Investigation on anaerobic biodegradability of pharmaceutical wastewater and anaerobic treatment using UASB reactor

In this study,anaerobic biodegradability of high strength pharmaceutical wastewater from six main departments in a pharmaceutical manufacturer was firstly evaluated by a series of batch experiments. Based on the experimental data,two stage-UASBs were applied to treat the wastewater containing effluent from all man- ufacturing departments. The influence of organic loading rate( OLR) from initial 1. 0 g COD /( L·d) to maxi- mum 12. 0 g COD /( L·d) on the performance of reactor was investigated through step-decreasing HRT. Influent COD was diluted to 10 000 mg / L with the adjustment of pH to 6. 8 ~ 7. 1. Total COD removal efficiency of 73. 5% with the effluent COD of 2 600 mg / L was noticed at OLR of 6. 0 g COD /( L·d) ( maxi mum OLR for practical engineering application) . Satisfactory organic compound removal efficiency during the long term run in- dicted the feasibility of two-stage UASBs for treatment of this kind of pharmaceutical wastewater effluent.