Abstract—Treatment of synthetic wastewater was studied
with aerobic granulation technology in sequencing batch
reactor under various organic loading rates (OLRs). Three
trials (trial 1, 2, and 3) were conducted with OLRs of 3, 6, and 9
kg chemical oxygen demand (COD)/(m3.d) respectively.
Aerobic granules could be developed in all cases, but the best
performance was observed with trial 2. A COD removal
efficiency of 97.9% and sludge with good sludge volume index
(SVI) of 25.1 ml/g could be achieved in trial 2 with OLR of 6 kg
COD/(m3.d). The maximum COD removal efficiency observed
in trial 1 and trial 3 were 96% and 95% respectively. The
minimum SVI obtained in trial 1 and trial 3 were 31 and 30.6
ml/g respectively. During trial 3, the reactor showed unhealthy
conditions in terms of COD removal efficiency and SVI after 5
weeks of operation. This study contributes to a better
understanding of the role of OLR in aerobic granulation.
Index Terms—Aerobic granulation, organic loading rate,
sequencing batch reactor, sludge volume index.
B. K. Bindhu is with the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology, Kottayam,
Kerala, India (e-mail: bindhu@ rit.ac.in).
G. Madhu is with Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin,
Kerala, India (e-mail: profmadhu@cusat.ac.in).
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Cite:B. K. Bindhu and G. Madhu, "Influence of Organic Loading Rates on Aerobic
Granulation Process for the Treatment of Wastewater," Journal of Clean Energy Technologies vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 84-87, 2013.
