Bioreactor with Biochar treatment

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Dear Collegues

Is it possible to have  Bioreactor enhanced by biochar  for treatment of hospital wastewater. Kindly help me with some literature , what are the major problems of such Bioreators  and how much it is effective for treatment of hospital or pharmaceutical effluents. 

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4 Answers

  1. We have used biochar (to be clear, elemental carbon) in anoxic biochemical reactors  filled with static media for treating acidic and neutral mining influenced water.  The biochar is not consumed or degraded, but functions as an electron shuttle that facilitates redox reactions.  Xu et al. reported in Environmental Science and Technology in 2016 (Biochar-Facilitated Microbial Reduction of Hematite) that biochar accelerated the rate of hematite (Fe2O3) reduction by two-fold.  In bench scale testing, we found that including nominal amounts of biochar (18% by wt.) to biochemical reactors filled predominantly with wood chips reduced nitrate and sulfate at about the same kinetic rate as BCRs filled predominantly with more-easily digested straw mixed with only 7% biochar.  The recommendations below to conduct bench and pilot testing are good, but you might want to start with an "Edisonian" approach of multiple jar tests or proof of concept mini-reactors of 250 mL size to identify the most promising mixes before advancing to bench testing. Good luck.

  2. The short answer is yes. But for how long and how effectively is another concern. I suggest to do an analysis of the main pharma compounds present in the water. If you have that, you need to determine if there are any that may be harmful to bacteria. They need to be oxidized.
    Instead of biochar, use a high surface area biocarrier, like PVA-gel (Kuraray). It's very effective for treatment of high strength wastewater. This will give you the best results.

    As commented by others, you may also try using O3, I promote ADP, using O3/UV, to produce hydroxyl ions.

    Depending on the level of pollutants, you may need a combination of both.

    If you have the opportunity to do bench scale testing do so. Depending on your location, I can put you in contact with the biocarrier company.

    I hope this helps.

  3. Kevin is quite right. The biochar is used for many things. But hospital waste is not one of them.  Bioreactors are only as effective as the microbial and nutritional balance you provide. Those items  requiring Oxygenation must have it to make the waste pathogen and toxic free. The bioremediation technology uses as a primary species of microbe called Archaea. When you have the content of the waste defined you may need some bacterial and fungi agents. One side benefit. The Archaea make the Oxygen more available so adding additional is not required. Currently the average cost of archaea products in waste water treatment is about one cent per every 50 gallons.

  4. Hi , Biochar will get exhausted in a time period and would have to be regenerated or landfilled. Also turbulant movement in bioreactor will fragment your biochar which will end up in your effluent . 

    Suggestions:

    Use biocarriers with a high m2/m3 e.g Mutag biochip . 

    Use a multimedia filter ex the bioreactor e.g dynasand 

    Use O3 ex bioreactor to destroy the pharmaceuticals in effluent 

    Hope this helps