Anaerobic degradation of purified terephthalic acid wastewater using a novel, rapid mass-transfer circulating fluidized bed.

The anaerobic treatability of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) wastewater in a novel, rapid mass-transfer fluidized bed reactor using brick particles as porous carrier materials was investigated. The reactor operation was stable after a short 34 day start-up period, with chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency between 65 and 75%, terephthalate (TA) removal efficiency between 60% and 70%, and system organic loading rate (OLR) increasing from 7.37 to 18.52 kg COD/m(3) d. The results demonstrate that the reactor is very efficient, and requires a low hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 8 h to remove both TA and COD from the high-concentration PTA wastewater. The system also has high resistance capacity to varied OLR.