Indian Journal of Science and Technology

Abstract

Background/Objective: The Indian paper industry accounts for about 3% of the world’s production of paper. So the generation and disposal of paper and pulp industry wastewater is very high. Disposal of untreated mill effluent will damage the environment. Therefore treatment of papermill effluent is necessary. Methods/Statistical Analysis: In this investigationthe bleach liquor from thepaper mill wastewater is subjected to biological treatment process. Usually bleach liquor is not effective in the biological treatment process.In this study along with the effluent, cow dung and activated sludge from domestic wastewater are added as a seeding materials by the ratio of 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% replacement in the 500ml serum bottle and closed tightly to maintain anaerobic condition. The wastewater initial characters are analyzed and evaluated the biogas production daily. Finally if the gas production stopped the wastewater and the seeding materials inside the reactor is characterized. Findings: The 50% wastewater and the 50% seeding materials (cow dung and activated sludge combination) gave the high yield of biogas and degrade the organic contaminants effectively. Improvement/ Applications: Theactivated sludge is used as a seeding material to biodegrade the organic pollutants present in the wastewater especially the bleach liquor. It will help to improve the biological treatment process of bleach liquor effluent treatment with activated sludge in continuous mode of operation to treat the effluent.
Keywords: Anaerobic Digestor, Activated Sludge, Batch Reactor, Biogas, Biological Treatment Process, Paper and Pulp