Home Treatment of slaughterhouse wastewater using waste derived biochar: experiment and modelling
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Treatment of slaughterhouse wastewater using waste derived biochar: experiment and modelling

  • Arnab Sau , Biswajit Kamila , Edita Baltrėnaitė-Gedienė , Susmita Dutta and Kartik C. Ghanta ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: May 22, 2025

Abstract

Sustainable and ecologically friendly discharge of slaughterhouse wastewater requires effective treatment. The chicken slaughter house wastewater (CHSW) samples exhibited elevated organic contents with the chemical oxygen demand (COD) (2,111.33 ± 31.63 mg L−1), total organic carbon (TOC) (717.64 ± 31.63 mg L−1), biological oxygen demand (BOD5) (1,350 ± 24.49 mg L−1), ammonical-N (77.03 ± 0.24 mg L−1), phosphate (4.05 ± 0.02 mg L−1) and TSS (833 ± 12.72 mg L−1). The present research investigated the treatment of CHSW using biochar, derived from a market waste (waste corncob), employing H3PO4 as the impregnating agent in the carbonization process. The removal of TOC, COD, phosphate, BOD5, and ammoniacal-N were found as 85 ± 5 %, 84.51 ± 2.32 %, 15.70 ± 0.23 %, 79.54 ± 2.27 %, and 74.03 ± 1.11 % respectively, when 40 mL CHSW was treated with 5 g L−1 biochar (size: 253 μm) for 120 min at its own pH. A 2-D transient convective-diffusive model based on a numerical method was employed and validated. A single-factor local sensitivity analysis was also conducted using the relative marginal value (RMV).


Corresponding author: Kartik C. Ghanta, Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Durgapur, Durgapur 713209, India, E-mail:

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to extend their warmest gratitude to the Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Durgapur, Durgapur, India for supporting and providing facilities to carry out this research work.

  1. Research ethics: Not applicable.

  2. Informed consent: Not applicable.

  3. Author contributions: The main manuscript text was collaboratively written by Arnab Sau, Susmita Dutta and Biswajit Kamila. Experimental work conducted by Arnab Sau. Modelling work done by Biswajit Kamila. K.C.Ghanta, Edita Baltrėnaitė-Gedienė and Susmita Dutta contributed to the conceptualization, supervision, and final editing of the paper, ensuring thoroughness.

  4. Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: None declared.

  5. Conflict of interest: All the authors agreed to publish the article in the esteemed Journal. All other authors state no conflict of interest.

  6. Research funding: Not applicable.

  7. Data availability: All the data presented in the article, are produced or evaluated during the research. The raw data can be obtained on reasonable request from the corresponding author.

References

[1] M. Ng, et al.., “Characterization of slaughterhouse wastewater and development of treatment techniques: a review,” Processes, vol. 10, no. 7, p. 1300, 2022, https://doi.org/10.3390/pr10071300.Search in Google Scholar

[2] C. F. Bustillo-Lecompte and M. Mehrvar, “Slaughterhouse wastewater characteristics, treatment, and management in the meat processing industry: a review on trends and advances,” J. Environ. Manage., vol. 161, pp. 287–302, 2015, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2015.07.008.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

[3] M. Yazdani, M. Ebrahimi-Nik, A. Heidari, and M. H. Abbaspour-Fard, “Improvement of biogas production from slaughterhouse wastewater using biosynthesized iron nanoparticles from water treatment sludge,” Renew. Energy, vol. 135, pp. 496–501, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2018.12.019.Search in Google Scholar

[4] L. Garduño-Pineda, et al.., “Photolysis and heterogeneous solar photo-Fenton for slaughterhouse wastewater treatment using an electrochemically modified zeolite as catalyst,” Sep. Sci. Technol., vol. 57, no. 5, pp. 822–841, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1080/01496395.2021.1942918.Search in Google Scholar

[5] R. Terán Hilares, D. F. Atoche-Garay, D. A. Pinto Pagaza, M. A. Ahmed, G. J. Colina Andrade, and J. C. Santos, “Promising physicochemical technologies for poultry slaughterhouse wastewater treatment: a critical review,” J. Environ. Chem. Eng., vol. 9, no. 2, p. 105174, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2021.105174.Search in Google Scholar

[6] F. Abouelenien, et al.., “A pilot model for the treatment of slaughterhouse wastewater using zeolite or psidium-leaf powder as a natural coagulant, followed by filtration with rice straw, in comparison with an inorganic coagulant,” Processes, vol. 10, no. 5, p. 887, 2022, https://doi.org/10.3390/pr10050887.Search in Google Scholar

[7] A. Çeti̇Nkaya and L. Bi̇Lgi̇Li̇, “Treatment of slaughterhouse industry wastewater with ultrafiltration membrane and evaluation with life cycle analysis,” Environ. Res. Technol., vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 197–201, 2022, https://doi.org/10.35208/ert.1102829.Search in Google Scholar

[8] K. Thirugnanasambandham, V. Sivakumar, and J. P. Maran, “Efficiency of electrocoagulation method to treat chicken processing industry wastewater–modeling and optimization,” J. Taiwan Inst. Chem. Eng., vol. 45, no. 5, pp. 2427–2435, 2014, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtice.2014.04.011.Search in Google Scholar

[9] M. A. Musa and S. Idrus, “Physical and biological treatment technologies of slaughterhouse wastewater: a review,” Sustainability, vol. 13, no. 9, p. 4656, 2021, https://doi.org/10.3390/su13094656.Search in Google Scholar

[10] S. S. Lam, et al.., “Pyrolysis production of fruit peel biochar for potential use in treatment of palm oil mill effluent,” J. Environ. Manage., vol. 213, pp. 400–408, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.02.092.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

[11] L. Sun, D. Chen, S. Wan, and Z. Yu, “Performance, kinetics, and equilibrium of methylene blue adsorption on biochar derived from eucalyptus saw dust modified with citric, tartaric, and acetic acids,” Bioresour. Technol., vol. 198, pp. 300–308, 2015, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2015.09.026.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

[12] H. Khurshid, M. R. U. Mustafa, U. Rashid, M. H. Isa, Y. C. Ho, and M. M. Shah, “Adsorptive removal of COD from produced water using tea waste biochar,” Environ. Technol. Innovation, vol. 23, p. 101563, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eti.2021.101563.Search in Google Scholar

[13] L. Liu, W. Fang, M. Yuan, X. Li, X. Wang, and Y. Dai, “Metolachlor-adsorption on the walnut shell biochar modified by the fulvic acid and citric acid in water,” J. Environ. Chem. Eng., vol. 9, no. 5, p. 106238, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2021.106238.Search in Google Scholar

[14] V. Choudhary and L. Philip, “Sustainability assessment of acid-modified biochar as adsorbent for the removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products from secondary treated wastewater,” J. Environ. Chem. Eng., vol. 10, no. 3, p. 107592, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2022.107592.Search in Google Scholar

[15] M. M. Manyuchi, C. Mbohwa, and E. Muzenda, “Potential to use municipal waste bio char in wastewater treatment for nutrients recovery,” Phys. Chem. Earth, Parts A/B/C, vol. 107, pp. 92–95, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pce.2018.07.002.Search in Google Scholar

[16] M. Kamali, L. Appels, E. E. Kwon, T. M. Aminabhavi, and R. Dewil, “Biochar in water and wastewater treatment – a sustainability assessment,” Chem. Eng. J., vol. 420, p. 129946, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2021.129946.Search in Google Scholar

[17] C. Tsamo, M. Assabe, J. Argue, and S. O. Ihimbru, “Discoloration of methylene blue and slaughter house wastewater using maize cob biochar produced using a constructed burning chamber: a comparative study,” Sci. African, vol. 3, p. e00078, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf.2019.e00078.Search in Google Scholar

[18] M. Konneh, S. M. Wandera, S. I. Murunga, and J. M. Raude, “Adsorption and desorption of nutrients from abattoir wastewater: modelling and comparison of rice, coconut and coffee husk biochar,” Heliyon, vol. 7, no. 11, p. e08458, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e08458.Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central

[19] A. Sau, S. Ghosh, B. Kandar, K. C. Ghanta, E. Baltrėnaitė-Gedienė, and S. Dutta, “Enhanced slaughterhouse wastewater treatment: a comparative approach with phycoremediation and adsorption,” J. Indian Chem. Soc., vol. 101, no. 12, p. 101499, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jics.2024.101499.Search in Google Scholar

[20] A. Rai, G. K. Wadhwa, J. Chakrabarty, and S. Dutta, “Application of cyanobacterial consortium to remove ammoniacal-N, phenol, and nitrate from synthetic coke-oven wastewater as tertiary treatment,” J. Environ. Eng., vol. 146, no. 7, p. 04020062, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EE.1943-7870.0001731.Search in Google Scholar

[21] T. P. Quirk and W. W. Eckenfelder, “Active mass in activated sludge analysis and design,” J. (Water Pollut. Control Fed.), vol. 58, no. 9, pp. 932–936, 1986.Search in Google Scholar

[22] S. Dutta, A. Bhattacharyya, A. Ganguly, S. Gupta, and S. Basu, “Application of Response Surface Methodology for preparation of low-cost adsorbent from citrus fruit peel and for removal of Methylene Blue,” Desalination, vol. 275, nos. 1–3, pp. 26–36, 2011, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2011.02.057.Search in Google Scholar

[23] S. Svilović, D. Rušić, and A. Bašić, “Investigations of different kinetic models of copper ions sorption on zeolite 13X,” Desalination, vol. 259, nos. 1–3, pp. 71–75, 2010, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2010.04.033.Search in Google Scholar

[24] G. K. Parshetti, S. Chowdhury, and R. Balasubramanian, “Hydrothermal conversion of urban food waste to chars for removal of textile dyes from contaminated waters,” Bioresour. Technol., vol. 161, pp. 310–319, 2014, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2014.03.087.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

[25] B. Kamila, A. Mandal, A. Prabhakar, A. K. Sadhukhan, and P. Gupta, “2-D CFD modeling of gasification of a large biomass char particle in CO2 environment,” Biofuels, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 375–388, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1080/17597269.2024.2429055.Search in Google Scholar

[26] S. Sen, et al.., “Removal of hexavalent chromium from synthetic wastewater using alginate immobilized cyanobacteria: experiment and mathematical modeling,” Environ. Eng. Sci., vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 283–294, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1089/ees.2019.0035.Search in Google Scholar

[27] P. Bhawan’ and E. A. Nagar, “Guidelines for water quality management”.Search in Google Scholar

[28] C. Guo, et al.., “Organic pollutants removal by phosphoric acid modified biochar from residue of Inonotus obliquus,” J. Environ. Chem. Eng., vol. 11, no. 5, p. 110292, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2023.110292.Search in Google Scholar

[29] R. Li, C. Zhang, J. Hui, T. Shen, and Y. Zhang, “The application of P-modified biochar in wastewater remediation: a state-of-the-art review,” Sci. Total Environ., vol. 917, p. 170198, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170198.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

[30] X. Zhang, X. Lin, Y. He, Y. Chen, J. Zhou, and X. Luo, “Adsorption of phosphorus from slaughterhouse wastewater by carboxymethyl konjac glucomannan loaded with lanthanum,” Int. J. Biol. Macromol., vol. 119, pp. 105–115, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2018.07.140.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

[31] J. Del Real-Olvera, E. Rustrian-Portilla, E. Houbron, and F. J. Landa-Huerta, “Adsorption of organic pollutants from slaughterhouse wastewater using powder of Moringa oleifera seeds as a natural coagulant,” Desalination and Water Treat., vol. 57, no. 21, pp. 9971–9981, 2016, https://doi.org/10.1080/19443994.2015.1033479.Search in Google Scholar

[32] B. Bishayee, A. Rai, A. Kumar, B. Kamila, B. Ruj, and S. Dutta, “End-of-pipe treatment of secondary treated coke-oven wastewater for removal of fluoride, cyanide, phenol, ammoniacal-N and nitrate using waste material: experiment, modelling and optimization,” Chem. Eng. Res. Des., vol. 194, pp. 439–460, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cherd.2023.04.047.Search in Google Scholar

[33] S. Moon, Y.-J. Lee, S.-J. Park, and C.-G. Lee, “Enhanced removal of micropollutants from water using ZnCl2-modified Spirulina sp.-based biochar,” J. Appl. Phycol., 2023, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-023-03122-9.Search in Google Scholar

[34] B. Q. Lap, et al.., “Assessment of rice straw–derived biochar for livestock wastewater treatment,” Water Air Soil Pollut., vol. 232, no. 4, p. 162, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-021-05100-8.Search in Google Scholar

[35] N. K. Jilagam, A. Sau, S. V. Addepalli, A. Hens, and S. Dutta, “Mitigation of oil spills from synthetic seawater using human hair – experimentation, modeling and optimization,” Chemom. Intell. Lab. Syst., vol. 242, p. 104998, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemolab.2023.104998.Search in Google Scholar

[36] F. Gaied, B. Louhichi, and M. R. Jeday, “Tertiary treatment of waste water by Electro-Fenton process: economical study,” in 2017 International Conference on Green Energy Conversion Systems (GECS), Hammamet, Tunisia, IEEE, 2017, pp. 1–4.10.1109/GECS.2017.8066253Search in Google Scholar

[37] Q. Q. Cai, et al.., “Potential of combined advanced oxidation – biological process for cost-effective organic matters removal in reverse osmosis concentrate produced from industrial wastewater reclamation: screening of AOP pre-treatment technologies,” Chem. Eng. J., vol. 389, p. 123419, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2019.123419.Search in Google Scholar

[38] A. Şen, C. Akarsu, Z. Bilici, H. Arslan, and N. Dizge, “Treatment of tomato paste wastewater by electrochemical and membrane processes: process optimization and cost calculation,” Water Sci. Technol., vol. 89, no. 7, pp. 1879–1890, 2024, https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2024.079.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

[39] S. Ghosh and M. Sahu, “Ultrasound for the degradation of endocrine disrupting compounds in aqueous solution: a review on mechanisms, influence of operating parameters and cost estimation,” Chemosphere, vol. 349, p. 140864, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.140864.Search in Google Scholar PubMed

[40] B. Kamila, A. Mandal, A. Prabhakar, A. K. Sadhukhan, and P. Gupta, “2-D CFD modeling for steam gasification of a large biomass char particle,” Appl. Thermal. Eng., vol. 271, p. 126291, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2025.126291.Search in Google Scholar

[41] P. Druetta, P. Aguirre, and S. Mussati, “Minimizing the total cost of multi effect evaporation systems for seawater desalination,” Desalination, vol. 344, pp. 431–445, 2014, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2014.04.007.Search in Google Scholar


Supplementary Material

This article contains supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/ijcre-2024-0163).


Received: 2024-08-11
Accepted: 2025-05-02
Published Online: 2025-05-22

© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Downloaded on 16.10.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/ijcre-2024-0163/html
Scroll to top button