Phenol‐ and Thiocyanate‐Based Wastewater Treatment in RBC Reactor

Abstract

A laboratory-scale investigation at ambient temperature was performed to examine the applicability of a four-stage across-the-flow rotating biological contactor (RBC) reactor for the treatment of synthetic wastewater containing phenol and thiocyanate. The composition was so maintained that the phenol to thiocyanate ratio approximated that usually found in coal carbonization effluent. In the combined treatment of the toxicants, it was noted that the toxicants were removed in sequence. Phenol was mostly removed in the earlier (first and second) stages, while thiocyanate-fed microbes acted more efficiently in the latter stages (third and fourth). The overall reaction rate coefficient for phenol biodegradation (