Bioresource Technology 121 (2012) 3135Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Bioresource Technology

journal homepage: www.elsevier .com/locate /bior techAntibiotic Fermentation Broth Treatment by a pilot upflow anaerobic sludgebed reactor and kinetic modeling

T. Coskun a,, H.A. Kabuk a, K.B. Varinca a, E. Debik a, I. Durak b, C. Kavurt ca Environmental Engineering Department, Yildiz Technical University, 34220 Esenler, Istanbul, TurkeybDeva Kartepe API Production Plant, 41135 Kocaeli, TurkeycHidromer Aritma Sistemleri Ltd. Sti., 41040 Kocaeli, Turkey

h i g h l i g h t s

" Anaerobic fermentation broth could be efficiently treated by upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor." The highest chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency was obtained as 95.7%." The highest methane production rate was 0:30 Lmethane g1CODremoved." The results of the study were interpreted using the various kinetic models." The results showed a close relationship with all kinetic models used.a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:Received 17 May 2012Received in revised form 27 June 2012Accepted 28 June 2012Available online 7 July 2012

Keywords:Anaerobic treatmentAntibiotic fermentation broth wastewaterKinetic modelUASB0960-8524/$ - see front matter 2012 Elsevier Ltd. Ahttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2012.06.102

Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 2123835379; faxE-mail address: tcoskun@yildiz.edu.tr (T. Coskun).a b s t r a c t

In this study, an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) mesophilic reactor was used to remove antibi-otic fermentation broth wastewater. The hydraulic retention time was held constant at 13.3 days. Thevolumetric organic loading value increased from 0.33 to 7.43 kgCOD m

3 d1 using antibiotic fermentationbroth wastewater gradually diluted with various ratios of domestic wastewater. A COD removal effi-ciency of 95.7% was obtained with a maximum yield of 3,700 L d1 methane gas production. The resultsof the study were interpreted using the modified StoverKincannon, first-order, substrate mass balanceand Van der Meer and Heertjes kinetic models. The obtained kinetic coefficients showed that antibioticfermentation broth wastewater can be successfully treated using a UASB reactor while taking CODremoval and methane production into account.

2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.1. Introduction

Antibiotic production is a significant portion of the pharmaceu-tical industry. In the past, antibiotics were obtained from a varietyof bacteria and fungi. Currently, antibiotics can be produced fromnatural or synthetic chemicals. One of the most important methodsof antibiotic production is passing fermentation broth containingclavulanic acid through membrane systems to separate out impu-rities (Brites Alves et al., 2002). The portion that fails to pass theultrafiltration membrane is referred to as the waste of the fermen-tation broth. A review of the literature indicates that there is nostudy regarding the disposal of these wastes, and they pose impor-tant problems for the industries producing the raw materials forantibiotics in Turkey. These wastes cause damage to the naturalenvironment, due to the content of hardly biodegradable organicmaterials. For this reason, studies on the treatment of these wastesll rights reserved.

: +90 2123835356.are required. Upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactorshave not been used in the pharmaceutical industry to treat thistype of waste, even though they have been successfully used forother types of wastewater (Chen et al., 2011; Guo et al., 2012; Ok-tem et al., 2008; Satyanarayan et al., 2009). In this study, the treat-ment of antibiotic fermentation broth waste was examined using aUASB reactor. The results of this study were applied to the modi-fied StoverKincannon, first-order, substrate mass balance andVan der Meer and Heertjes kinetic models, and the kinetic coeffi-cients obtained in this study were compared with those found inthe literature.2. Methods

2.1. Anaerobic digester

A pilot UASB reactor with a volume of approximately 2 m3 wasused in this study. Wastewater was fed to the reactor on a daily ba-

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2012.06.102mailto:tcoskun@yildiz.edu.trhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2012.06.102http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/09608524http://www.elsevier.com/locate/biortech

Antibiotic Fermentation Broth Treatment by a pilot upflow anaerobic sludge bed reactor and kinetic modeling1 Introduction2 Methods2.1 Anaerobic digester2.2 Wastewater2.3 Operating conditions2.4 Kinetic models2.4.1 Modified StoverKincannon model2.4.2 First-order kinetic model2.4.3 Substrate mass balance model2.4.4 Van der Meer and Heertjes model

3 Results and discussion3.1 COD removal3.2 Methane production3.3 Kinetic modeling3.3.1 Modified StoverKincannon model3.3.2 First-order model3.3.3 Substrate mass balance model3.3.4 Van der Meer and Heertjes model

4 ConclusionAcknowledgementReferences