Treating Dinitrotoluene in Propellant Wastewater Using Anaerobic Fluidized-Bed Bioreactors Containing Granular Activated Carbon (GAC)

Production of single-base propellants for military use involves several steps in which dinitrotoluene (DNT) is transferred to wastewater. DNT is a listed hazardous material, and its presence in the wastewater causes noncompliance with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. Existing wastewater treatment processes have not been able to consistently control DNT in the effluent. The major source of DNT in propellant production also contains substantial amounts of ethanol and/or ether. An emerging technology, anaerobic fluidized-bed bioreactors containing granular activated carbon (GAC), is an excellent candidate for treatment of DNT at this point source because DNT is both adsorbable and slowly biodegradable, and the ethanol and ether provide a good substrate for co-metabolization. Bench scale anaerobic fluidized-bed reactors were tested using synthetic wastewater in a university laboratory, with excellent results. One reactor was then transported to Radford Army Ammunition Plant for direct testing on actual wastewater. Although the bioactivity in the reactor was unstable during widely varying ethanol and ether influent concentrations (primarily due to loss of pH control), the buffer capacity provided by the GAC was able to retain the DNT within the reactor, rather than discharging it to the effluent. The results are promising, and a demonstration of this technology is planned by the Army Environmental Center. jg