Alexandria Engineering Journal (2020) 59, 5187–5196

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Alexandria University

Alexandria Engineering Journal

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Performance comparison of phenol removal in

pharmaceutical wastewater by activated sludge and
extended aeration augmented with activated carbon
Basim M. Mareai a,b, Mai Fayed b, Samia Ahmed Aly b,*, Walid Ibrahim Elbarki b

a
Civil Engineering Department, AL-Qalam University Collage, Kirkuk, Iraq
b
Sanitary Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University, Lotfy El-Sied st. off Gamal Abd El-Naser –
Al Azaritah WA Ash Shatebi – Qesm Bab Sharqi, Alexandria 03 5910052, Egypt

Received 13 February 2020; revised 23 July 2020; accepted 17 September 2020

Available online 9 October 2020

KEYWORDS Abstract This study investigated the removal of phenol, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), and
Pharmaceutical; ammonia from pharmaceutical wastewater using activated sludge (AS) and extended aeration
Phenol; (EA) systems. Also, the impact of adding activated carbon media on the performance of the two
Chemical oxygen demand; systems has been studied. Synthetic sewage was used with a composition of COD equaling
Activated sludge; 1500 mg/L. The experimental work was divided into five scenarios for the two reactors based on
Extended aeration; the Phenol concentration, 0.0 mg/L in the first scenario, 50.0 mg/L in the second and third scenar-
Activated carbon ios, but activated carbon has been added to the third one. The concentration of Phenol was
100.0 mg/L and 150.0 mg/L for the fourth and fifth scenarios, respectively. The experimental results
indicated that EA system gives higher removal efficiency than that by AS system for COD, phenol,
and ammonia. In addition adding activated carbon of just 1.0 gm/L of the working reactor volume
in both systems (AS, EA) has improved the removal efficiency. GPS-X simulator was employed to
predict the performances of the biological systems under high effluent concentration of COD reach-
ing up to 19000 mg/L. The simulation results indicated that EA effluent could comply with Egyp-
tian Cod (Law no 44/2000).
Ó 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria
University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction

Pharmaceutical wastewaters are generally categorized as one

* Corresponding author. of the main complex and toxic industrial wastewaters with
E-mail addresses: basim.marei@alqalam.edu.iq (B.M. Mareai), mai. high Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen
fayed@alexu.edu.eg (M. Fayed), samia.aly@alexu.edu.eg (S.A. Aly), Demand (COD), total suspended solid (TSS), toxicity, and
welbarki76@gmail.com (W.I. Elbarki). odor as well as low BOD/COD ratio. Moreover, wastewater
Peer review under responsibility of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria from pharmaceutical industry might contain various amounts
University.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2020.09.048
1110-0168 Ó 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
5188
of organic solvents, catalysts, raw materials, and reaction
intermediates which make their treatment procedure compli-
cated [1–3]. The presence of toxic or recalcitrant substances
in such wastewater results in lower Chemical oxygen demand
(COD) removal efficiencies [4]. Physio-chemical processes such
as enhanced coagulation and electrochemical processes have
been demonstrated to treat such wastewater effluents (Journal
of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 2013, Journal of
Water Process Engineering, 2020) [5,6]. Biological treatment
methods have traditionally been used for the management of
pharmaceutical wastewater [7]. They may be subdivided into
aerobic and anaerobic processes. Aerobic applications include
activated sludge, membrane batch reactors and sequence batch
reactors [7–11]. Conventional activated sludge with a long
hydraulic retention time (HRT) has historically been used
for the treatment of pharmaceutical industry wastewater
[12,13]. It has a lower capital cost than more advanced treat-
ment methods and a limited operational requirement; it is gen-
erally more environmentally friendly than chlorination.
During chlorination, the chlorinated organic compounds and
pharmaceutical compounds present in effluents are formed.
These compounds are serious concerns. But in the biological
technology, the organic and inorganic contaminants change
into gases and digested sludge that can be the safely disposed.
However, high energy consumption, the production of large
amounts of sludge [3], and operational problems including
color, foaming and bulking in secondary clarifiers are associ-
ated with activated sludge plants [13]. Factors which affect
the efficiency of activated sludge facilities for the treatment
of pharmaceutical wastewater include HRT, temperature,
pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), organic load, microbial commu-
nity, presence of toxic or recalcitrant substances, and the batch
operation of pharmaceutical production facilities [7,11,14].
These variables require modification for adaptation of phar-
maceutical industry wastewater treatment.
Phenolic compounds are one of the main components of
anti-pruritic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic and blemish
removal pharmaceuticals. A large amount of utilized phenolic
compound caused phenol contamination in environment
including municipal and industrial wastewater treatment sys-
tems [15,16]. The contamination from pharmaceutical uses
and pharmaceutical production could be up to milligram per
liter level [15]. Although the wastewater treatment systems
could be able to remove phenolic compounds, these toxic com-
pounds at high concentrations significantly inhibited the
wastewater treatment performance [16,17]. However, several
processes are affordable for the high toxicity of the effluent.
Granular activated carbon adsorption and its derivative by a
conventional process representing an environmentally friendly
alternative phenolic [18].
Activated carbon adsorption is an effective chemical– phys-
ical treatment technology widely used in the treatment of
industrial wastewater and potable water [19–21]. Most organic
components inside water can be strongly adsorbed into acti-
vated carbon because of a well-suited surface and micro pores
[22]. Some researchers have applied powdered activated car-
bon (PAC) into the activated sludge (AS) process to improve
the performance of biological treatment. Aziz et al. (2011)
investigated the performance of a PAC–AS system in a
sequencing batch reactor to treat landfill leachate. The system
displayed superior performance in the removal efficiencies of
B.M. Mareai et al.
COD, color, ammonia nitrogen, and total dissolved salts com-
pared with the control biological technology [23]. Jaafarzadeh
et al. (2010) also employed the conventional AS process with
and without the addition of PAC to treat pharmaceutical
wastewater. Results showed that the addition of PAC could
remove antibiotic compounds and subsequently enhance the
removal efficiencies compared with the situation without
PAC addition [24].
El-Gohary et al. (1995) revealed that with an extended aer-
ation period of 20 h COD and BOD removal efficiency of 89–
95% and 88–98%, respectively, can be achieved. The COD
and BOD values of the treated effluent were found to be
74.0 mg/L and 43.0 mg/L, respectively [12]. Besides Mowla
et al. (2014) investigated the performance and effectiveness
of sonophotolytic process, aerobic activated sludge (AS) pro-
cess, and their combination in the reduction of total organic
carbon (TOC), COD, and BOD from a synthetic pharmaceu-
tical wastewater (SPWW). 90% of TOC reduction was
obtained in the sonophotolytic process after 180 min retention
time, whereas only 67% in an aerobic AS process for retention
time of 48 h. Combining sonophotolytic and aerobic AS pro-
cesses improved the biodegradability of the SPWW with a
98% and a 99%removal of TOC and COD, respectively with
a retention time reduction in sonophotoreactor and aerobic
AS bioreactor to 120 min and 24 h, respectively [25].
Khan et al. (2011) designed A lab scale batch plant (inte-
grated aerobic biological treatment) aimed to minimize and
removing suspended solids, dissolved solids, nutrients, and
toxic compounds from pharmaceutical wastewater. The maxi-
mum hydraulic retention time was 15 days. About 75%
removal of COD was achieved employing hydraulic retention
times of 15 days. The analysis of the treated wastewater reveals
that the parameters pH, BOD, COD, TSS, TDS, and color
were found within the prescribed permissible limits indicating
the efficiency of the treatment. The results of this study demon-
strate the potential for air injection to accelerate the biological
treatment process, with the greatest influence on COD removal
from the wastewater [26]. Wang et al. (2020) investigated the
treatment of pharmaceutical wastewater by moving bed bio-
film reactor (MBBR) and total reflux sludge reactor process
(STR) system. By cultivating specific bacterial groups, optimiz-
ing reactor process parameters, and comparatively analyzing
the pollutant removal efficiency under stable operating condi-
tions of the system, the treatment efficiency of the two systems
under the combined impact load of organic pollutants on the
target pollutants indole and naphthalene was studied. The
results of this research found that the MBBR process has a
stronger treatment effect on pharmaceutical wastewater than
the STR system during the stable period and the impact load
stage [27].
To the best of our knowledge, no published work has been
emphasized on comparison of phenol removal efficiency in
pharmaceutical wastewater treatment between activated sludge
and extended aeration augmented with activated carbon.
Therefore, this work aims to investigate the performance and
treatment capability of activated sludge and extended aeration
systems under normal operation and after adding phenol
beside studying the effect of added Granular Activated Carbon
to improve removal efficiency. Also, using GPS-X simulator to
predict the performance of the two reactors at different feed
compositions.
Performance Comparison of Phenol Removal in Pharmaceutical Wastewater by Activated Sludge and Extended Aeration Augmented with Activated Carbon 5189

2. Material and methods into five scenarios for each reactor to evaluate the perfor-
mance of the treatment under different concentrations of phe-
2.1. Experimental set-up nol and the feasibility of adding granular activated carbon in
the two reactors. Fig. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of the
experimental scenarios. The Phenol concentration in the first
The experimental set-up used in this study was a BIOTEST
scenario was 0.0 mg/L, while it was 50.0 mg/L in the second
unit located at the laboratory of Sanitary Engineering Depart-
and third scenarios with addition of activated carbon in the
ment, Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. The unit
third scenario. The Phenol concentration in the fourth and
has been run for the two reactor systems; the first was Conven-
fifth scenarios was 100.0 and 150.0 mg/L, respectively. Sam-
tional Activated Sludge and the second was Extended Aeration
ples were collected daily from the feed and effluent streams
Activated sludge. Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of the
and analyzed to evaluate the performance of the two
experimental set-up that consists of two basins; the first was
reactors.
the aeration tank (diameter = 19.0 cm and depth of
During the startup period, both Activated Sludge and
water = 37.0 cm) with a total volume of the 9.0 L and the sec-
Extended Aeration systems were seeded with a wastewater
ond was operated as a final settling tank (diameter = 19.0 cm,
from the aeration tank of El-dekheela wastewater treatment
depth of water = 18.0 cm, and height of cone = 17.0 cm). The
plant up to reaching steady state conditions. The effluent
set-up also connected with a control unit that contains the ON-
COD concentration stability was used as a primary indicator
OFF switch, air pump, flow meter to regulate the flow rate,
of steady state conditions. After that the two reactors were
feeding pump, and returning pump for recycling the sludge
fed with the prepared synthetic sewage and the systems were
from settling tank. The aeration tank was fed by the synthetic
run based on the experiment scenario. The length of each sce-
sewage by a feed pump at a continuous and constant flow rate.
nario was set at 8 days and the two reactors were cleaned and
Then the treated wastewater entered the settling basin for
operated as a startup period after each scenario.
sludge removal. Part of the removed sludge had been pumped
back to the aeration basin to improve the system biodegrad-
2.5. Measurements and analysis methods
ability. Table 1 shows the operation condition of the two
systems.
All experimental measurements in steady state operation and
2.2. Pharmaceutical industry wastewater characteristics batch tests for system were determined by using standard
methods for the examination of water and wastewater [30].
The measured parameters were Phenol, COD, soluble ammo-
In this study, a synthetic sewage was used as influent wastew-
nia nitrogen (NH3-N), Nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N).
ater for AS and EA reactors and was prepared according to
The chosen techniques and calculations for the determina-
Battistoni et al. (1993). A stock solution was prepared by add-
tion of parameters are described below:
ing 120 g of glucose (C6H12O6, 99% – Manufactory leading
worldwide chemicals companies), 34.95 g of hydrous sodium
Phenol measurements
phosphate (Na3PO4
12H2O, 99% – manufactory ALPHA
CHEMIKA), and 24.6 g of ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4,
In this test the sample is mixed with 0.5 N of NH4OH solu-
98.5% – manufactory El Nasr Pharmaceutical Chemicals
tion and immediately adjusted to pH of 7.9 ± 0.1 with phos-
Company) in 1.0 L of tab water. . . Then the stock solution
phate buffer, and 4-aminoantipyrine solution, and K3Fe(CN)6.
was diluted with tap water (1:100) and was daily prepared
After 15 min, the sample has been transferred to the cell and
fresh to keep the COD for the influent approximately constant
read absorbance of sample and standards against the blank
at 1500 mg/L, NH4-N = 75 mg/L, and the ratio between
at 500 nm. Estimate sample phenol content from photometric
COD:N:P of 100:5:1. The characteristics of typical pharmaceu-
reading by using a constructed calibration curve.
tical industry wastewater are shown in Table 2.
A
Mg phenol=L ¼  1000
2.3. Granular activated carbon specification B
where
Table 3 presents the specification and the properties of granu-
lar activated carbon used in this study which is a highly eco- A = mg phenol in sample, from calibration curve
nomical, medium activity produced by vapor activation of B = mL original sample
chooses degree of bituminous coal. The ideal balance between Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)
adsorption and transport pore supplies optimal performance
in a wide range of water treatment applications. The amount The chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) is used as a measure
of active carbon, which has been placed in the aeration tank, of the oxygen equivalent of the organic matter content of a
is1.0 gm/L. sample that is susceptible to oxidation by strong chemical oxi-
dant. It measures those organic materials that can be oxidized
2.4. Experimental scenarios by a strong chemical oxidizing agent as potassium dichromate.
The units of measurement of COD are in terms of mg/L of
To achieve the objectives of this research, two pilot units oxygen involved in the oxidation reaction.
were operated in parallel; the first reactor was Conventional In this test, the sample is mixed with sulfuric acid (H2SO4),
Activated Sludge and the second reactor was Extended Aer- silver sulfate (Ag2SO4) reagent and potassium dichromate oxi-
ation Activated Sludge. The experimental work was divided dizing agent (K2Cr2O7). The mixture is then refluxed (boiled
5190 B.M. Mareai et al.

Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of the experimental set-up.

Table 1 The operation conditions of the two systems. Table 3 Properties of media GAC.
Operation Condition Conventional Extended Parameter Value
Activated Sludge Aeration
Iodine number Min. 850 mg/g
Influent flow rate (L/d) 16 4.5 Humidity Max. 5%
Return sludge flow rate (L/d) 8 4.5 The total ash content Max. 15%
Detention time in the aeration 9 24 Wettability Min. 95%
tank (hr) Hardness Min. 95%
Volume of the tank (L) 9 9 Surface area 900 m2/g
The range of dissolved oxygen in 1–3 2–6 Methylene blue number 200 mg/g
the aeration tank (mg/L) Total pore volume 0.88 cm3/g
Water soluble ash 0.2%
Ostensible density 510 kg/m3
pH 8–11

Table 2 Characteristics of wastewater from a typical phar-

maceutical industry.
Chemical Pharmaceutical industry Influent synthetic Nitrogen, Ammonia
compositions Wastewater Wastewater
COD (mg/L) 1200–7000 [25,28] 1500 Ammonia test was performed in the environmental labora-
NH4-N (mg/L) 80–500 [28] 75 tory of ‘‘The National Institute of Oceanography and Fish-
PH 5.5–9.2 [28] – eries” according to the standard methods for the
Phenols (mg/L) 0.51–295.79 [25,28,29] 50–150 examination of water and wastewater (APHA, 1999).
Ammonia compounds combine with chlorine to form
monochloramine. Monochloramine reacts with salicylate to
form 5-aminosalicylate. The 5-aminosalicylate is oxidized in
the presence of a sodium nitrioprusside catalyst to form a blue
colored compound. The blue color is masked by the yellow
and recondenced) for two hours at 150 °C to ensure maximum color from the excess reagent present to give a green solution.
oxidation. This is accomplished by colorimetric method using
The COD is determined by measuring the amount of potas- spectrophotometer.
sium dichromate remaining after the reflux period. This is
accomplished by colorimetric method using spectrophotome- Nitrate
ter (DR2010 Colorimeter Hach, USA made). The COD of
the sample is directly measured by inserting the standard 10- Cadmium metal reduces nitrates present in the sample to
ml ampoules that are used in this test in the suitable COD nitrite. The nitrite ion reacts in an acidic medium with sul-
spectrophotometer after adjusting the COD spectrophotome- fanilic acid to form an intermediate diazonium salt which cou-
ter with the blank sample at zero reading. ples to gentisic acid to form an amber-colored product. This is
Performance Comparison of Phenol Removal in Pharmaceutical Wastewater by Activated Sludge and Extended Aeration Augmented with Activated Carbon 5191

Fig. 2 Schematic diagram of the experimental scenarios.

"phenol con.=0 mg/l" phenol con.= 50 mg/l

accomplished by colorimetric method using spectrophotome- phenol con. =50mg/l+A.C phenol con. =100 mg/l
ter (DR 2010 Colorimeter Hack, USA made). phenol con. =150 mg/l
250
3. Results and discussions
200
CODeff mg/L

3.1. Effect of phenol concentration on the COD removal 150

efficiency
100

The impact of phenol concentration in feed water on the per- 50

formance of biological reactors were investigated and Figs. 3
and 4 show the performance of both activated sludge and 0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
extended aeration bench scale, respectively, on the removal
Time (day)
of COD. It can be noted from the data presented in the two
figures that both activated sludge and extended aeration bench Fig. 3 The COD effluent concentration at different Phenol
scales were able to remove COD from wastewater, however scenarios for AS.
better reduction in COD concentration was achieved by the
extended aeration reactor. The concentration of COD in efflu-
ent water (when influent phenol equals zero mg/L) ranged
from 50 mg/L to 60 mg/L for activated sludge system and it phenol con.=0 mg/l phenol con.=50 mg/l
ranged from 40 to 50 mg/L for extended aeration system. This phenol con.=50 mg/l+A.C phenol con.=100 mg/l
phenol con.=150 mg/l
result was expected due to the higher detention time in 250

extended aeration reactor [31]. It can be noticed from the 200

CODeff mg/L

two Figs. 3 and 4 that the addition of phenol in feed wastew-

150
ater had an adverse impact on the performance of the two
reactors and increasing phenol concentration in feed wastewa- 100
ter decrease the removal of COD. The COD concentration in 50
activated sludge effluent reached 200 mg/L when the added
0
concentration of phenol in feed wastewater was 150 mg/L. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
The same trend was observed with extended aeration system; Time (day)
however the COD concentration in the effluent reached
140 mg/L. This result may be attributed to the accumulation Fig. 4 The COD effluent concentration at different Phenol
of phenol concentration in biological reactors which lead to scenarios for EA.
5192
inhibit the action of microorganisms especially when the
wastewater is not rich in all nutrients required for the growth
of microorganisms [32]. The same results were obtained by
Sumana (2014) when investigating the removal of phenol
(range of initial dosage investigated was 10–100 mg/L) from
pharmaceutical wastewater by activated sludge process and it
was observed that addition of phenol reduced the removal of
COD by almost 20 percent (from 93.62% to 76.95%).
Fig. 5 presents the average percentage of COD removal for
all phases investigated in this study for the two rectors (acti-
vated sludge and extended aeration). The removal efficiency
of COD in activated sludge system was 96% when no phenol
is added to feed water and this percentage decreased to be
87% when the added concentration of phenol was 150 mg/L.
The same result was observed with the extended aeration sys-
tem, where the COD removal declined from 97% (at zero con-
centration of phenol) to 91% (when concentration of phenol in
feed water is 150 mg/L). In all investigated phases, as men-
tioned above, extended aeration provided better performance
in COD removal than activated sludge even at the highest
added concentration of phenol in feed water (150 mg/L). It
is worthy to mention that, as shown in Figs. 3–5, there is a lit-
tle improvement observed in the removal efficiency of COD
when activated carbon was added to the biological reactor
(in both systems; activated sludge and extended aeration).
The removal efficiency of COD increased from 92% (concen-
tration of phenol is 50 mg/L) to 94% in activated sludge sys-
tem and from 95% (concentration of phenol is 50 mg/L) to
96% in extended aeration system with granular activated car-
bon application. This improvement may attribute to the
adsorption process achieved by activated carbon which pro-
vides high surface area with numerous pores for the removal
of refractory organics [33,34]. Furthermore, the activated car-
bon particles worked as a supporting media for the attachment
and growth of microorganisms [35]. Wang et al. (2016)
reported the same observation where they observed a higher
reduction in both COD and Total Organic Carbon (TOC)
from phenolic industrial wastewater when combining Pow-
dered Activated Carbon (PAC) with activated sludge system.
3.2. Effect of initial concentration of phenol on the removal
efficiency of phenol
The impact of phenol concentration on its removal by both
reactors (activated sludge and extended aeration was investi-
gated. Figs. 6 and 7 show the performance of activated sludge
and extended aeration bench scales on the effluent concerta-
tion of phenol at all investigated phases. And Fig. 8 shows
the removal efficiency of phenol by the activated sludge and
extended aeration reactors in all investigated phases. It could
be noted from Fig. 6 that the phenol concentration in activated
sludge effluent was around 15 mg/L (with a removal efficiency
of 74%) when phenol concentration in feed water was 50 mg/
L. This value increased to be around 75 mg/L (with a removal
efficiency of 54%) when concentration of phenol in feed water
increased to 150 mg/L. The same trend was observed with the
extended aeration reactor (Fig. 7), where increasing phenol
concentration in feed water from 50 mg/L to 150 mg/L
increased the phenol concentration in effluent water from
around 12 mg/L (with a removal efficiency of 80%) to around
60 mg/L (with a removal efficiency of 62%). This observation
B.M. Mareai et al.
Activated sludge Extended aeration
100 97.87
COD removal efficiency %
96.42 95.69 96.48
94.38 94.06
95 92.82
90.42
91.76
90
87.02
85
80
0 50 50 + AC 100 150
phenol influent concentration mg/L
Fig. 5 Comparison between AS and EA according to the COD
removal efficiency for different phenol scenarios.
suggests that phenol can be consumed by microorganisms in
biological treatment [31] as a sole carbon source [36]. Also,
increasing retention time of the reactors (case of extended aer-
ation) improved the removal of phenol [31]. It can also be
observed from the figures that the addition of activated carbon
provided better removal of phenol at the two rectors. Where
the removal efficiency of phenol was 83% after activated car-
bon addition (it was 74% without activated carbon addition)
for the activated sludge system and it reached 94% after addi-
tion of activated carbon on extended aeration system (it was
80% without addition of activated carbon). As expected the
addition of activated carbon to biological treatment reactors
improved the phenol removal due to the adsorption capacity
provided by activated carbon. These observations were agreed
with previous reported studies [34,37]; however contact time,
activated Carbone dosage, and intimal phenol concentration
in the current study were dissimilar.
3.3. Impact of phenol concentration on the effluent concentration
of ammonia and nitrate
Fig. 9 shows a comparison between activated sludge and
extended aeration systems in terms of effluent concentration
of ammonia for four different phases based on different phenol
concentration (0, 50, 50 + A.C, and 100 mg/L) and a constant
influent concentration of COD equaling 1500 mg/L. The
results indicate that the zero phenol concentration phase gave
less effluent concentration of ammonia in the two systems
comparing with other phases and increasing phenol concentra-
tion causing an increase in the ammonia concentration. Also it
can be noted from the figure that adding activated carbon in
the two reactors (with influent concentration of phenol equals
50 mg/L) provided a greater decrease in the effluent ammonia
concentration. The same trend was observed for the removal
of nitrate as shown in Fig. 10 which presents the effluent
nitrate concentration from activated sludge and extended aer-
ation systems for four different phases based on different phe-
nol concentration (0, 50, 50 + A.C, and 100 mg/L) and a
constant influent concentration of COD equaling 1500 mg/L.
The removal of nitrogen compounds through biological sys-
tems was expected due to the presence of nitrifying bacteria
which consuming the ammonia by oxidation process produc-
ing nitrate [38]. Increasing retention time in extended aeration
system provide better utilization of nitrogen compounds rather
than the one obtained by activated sludge. As expected the
addition of activated carbon to the reactors provided
Performance Comparison of Phenol Removal in Pharmaceutical Wastewater by Activated Sludge and Extended Aeration Augmented with Activated Carbon 5193

Phenol con.=50 mg/l Phenol con.=50 mg/l+ A.C

Phenol effluent concentration

Phenol con.=100 mg/l Phenol con.=150 mg/l
90
80
70
60

mg/L
50
40
30
20
10
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Time (day)
Fig. 6 Concentration of phenol effluent at different phenol scenarios for AS.

Phenol con.=50 mg/l Phenol con.=50 mg/l+ A.C

Phenol con.=100 mg/l Phenol con.=150 mg/l
Phenol effluent concentration

90
80
70
60
mg/L

50
40
30
20
10
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Time (day)

Fig. 7 Concentration of phenol effluent at different phenol scenarios for EA.

Activated sludge Extended aeration Activated sludge Extended aeration

30 26.57
94.3
Phenol removal efficiency

100
NH3 effluent (mg/L)

79.85 83.4 25 21.44

80 74 72.77 18.69
63.5 61.89 20 16.32
60 54.1625 14.66
13.21
15 11.89
40 10 8.14

20 5
0 0
50 50 + A.C 100 150 0 50 50 + A.C 100
Phenol influent concentration (mg/l) Phenol influent concentration (mg/L)

Fig. 8 Comparison between AS and EA according to the phenol Fig. 9 Comparison between AS and EA according to concen-
removal efficiency for different phenol scenarios. tration of NH3-N effluent for different phenol scenarios.

additional removal of nitrogen compounds by having advan- plant in Fig. 11 consist two stages, first is aeration tank and the
tages of both biodegradation and adsorption [35]. second is finally clarifier tank. Table 4 shows model calibration
used for both AS and EA plants. The systems plant was mod-
4. Modelling and simulations elled by using the GPS-X version 5.0 programs.

4.1. Plant configuration and operation conditions 4.2. Activated Sludge Model No. 1 (ASM1)

Simulations were performed on the two reactors (AS and ES) A model is a simplified representation of what occurs in reality
using modular program GPS-X with the aim to know the per- and they are also useful for process optimization and control.
formance of AS and EA under different conditions. The model The Model is defined by a series of mathematical equations
5194
Activated sludge
7
NO3 effluent (mg/L)
6
5 4.23
4 3.38
2.89
3 BOD5
1.8
2 Total SS
1 TKN
0
0 50
Phenol influent concentration (mg/L)
Fig. 10 Comparison between AS and EA according to concen-
tration of NO3-N effluent for different phenol scenarios.
and procedures, constituted by different variables and param-
eters dependent on time. A model allows studying and analyz-
ing engineering questions in a shorter period, reducing the
costs associated with laboratory analysis. In a WWTP, models
can be used to evaluate the system response to a variety of per-
turbations, thus allowing the implementation of strategies that
guarantee better performance.
The ASM1 model is based on mechanistic interpretation of
the behavior of the organisms mediating the process reactions.
ASM1 has been shown to give a reliable description of the sys-
tem response over wide ranges of system configuration (single
and series reactor systems, aerated and non-aerated reactors
and inter reactor recycles), influent wastewater characteristics
(COD, TKN and flow pattern) and operational parameters
as sludge age, temperature and dissolved oxygen [39].
4.3. Model calibration and validation
Model validation aims to assure the compatibility between the
results obtained in the laboratory to those calculated from the
model for BOD, COD, TSS, and TKN. The effluent’s actual
results from the laboratory were compared to the modeled
effluent results for COD, BOD, and TSS and it was noted that
the simulation results showed good agreement with the actual
results from the laboratory. Fig. 12 shows the simulation and
B.M. Mareai et al.
Extended aeration
Table 4 Influent wastewater char-
5.91 acteristics used for validation
model for both AS and EA plants.
4.12
3.69 Parameter Concentrations (mg/L)
2.64
1050
20
56
50 + A.C 100
experimental data in AS and EA. It was noted that the simu-
lation results showed good agreement with the actual results
from the laboratory as shown in figure by 4% error percentage
for EA and 5% for AS approximately.
4.4. Model analysis
After validation a simulation was conducted to the WWTP
under Changing organic loads by changing COD concentra-
tions to know the performance of AS and EA. Previous studies
reported that Pharmaceutical Wastewater contains heavy con-
centration of COD [40]. Hence, in this scenario, the impact of
influent concentrations of COD on the performance of AS and
EA was investigated. Five different COD values were investi-
gated; 1500, 3000, 5000, 12,000, and 19,000 mg/L as a shock
organic load for the 2 systems. Fig. 13 shows the results for
this scenario. It was noticed that EA had a higher ability to
sustain high organic load than AS. In addition, it can be
noticed that at maximum COD effluent, EA was able to treat
wastewater with accepted value unlike AS. At influent COD
equaling 12,000 mg/L the effluent from, AS is more than
COD allowed to discharge on the sewer system depending
on the Egyptian Cod (Law No 44/2000). The permissible limit
was 1100 mg/L, while extended aeration maintained its stabil-
ity at the same COD and the treated effluent was within the
permissible limits. Extended aeration system was able to
remain at the limited value allowed until 19,000 mg/L influent
COD.
Fig. 11 Model plant.
Performance Comparison of Phenol Removal in Pharmaceutical Wastewater by Activated Sludge and Extended Aeration Augmented with Activated Carbon 5195

AS experimental AS simulation EA experimental EA simulation 5. Based on the data obtained from GPS-X model, increasing
120 the flow rate in activated sludge system increase the effluent
COD effluent (mg/L)

100 concentration of COD but had no effect in the extended

80 aeration system.
60 6. When the influent COD is increased to 12,000 (mg/L) in
40 GPS-X model, the effluent characteristics from AS were
20 higher than those allowed to be discharged on the sewer
0 system; however the extended aeration system provide
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
effluent stream that can be discharged on the sewer system
Time (day)
(based on its characteristics).
Fig. 12 Simulation and experimental data in AS and EA.
Declaration of Competing Interest
Activated sludge Extended aeration
The authors declare that they have no known competing
COD effluent (mg/L)

2000
1500
1000
433.5
500 219.8
59.3 34.8 112.3
0
1500 3000 5000
COD influent (mg/L)
Fig. 13 Concentration of COD effluent from activated sludge
and extended aeration.
5. Conclusion
This study investigated the treatment feasibility of the pharma-
ceutical wastewater containing different concentrations of phe-
nol removal by two different biological reactors (activated
sludge and extended aeration). Also, the performance of the
two reactors in terms of COD and ammonia removals has been
evaluated. Besides, the impact of adding 1.0 g/L of granular
activated carbon on the removal efficiencies of the two reactors
has been investigated. Two parallel experimental set-ups were
operated at constant conditions using different concentrations
of phenol (0.0, 50.0, 100.0, 150.0 mg/L). Based on this experi-
mental configuration and the secondary effluent utilized, the
following can be concluded:
1. Extended aeration system is better than activated sludge sys-
tem in terms of COD, phenol, and ammonia removal due to
the higher detention time in extended aeration reactor.
2. Increasing phenol concentration in influent wastewater
decrease the biological systems efficiency. This result may
be attributed to the accumulation of phenol concentration
in biological reactors which lead to inhibit the action of
microorganisms especially when the wastewater was not
rich in all nutrients required for the growth of
microorganisms.
3. Adding activated carbon suspended growth of just (1.0 g/L)
of the working reactor volume for both biological systems
(AS, EA), improve their efficiency in removing both
organic compounds and phenol due to the adsorption
capacity provided by activated carbon.
4. GPS-X model simulation showed a good agreement with
the measured data for both AS and EA systems, simulation
results are little higher than measured results according to
the optimum operational conditions considered in the
model.
1647
financial interests or personal relationships that could have
1183 1126 appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
577
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