Anaerobic digestion of olive oil mill effluents together with swine manure in UASB reactors

2002 ◽  
Vol 45 (10) ◽  
pp. 213-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Angelidaki ◽  
B.K. Ahring ◽  
H. Deng ◽  
J.E. Schmidt

Combined anaerobic digestion of olive oil mill effluent (OME) with swine manure, was investigated. In batch experiments was shown that for anaerobic degradation of OME alone nitrogen addition was needed. A COD:N ratio in the range of 65:1 to 126:1 was necessary for the optimal degradation process. Furthermore, it was found that methane productions rates during digestion of either swine manure alone or OME alone were much lower than the rates achieved when OME and manure were digested together. Admixing OME with manure at a concentration of 5 to 10% OME resulted in the highest methane production rates. Using upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors, it was shown that codigestion of OME with swine manure (up to 50% OME) was successful with a COD reduction up to 75%. The process was adapted for degradation of OME with stepwise increase of the OME load to the UASB reactor. The results showed that the high content of ammonia in swine manure, together with content of other nutrients, make it possible to degrade OME without addition of external alkalinity and without addition of external nitrogen source. Anaerobic treatment of OME in UASB reactors resulted in reduction of simple phenolic compounds such as mequinol, phenyl ethyl alcohol and ethyl methyl phenol. After anaerobic treatment the concentration of these compounds was reduced between 75 and 100%. However, the concentration of some degradation products such as methyl phenol and ethyl phenol were detected in significantly higher concentrations after treatment, indicating that the process has to be further optimised to achieve satisfactory removal of all xenobiotic compounds.

1991 ◽  
Vol 24 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 149-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Rintala ◽  
J. L. Sanz Martin ◽  
G. Lettinga

Anaerobic treatment of sulfate - rich (COD/SO4 ratio 1.4-2.1) clarified Whitewater from a thermomechanical pulping (TMP) process was studied in three laboratory-scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors at 55°C and in batch digesters at 55° and 65°C. Different seed materials were used in the UASB reactors. The highest COD removal efficiency (effluent sulfide stripped) achieved was approximately 65 % in the UASB reactors. About 55 % COD removal efficiency was obtained at a loading rate of about 41 kgCODm−3d−1 in the UASB reactor seeded with thermophilic sludge cultivated with volatile fatty acids (VFAs). The total sulfide present in the liquid phase after anaerobic treatment accounted for approximately 65-78 % and 15-61 % of the removed COD in the batch digesters and the UASB reactors, respectively. Sulfate reduction was almost complete in the batch digesters, whereas about 24-64 % of sulfate was reduced in the UASB reactors. Acetate utilization for sulfate reduction was apparent in the batch digesters, whereas that could not be demonstrated in the UASB reactors. Sulfate reduction in the UASB reactors was obviously substrate limited. In conclusion, thermophilic anaerobic treatment is an alternative for the treatment of warm sulfate rich TMP process water.


1991 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Rintala

Anaerobic mesophilic treatment of synthetic (a mixture of acetate and methanol) and thermomechanical pulping (TMP) wastewater was studied in laboratory-scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors and filters with emphasis on the process start-up. The reactors were inoculated with nongranular sludge. The start-up of mesophilic and thermophilic processes inoculated with mesophilic granular sludge was investigated in UASB reactors fed with diluted vinasse. The start-up proceeded faster in the filters than in the UASB reactors with TMP and synthetic wastewater. Loading rates of over 15 kgCODm−3d−1 with 50-60 % COD removal efficiencies were achieved in 10 days in the mesophilic and in 50 days in the thermophilic UASB reactor treating vinasse. The results show that high-rate anaerobic treatment can be applied to different types of industrial wastewaters under varying conditions.


2013 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Estevão Urbinati ◽  
Rose M. Duda ◽  
Roberto A. de Oliveira

In this study it was evaluated the effects of hydraulic retention time (HRT) and Organic Loading Rate (OLR) on the performance of UASB (Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket) reactors in two stages treating residual waters of swine farming. The system consisted of two UASB reactors in pilot scale, installed in series, with volumes of 908 and 188 L, for the first and second stages (R1 and R2), respectively. The HRT applied in the system of anaerobic treatment in two stages (R1 + R2) was of 19.3, 29.0 and 57.9 h. The OLR applied in the R1 ranged from 5.5 to 40.1 kg CODtotal (m³ d)-1. The average removal efficiencies of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total suspended solids (TSS) ranged, respectively, from 66.3 to 88.2% and 62.5 to 89.3% in the R1, and from 85.5 to 95.5% and 76.4 to 96.1% in the system (R1 + R2). The volumetric production of methane in the system (R1 + R2) ranged from 0.295 to 0.721 m³CH4 (m³ reactor d)-1. It was found that the OLR applied were not limiting to obtain high efficiencies of CODtotal and TSS removal and methane production. The inclusion of the UASB reactor in the second stage contributed to increase the efficiencies of CODtotal and TSS removal, especially, when the treatment system was submitted to the lowest HRT and the highest OLR.


1997 ◽  
Vol 35 (8) ◽  
pp. 247-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herbert H. P. Fang ◽  
Ivan W. C. Lau ◽  
Denis W. C. Chung

The effects of nine common aromatic pollutants from chemical industry on the bioactivity of anaerobic granules were examined. The granules were obtained from an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor treating wastewater containing colloidal starch. The specific methanogenic activities (SMA) of granules were measured at 37°C in serum vials using 3000 mg/l of colloidal starch as substrate, plus individual pollutants at various concentrations. The toxicity was expressed by the IR50 and IC50 values, i.e. the toxicant/biomass ratio and concentration at which levels the granules exhibited only 50% of their original bioactivities. Results showed that in general the granules exhibited mild resistance to toxicity of aromatic pollutants, probably due to the granules' layered microstructure. The toxicities, which were dependent on the nature of chemical functional group, of the aromatic pollutants were in the following descending order: cresols > phenol > hydroxyphenols/phthalate > benzoate. There was only marginal difference between the toxicity of the steric isomers. For the seven phenolic pollutants, the more hydrophobic the functional group the higher the toxicity. The granules' resistance to toxicity suggested the plausibility of anaerobic treatment of wastewater from the chemical industry.


1997 ◽  
Vol 36 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 237-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robbert Kleerebezem ◽  
Joost Mortier ◽  
Look W. Hulshoff Pol ◽  
Gatze Lettinga

During petrochemical production of purified terephthalic acid (PTA, 1,4-benzene dicarboxylic acid), a large quantity of concentrated effluent is produced. Main polluting compounds in this wastewater are terephthalic acid, acetic acid and benzoic acid in decreasing order of concentration. Acetic acid and benzoic acid are known to be rapidly degraded in high rate anaerobic treatment systems, such as Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Bed (UASB) reactors. Concerning the kinetics of anaerobic mineralization of terephthalic acid, however, no information is available in literuature. Therefore our work focused on the anaerobic degradation of neutralized terephthalic acid (disodium terephthalate) in laboratory scale UASB-reactors and batch reactors. It was found that high rate anaerobic treatment of terephthalate was difficult to obtain due to the low growth rate (μ ≈ 0.04 day−1) of the terephthalate mineralizing mixed culture. The maximum removal capacity of a lab-scale UASB-reactor was found to be 3.9 g COD.1−1 .day−1 at a loading rate of 4.5 g COD.1−1 .day−1 and a hydraulic retention time of 24 hours. Terephthalate was used as sole carbon source during these experiments. Addition of small amounts of sucrose (co-substrate) to the influent, as a source of reducing equivalents, was found to have a negative influence on the anaerobic degradation of terephthalate. Also benzoate was found to inhibit the mineralization of terephthalate. Batch-toxicity experiments showed that terephthalate is not toxic to any of the species involved in its mineralization. Based on these observations, a staged anaerobic reactor system is suggested for the anaerobic pre-treatment of PTA-wastewater.


2001 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 79-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. F. Lopes ◽  
P. R. Koetz ◽  
M. S. Santos

Parboiled rice industry is one of main food industries in the south of Brazil. The main parts of the processing are the humidification and gelatinization of the grain. This procedure increases the productivity and nutritive and cooking values of the product. Some of these industries in the region utilize upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors as a biological treatment for carbon removal. For nitrogen removal, the proposed system aims to eliminate an extra denitrification reactor, making this step in the top of the UASB, an anoxic zone of the reactor. Nitrification was performed in aerated mixed reactor of 3,6 L. A fraction of the NR was recycled in the top of UASB reactor above the sludge blanket. Recycled ratio varied from 0; 1:0.5; 1:1.0; to 1:1.5. The maximum removal efficiency of NTK was 80%. The results confirm the viability of the proposed system for denitrification.


1986 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 41-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Look Hulshoff Pol ◽  
Gatze Lettinga

Presently anaerobic wastewater treatment is becoming an accepted simple technology for the treatment of a variety of wastewaters. Of the different treatment systems that have been developed the UASB process (Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket) has found the widest application. Almost all of the more than 60 full scale UASB reactors in operation now, are running satisfactorily. The excellent sludge retention generally found in UASB-reactors is obtained by sludge granulation, which can be seen as a sludge immobilization process. The presently available insight into the sludge granulation process is briefly presented, together with the strategy to be applied for performing a proper first start-up and secondary start-up of UASB reactors, viz. using granular seed sludge. The effect of the presence of SS with regard to the loading potentials of anaerobic treatment systems will be discussed. The experiences obtained with some full scale applications of the UASB-process are presented.


2018 ◽  
Vol 78 (9) ◽  
pp. 1871-1878 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo Vargas-Morales ◽  
Rolando Chamy ◽  
Santiago García-Gen

Abstract A variable-gain controller for anaerobic digestion of industrial winery wastewater is presented. A control law using both volatile fatty acids (VFA) and methane production rate as controlled variables and organic loading rate (OLR) as manipulated variable is defined. The process state is quantitatively estimated by an empirical function comparing VFA measurements against a setpoint value; then, it is modified with a second empirical function that compares the methane flow rate with a maximum capacity reference, and finally it is adjusted with a third factor considering the actual hydraulic retention time. The variable-gain function determines the extent of the OLR change applied to the system. The controller was successfully validated in a 95 L upflow-anaerobic-sludge-blanket (UASB) reactor, treating industrial wine wastewater at OLR ranged between 2.0 and 39.2 g COD/L d for 120 days at mesophilic conditions. Higher performance was achieved contrasted with a conventional strategy carried out in a parallel UASB unit.


1995 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 249-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Christiansen ◽  
Hanne V. Hendriksen ◽  
Kimmo T. Järvinen ◽  
Birgitte K. Ahring

Data on anaerobic degradation of chloroaromatic compounds in Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactors (UASB-reactor) are presented and compared. Special attention is given to the metabolic pathways for degradation of chlorinated phenols by granular sludge. Results indicate that PCP can be degraded in UASB-reactors via stepwise dechlorination to phenol. Phenol will subsequently be converted to benzoate before ring cleavage. Dechlorination proceeds via different pathways dependent upon the inocula used. Results are further presented on the design of special metabolic pathways in granules which do not possess this activity using the dechlorinating organism, Desulfomonile tiedjei. Additionally, it is shown that it is possible to immobilize Dechlorosporium hafniense, a newly isolated dechlorinating anaerobe, into granular sludge, thereby introducing an ability not previously present in the granules.


2019 ◽  
Vol 79 (12) ◽  
pp. 2251-2259 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Esparza-Soto ◽  
A. Jacobo-López ◽  
M. Lucero-Chávez ◽  
C. Fall

Abstract The objective of the present study was to determine the optimum operating temperature of laboratory-scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors during the treatment of a chocolate-processing industry wastewater at medium applied organic loading rates (OLRappl). Four UASB reactors were operated at different temperature (15, 20, 25 and 30 °C) and three OLRappl (2, 4 and 6 kg soluble chemical oxygen demand (CODs)/(m3 d)). The flowrate and the hydraulic retention time were constant (11.5 L/d and 6 h, respectively). The monitored parameters were pH, temperature, CODs, and total and volatile suspended solids. The CODs removal efficiency (RE) and biogas production rate (BPR) were calculated. The 15 °C UASB reactor had the lowest RE (39 to 78%) due to the low operating temperature. Regardless of the OLRappl, the RE of the 20, 25 and 30 °C reactors was high and similar to each other (between 88 and 94%). The BPR of the four UASB reactors had the same behaviour as the RE (BPR of 15 °C: 0.3 to 0.5 Lbiogas/(Lreactor d) (Lb/(Lr d)) and BPR of 20, 25 and 30 °C: 0.5 to 1.9 Lb/(Lr d)).


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