Evaluation of the aerobic process performance for treating tannery effluent in the fungicide presence and ammoniacal nitrogen high concentration

  • Andressa Corso Programa de Pós-Graduação em Tecnologias Ambientais. Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR), Câmpus Medianeira, Avenida Brasil, n° 4232, CEP: 85722-332, Medianeira, PR, Brazil.
  • Fábio Orssatto Departamento Acadêmico de Ciências Ambientais e Biológicas. Programa de Pós Graduação em Tecnologias Ambientais. Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR), Câmpus Medianeira, Avenida Brasil, n° 4232, CEP: 85722-332, Medianeira, PR, Brazil.
  • Leandro Fleck Núcleo de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde. Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS), Cidade Universitária de Dourados, Caixa Postal 351, CEP: 79804-970, Dourados, MS, Brazil.
  • Flavia Manente da Silva Departamento Acadêmico de Ciências Ambientais e Biológicas. Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR), Câmpus Medianeira, Avenida Brasil, n° 4232, CEP: 85722-332, Medianeira, PR, Brazil.

Abstract

Leather processing is characterized by the generation of effluents with a high concentration of ammonia nitrogen (N-NH4+) and the presence of fungicides. This study evaluated the interference of these two constituents on the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and N-NH4+. To this end, an aerated reactor operating in a batch system was used. The effects of cycle time, fungicide volume, and initial N-NH4+ concentration on COD and N-NH4+ removal was evaluated using a Centralized Rotational Composite Design. The highest COD removal (45.45%) occurred under the conditions of 72 h, 0.55 mL of fungicide, and 62.5 mg L-1 of N-NH4+, and the lowest removal (8.24%) occurred under the conditions of 24 h, 0.28 mL of fungicide and 84.8 mg L-1 of N-NH4+. The highest removal of N-NH4+ (38.49%) occurred under the conditions of 42 h, 0.55 mL of fungicide, and 62.5 mg L-1 of N-NH4+, and the lowest removal (4.26%) occurred under the conditions of 24.1 h, 0.82 mL of fungicide and 84.8 mg L-1 of N-NH4+. Through statistical analysis, it was possible to obtain mathematical models for the two response variables, which satisfactorily described the removal efficiency of COD and N-NH4+, and through the desirability analysis, it was possible to optimize the treatment process operation with a cycle time of 58.15h, with the addition of 0.62 mL of fungicide and 57.91 mg L-1 of ammoniacal nitrogen. Although the removal of N-NH4+ via nitrification is an efficient technique in industrial effluent treatment, the results obtained in this work indicate that the removal of N-NH4+ was significantly affected by the presence of the fungicide. Keywords: biological treatment, chemical oxygen demand, DCCR, TCMTB.


Published
10/01/2025
Section
Papers