Performance evaluation of cigarette filter rods as a biofilm carrier in an anaerobic moving bed biofilm reactor.

Biocarriers are an important component of anaerobic moving bed biofilm reactors (AMBBRs). In this study, the capability of cigarette filter rods (CFRs) as a biocarrier in an anaerobic moving bed biofilm reactor was evaluated. Two similar lab-scale anaerobic moving bed biofilm reactors were undertaken using Kaldnes-K3 plastic media and cigarette filter rods (wasted filters from tobacco factories) as biofilm attachment media for wastewater treatment. Organic substance and total posphours (TP) removal was investigated over 100 days. Synthetic wastewater was prepared with ordinary water and glucose as the main sources of carbon and energy, plus balanced macro- and micro-nutrients. Process performance was studied by increasing the organic loading rate (OLR) in the range of 1.6-4.5 kg COD/m3 x d. The COD average removal efficiency were 61.3% and 64.5% for AMBBR with cigarette filter rods (Reactor A) and AMBBR with Kaldnes plastic media (Reactor B), respectively. The results demonstrate that the performance of the AMBBR containing 0.25 litres of cigarette filters was comparable with a similar reactor containing 1.5 litres of Kaldnes plastic media. An average phosphorus removal of 67.7% and 72.9% was achieved by Reactors A and B, respectively.