Biological treatability for meat processing effluent

The study covering the characterization of meat processing wastewaters mainly includes the experimental data necessary for the modelling and evaluation of the activated sludge process. The characterization by means of conventional parameters, such as COD fractionation, and determination of kinetic and stoichiometric coefficients specific for meat wastewaters were analyzed. A multicomponent model using the concept of endogenous decay was used for the kinetic interpretation of the activated sludge process. In this study, model simulation was used as a successful tool both for the assessment of the kinetic constants and the prediction of process performance. Simulation results of the experimentally determined kinetic and stoichiometric coefficients clearly indicated that the effluent is likely to contain significant levels of COD, even at high sludge age values.