In the present work, an anaerobic fluidized bed reactor (AFBR) was used for the treatment of a synthetic wastewater containing pentachlorophenol (PCP) subjected to less idealized operating conditions. The reactor was a 16 litres tank with granular activated carbon particles as support media. Evaluation of AFBR performance was done by the analysis of usual monitoring parameters (pH, alkalinity, COD, volatile acids) together with microscopy and PCP concentration analysis. The presence of PCP under the concentrations used did not significantly alter the amount of biomass and the performance monitoring parameters. Removal average efficiencies of the order of 92% and 70% were obtained for PCP inflow concentrations in the range of 1 to 6mg/l.
Pentachlorophenol; anaerobic fluidized bed reactor; granular activated carbon; synthetic wastewater; single source of carbon; non-previously adapted biomass
