Oxygen transfer and hydrodynamics in a flexible fibre biofilm reactor for wastewater treatment

Abstract

A flexible fibre biofilm reactor was developed for treatment of organic wastewaters. The hydrodynamic characteristics and mass transfer coefficients of oxygen were studied and compared with those of the conventional activated sludge processes. Tracer experiments were performed to obtain the residence time distributions of the reactors. The results indicated that both reactors could be treated as mixed flow reactors. The effects of flow rates of water and air on the overall mass transfer coefficient of oxygen were investigated, and the correlations between the mass transfer coefficient and the ratio of flow rates were obtained. Compared to the conventional activated sludge reactor, the mass transfer coefficients in the flexible fibre reactor were similar to but slightly lower, and less sensitive to the variation in the ratio of flow rates. It indicated that the fibre packing in the reactor hindered the oxygen transfer to some extent.