ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Biodegradation of Used Metalworking Fluids
in Wastewater Treatment
A. Muszyński*, M. Łebkowska
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Institute of Environmental Engineering Systems, Warsaw University of Technology,
Nowowiejska 20, 00-653 Warsaw, Poland
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2005;14(1):73-79
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
A biotechnological method for metalworking fluids (MWF) wastewater treatment was developed. The
research, conducted in a lab-scale bioreactor, proved that the process of eliminating pollutants from MWF
wastewater proceeds effectively when the following are applied: multiple reinoculating of biomass by adding
active microorganisms into the bioreactor, immobilizing microorganisms on the PVC foam carrier, and carrying
out the process in the anoxic/aerobic conditions at phase durations of 0.5 and 5.5 hours, respectively.
The above parameters allowed us to obtain the following eliminations: 87% of chemical oxygen demand
(COD), 97% of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), 98% of petroleum ether extractable organic
(PEEO) and more than 96% of total content of hydrocarbons determined by infrared (IR) spectrophotometry.
The chromatographic analyses showed almost complete reduction of oily hydrocarbons contained in
the used MWF.