HighlightsA novel single-jet mixing system was designed for ASBR digesters.Mixing energy was reduced to the point that solids were only partially suspended in the reactor vessel.The partial mixing system increased effluent quality as measured by suspended solids content.The partial mixing system increased solids retention, allowing hydraulic retention time (HRT) to be reduced to at least 7.5 days while maintaining solids retention time (SRT) above 100 days.The partial mixing system did not reduce biogas production rate nor biogas yield.Abstract. An anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (ASBR) is a high-rate anaerobic digestion system ideally suited for the treatment of liquids with high organic strength and low solids content. Biota are retained in an ASBR by settling solids prior to decanting effluent from the top of the reactor. Solids retention time (SRT) can be managed separately from hydraulic retention time (HRT) in an ASBR. One problem encountered with ASBRs is poor solids retention due to inefficient solids settling. A novel mixing system in which solids are only partially mixed in the reactor prior to decanting was investigated in a series of three experiments. A battery of six 30 L ASBR reactors were fed a mixture of dilute swine manure (0.30% TS, 0.20% VS) and raw glycerol. In a side-by-side comparison of two reactors operated at an organic loading rate (OLR) of 0.30 g COD L-1 d-1 with 15-day HRT and two feeding cycles per day, the partially mixed reactor outperformed the fully mixed reactor as measured by effluent quality (130 vs. 350 mg VSS L-1), SRT (354 vs. 52 days), and VS removal efficiency (88% vs. 79%). In a replicated study of five reactors operated at 0.31 g COD L-1 d-1 OLR, 15-day HRT, and two feeding cycles per day before and after switching from full to partial mixing, the partially mixed reactors showed significantly (p = 0.05) better performance as measured by effluent quality (100 vs. 382 mg VSS L-1), SRT (760 vs. 72 days), and VS removal efficiency (85% vs. 71%). Biogas production did not significantly change with the change from full to partial mixing in the five replicated reactors, i.e., average biogas yield was 0.81 and 0.77 L biogas g-1 COD with partial and full mixing, respectively. Effluent quality, SRT, VS removal efficiency, and biogas yield did not significantly change when the OLR was increased from 0.31 to 0.62 g COD L-1 d-1 and HRT was reduced from 15 to 7.5 days in a replicated study of six partially mixed reactors. A mass balance of COD across the six partially mixed reactors showed that endogenous respiration of retained biomass accounted for approximately 50% of the biogas produced by an ASBR with SRT exceeding 400 days. Keywords: Anaerobic digestion, Anaerobic sequencing batch reactor, ASBR, Biogas, Glycerol, Hydraulic retention time, Mixing, Operation, Performance, Solids retention time, Swine manure.
The potential of ultrasonic membrane anaerobic systems in treating slaughterhouse wastewater
