Bioremediation of phenol containing wastewater by aerobic granules in sequencing batch reactor Farrukh Basheer and I H Farooqi Environmental Engineering Section, Department of Civil Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, , INDIA The use of aerobic biological treatment can be traced back to the late nineteenth century. The most common and longest standing methods of aerobic treatment has been the activated sludge process. These days a new innovation in aerobic process has been developed known as aerobic granular sludge technology. It has many advantages over the conventional activated sludge process i.e. it can withstand fluctuating loads; lesser space requirement; lower biomass production due to high biomass retention. These aerobic granules are cultivated inside the sequencing batch reactor (SBRs) in which the separations of sludge and effluent takes place inside the same reactor. Figure : Microscopic and SEM image of fully developed granules on day 45 and Macrostructure photo of granules in 90mm Petri dish on day 45. The cultivation and hydrodynamic properties such as morphology, fractal dimension, porosity, size distribution, and settling velocity of stable aerobic granules, developed in a sequencing batch reactor SBR was investigated in this study. A column type SBR was operated with organic loading rate of 0.3 kg phenol /m 3 day with phenol as a sole carbon source. The phenol loading rate was then increased to 1.8 kg phenol/m 3 day and an efficiency of 79% was achieved.. In the final phase of the reactor the MLVSS, SVI, MCRT, F/M and size of granule in the reactor was 8.9g/L, 63 ml/g MLVSS, 19.8 days, 0.40 and mm respectively. Aerobic granules were visible within 30 days of operation of the reactor. The granules were larger and stronger and had a compact structure. The granules were fractal and porous aggregates and had a fractal dimension and porosity of 2.47 and respectively. The settling velocities of aerobic granules were in the range of 2.38x m/s-7.1x m/s. This was in good agreement with the settling velocities predicted by Stoke’s law for porous but impermeable spheres. It may be due to the EPS (Extracellular Polymeric Substances) produced by bacteria form a gel matrix that clogs the pores within the granules. The results suggested that fast settling aerobic granules can be cultivated on toxic substrate in SBR which can favoured for its industrial wastewater treatment application. 2nd IWA Specialized International Conference ‘Ecotechnologies for Wastewater Treatment Plants’ (EcoSTP2014 ) Presenter Photograph Materials and Methods A laboratory scale SBR with an effective volume of 2 L was used to cultivate aerobic granules. The internal diameter of the reactor was 5 cm and the working H/D (Height/Diameter) was about 20. Fine air bubbles for aeration and mixing were supplied by diffusers placed at the reactor bottom. Superficial air velocity was maintained in the range of 2-3 cm/s. A reactor was operated sequentially in 8 h cycles which consist of 5 min of influent filing, min of aeration, 5-30 min of settling and 3 min of effluent withdrawal. Effluent was discharged at 50 cm from the bottom of the reactor with a volumetric exchange ratio of 50%.. Results and Discussion Figure:Reactor Performance Introduction Figure:Experimental Setup