp.490-496. ISSN 0378-1844.

A comparative study between physicochemical and biological processes to treat slaughterhouse wastewater was carried out at the laboratory level. The physicochemical treatment consisted of a coagulation-flocculation process, using alum as coagulant and an anionic polymer as flocculant. The best observed chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency was 94% with 250mg·l^-1 of alum and 5mg·l^-1 of anionic polymer and pH=4. On the other hand, the biological process consisted of sequentially coupled anaerobic/aerobic (An/Ar) treatments using an anaerobic filter (AF) and a sequencing batch reactor (SBR), respectively. The AF operated with organic loadings (OL) ranging from 3.7 to 16.5kg·m^-3·d^-1. The efficiencies of COD removal ranged 50-81% and were inversely proportional to the OL value. The organic matter (OM) degradation by aerobic treatment in the SBR followed pseudo-first-order kinetics with respect to OM concentration. The removal of COD by the coupled AF+SBR was 97% at a hydraulic retention time of 20h in the AF and 9h of aeration in the SBR.

Keywords : Aerobio ; Agua Residual ; Anaerobio ; Coagulación-Floculación ; Matadero ; Rastro .