Comparative study of thermophilic and mesophilic anaerobic treatment of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) wastewater

The paper provides a critical comparison between mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic treatment of PTA wastewater through diagnosis of a case study. Aspects covered are bioavailability, biodegradability, microbial population, thermodynamics, kinetics involved and bioreactor design for PTA wastewater treatment. The results of the case study suggests that one-stage thermophilic anaerobic reactor coupled with coagulation-flocculation pre-treatment unit and an aerobic post treatment unit could be techno-economically viable for PTA wastewater treatment to ensure that the final effluent quality conforms to the international standard. The information emanated from this study could be useful and thought provoking to the professionals and academia in the area of PTA waste-water treatment and can serve as impetus toward the development of research lines in similar problems like the treatment of other petrochemical wastewater such as phenol-containing wastewater, benzene/benzoic acid-containing wastewater or wastewater from other similar industrial settings.