Removal efficiency and methanogenic activity profiles in a pilot-scale UASB reactor treating settled sewage at moderate temperatures

2002 ◽  
Vol 45 (10) ◽  
pp. 243-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Seghezzo ◽  
R.G. Guerra ◽  
S.M. González ◽  
A.P. Trupiano ◽  
M.E. Figueroa ◽  
...  

The performance of a sewage treatment system consisting of a settler followed by an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Bed (UASB) reactor is described. Mean ambient and sewage temperature were 16.5 and 21.6°C, respectively. Total Chemical Oxygen Demand (CODt) concentration averaged 224.2 and 152.6 mg/L, for raw and settled sewage, respectively. The effluent concentration was 68.5 mgCODt/L. Total and suspended COD removal efficiencies of approximately 70 and 80%, respectively, have been observed in the system at a mean Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) of 2 + 5 h. Maximum COD removal efficiency was achieved in the UASB reactor when upflow velocity (Vup) was 0.43 m/h (HRT = 6 h). Mean Specific Methanogenic Activity (SMA) and Volatile Suspended Solids (VSS) concentration in the granular sludge bed were 0.11 gCOD-CH4/gVSS.d and 30.0 gVSS/Lsludge, respectively. SMA was inversely related to VSS concentration, and both parameters varied along the sludge bed height. The Solids Retention Time (SRT) in the reactor was 450 days. Sludge characteristics have not been affected by changes of up to one month in Vup in the range 0.28–0.85 m/h (HRT 3–9 h). This system or two UASB reactors in series could be an alternative for sewage treatment under moderate temperature conditions.

2011 ◽  
Vol 64 (10) ◽  
pp. 1959-1966 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Syutsubo ◽  
W. Yoochatchaval ◽  
I. Tsushima ◽  
N. Araki ◽  
K. Kubota ◽  
...  

In this study, continuous operation of a pilot-scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor for sewage treatment was conducted for 630 days to investigate the physical and microbial characteristics of the retained sludge. The UASB reactor with a working volume of 20.2 m3 was operated at ambient temperature (16–29 °C) and seeded with digested sludge. After 180 days of operation, when the sewage temperature had dropped to 20 °C or lower, the removal efficiency of both total suspended solids (TSS) and total biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) deteriorated due to washout of retained sludge. At low temperature, the cellulose concentration of the UASB sludge increased owing to the rate limitation of the hydrolytic reaction of suspended solids in the sewage. However, after an improvement in sludge retention (settleability and concentration) in the UASB reactor, the process performance stabilized and gave sufficient results (68% of TSS removal, 75% of total BOD removal) at an hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 9.7 h. The methanogenic activity of the retained sludge significantly increased after day 246 due to the accumulation of Methanosaeta and Methanobacterium following the improvement in sludge retention in the UASB reactor. Acid-forming bacteria from phylum Bacteroidetes were detected at high frequency; thus, these bacteria may have an important role in suspended solids degradation.


2012 ◽  
Vol 518-523 ◽  
pp. 2625-2630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ya Dong Guo ◽  
Cui Ting Fu ◽  
Guo Rong Liu ◽  
Chun Shuang Liu

A pilot-scale test was conducted with an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) treating pharmaceutical wastewater containing berberine. The aim of this study was to investigate the performance of UASB in the condition of a high chemical oxygen demand (COD) loading rate from 4.64 to 8.68 kg/m3d and a wide berberine concentration from 254 to 536 mg/L, in order to provide a reference for treating the similar pharmaceutical wastewater containing berberine. The results demonstrated that the UASB average percentage reduction in COD and berberine 68.14% and 57.39%, respectively. Granular sludge was formed during this process. In addition, a model, built on the back propagation neural network (BPNN) theory and linear regression techniques was developed for the simulation of the UASB system performance in the biodegradation of pharmaceutical wastewater containing berberine. The average errors of COD and berberine were -0.55% and 0.24%, respectively. The results indicated that this model built on the BPNN theory was well-fitted to the detected data, and was able to simulate and predict the removal of COD and berberine by UASB reactor.


1999 ◽  
Vol 40 (8) ◽  
pp. 91-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Jeison ◽  
R. Chamy

In the present study an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor and an expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactor were operated with different substrates under the same conditions. Ethanol, diluted beer (as a brewery effluent model) and wastewater from a coffee industry were tested. Ethanol was fed at two different concentrations: 0.5 and 10 gCOD/l. Beer was diluted to a concentration of 3gCOD/l and coffee wastewater had a concentration of approximately 7 gCOD/l. During the operation, samples of sludge were taken from both reactors to measure TSS, VSS, size distribution and methanogenic activity. Batch assays were performed in a third reactor using ethanol at two different superficial velocities to measure substrate uptake. The overall COD removal for ethanol at 500 gCOD/l in EGSB and UASB reactors was similar (around 80% for a sludge loading rate of 0.8 gCOD/day/gVSS). Granular sludge experienced an important development in its characteristics during the operation with ethanol. Superficial velocity showed a positive effect on COD removal for ethanol below 5m/h. There were no big differences in the removal rates during the operation with coffee wastewater. Probably in this effluent the process is limited by the reaction kinetics instead of by the mass transfer, due to the complex nature of the waste. With diluted beer, EGSB reactor showed a better performance than the UASB.


1997 ◽  
Vol 36 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 279-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Rintala ◽  
S. S. Lepistö

Thermophilic anaerobic treatment of food industry wastewaters was studied using a 0.65 m3 upflow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) reactor. The reactor was operated at 55°C and placed on the premises of a factory manufacturing deep-frozen goods from vegetables. The hot (>80-90°C) and concentrated (COD 14-79 g/l) wastewater streams, deriving from steam peeling and blanching of carrot and potato were used. The UASB reactor was inoculated with a small amount of granular sludge from a full-scale mesophilic UASB reactor. Prior to inoculation, the inoculum was acclimated to 55°C for 2 days. The reactor was fed with a mixture of wastewaters diluted to the desired COD. The reactor was started with loading rates of about 1.2 kgCOD/m3d. After the initial acidification of the process, apparently due to insufficient buffer capacity, the COD removal started to improve and reached 60% within 35 days of inoculation. At the end of the 70 days run, more than 80% COD removal was achieved with loading rates of about 4 kgCOD/m3d. The pilot-study run was limited due to the end of the seasonal production in the target factory. The results of the pilot study together with the results from the intensive laboratory studies suggest the feasibility of thermophilic anaerobic treatment for the studied wastewaters.


2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (02) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rina S. Soetopo ◽  
Sri Purwati ◽  
Henggar Hardiani ◽  
Mukharomah Nur Aini ◽  
Krisna Adhitya Wardhana

A continuous pilot scale study has been conducted to investigate the effectiveness of anaerobic digestion of biological sludge. The sludge has a total solid content of 0.53% - 1.1%, pH of 7.20 to 7.32. Its organic content is about 97 %, The research were conducted in two stages, which are acidification (performed in 3 m3 the Continously Stirred Tank Reactor/CSTR at pH of 5.5 to 6.0) and methanation (performed in 5 m3 the Up Flow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket/UASB reactor at pH 6.5 to 7.0). The retention time (RT) was gradually shortened from 6 days to 1 day for acidification and from 8 days to 2 days for methanation. The results showed that operating the CSTR at the RT of 1 day and the organic loading of 8.23 g Volatile Solid (VS)/m3.day could produce Volatile Fatty Acid (VFA) at an average value of 17.3 g/kg VS.day. Operating the UASB reactor at the RT of 2 days and the organic loading (Chemical Oxygen Demand/COD) of 2.4 kg COD/m3.day could produce biogas at an average value of 66.3 L/day, with an average methane content of 69.9%, methane rate of 0.17 L CH4/g COD reduction or 19.06 L CH4/kg VS. Furthermore, methanation could reduce COD at an average value of 51.2 %, resulting in the effluent average value of COD filtrate and COD total of 210.1 mg/L and 375.2 mg /L, respectively.Keywords: acidification, methanation, CSTR, UASB, biogas ABSTRAKPercobaan digestasi anaerobik lumpur IPAL biologi industri kertas secara kontinyu skala pilot telah dilakukan di industri kertas dengan tujuan mengkaji efektivitas proses digestasi anaerobik dalam mengolah lumpur tersebut. Lumpur yang digunakan memiliki total solids sekitar 0,53% – 1,1%, pH netral (7,20 – 7,32) dengan komponen utama senyawa organik sekitar 97%. Percobaan dilakukan dalam dua tahap yaitu asidifikasi dalam reaktor CSTR berkapasitas 3 m3 pada pH 5,5 – 6,0 dan metanasi dalam reaktor UASB berkapasitas 5 m3 pada pH 6,5 – 7,0. Percobaan dilakukan dengan waktu retensi yang dipersingkat secara bertahap dari 6 hari ke 1 hari untuk proses asidifikasi dan dari 8 hari ke 2 hari untuk proses metanasi. Hasil percobaan menunjukkan bahwa pengoperasian reaktor CSTR dengan waktu retensi 1 hari dan beban organik 8,3 g VS/m3.hari dapat menghasilkan VFA rata-rata 17,3 g/kg VS.hari dengan kisaran 8,36 – 30,59 g/kg VS.hari, sedangkan pengoperasian reaktor UASB pada waktu retensi 2 hari dan beban organik 2,4 kg COD/m3.hari dapat menghasilkan biogas rata-rata 66,3 L/hari dengan kadar metana rata-rata 69,9% atau 0,17 L CH4/g COD reduksi atau 19,06 L CH4/kg VS. Selain itu proses metanasi dapat menurunkan COD terlarut rata-rata 51,2%, dengan konsentrasi efluen COD terlarut  rata-rata 210,1 mg/L dan COD total rata-rata 375,2 mg/L.Kata kunci: asidifikasi, metanasi, CSTR, UASB, biogas


2016 ◽  
Vol 74 (7) ◽  
pp. 1509-1517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linan Zhu ◽  
Hailing He ◽  
Chunli Wang

The hybrid membrane bioreactor (HMBR) has been applied in ship domestic sewage treatment under high volumetric loading for ship space saving. The mechanism and influence factors on the efficiency, including hydraulic retention time (HRT), dissolved oxygen (DO) of chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal were investigated. The HMBR's average COD removal rate was up to 95.13% on volumetric loading of 2.4 kgCOD/(m3•d) and the COD concentration in the effluent was 48.5 mg/L, far below the International Maritime Organization (IMO) discharge standard of 125 mg/L. DO had a more remarkable effect on the COD removal efficiency than HRT. In addition, HMBR revealed an excellent capability of resisting organics loading impact. Within the range of volumetric loading of 0.72 to 4.8 kg COD/(m3•d), the effluent COD concentration satisfied the discharge requirement of IMO. It was found that the organics degradation in the aeration tank followed the first-order reaction, with obtained kinetic parameters of vmax (2.79 d−1) and Ks (395 mg/L). The original finding of this study had shown the effectiveness of HMBR in organic contaminant degradation at high substrate concentration, which can be used as guidance in the full scale of the design, operation and maintenance of ship domestic sewage treatment devices.


2008 ◽  
Vol 57 (7) ◽  
pp. 1047-1052 ◽  
Author(s):  
U. Durán ◽  
O. Monroy ◽  
J. Gómez ◽  
F. Ramírez

The biological elimination of polymeric resins compounds (PRC) such as acrylic acid and their esters, vinyl acetate and styrene under methanogenic and oxygen-limited methanogenesis conditions was evaluated. Two UASB reactors (A and B) were used and the removal of the organic matter was studied in four stages. Reactor A was used as methanogenic control during the study. Initially both reactors were operated under methanogenic conditions. From the second stage reactor B was fed with 0.6 and 1 mg/L·d of oxygen (O2). Reactor A had diminution in chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency from 75±4% to 37±5%, by the increase of PRC loading rate from 750 to 1125 mg COD/L·d. In this reactor there was no styrene elimination. In reactor B the COD removal efficiency was between 73±5% and 80±2%, even with the addition of O2 and increase of the PRC loading rate, owing to oxygen being used in the partial oxidation of these compounds. In this reactor the yields were modified from 0.56 to 0.40 for CH4 and from 0.31 to 0.60 for CO2. The O2 in low concentrations increased 40.7% the consumption rates of acrylic acid, methyl acrylate and vinyl acetate, allowing styrene consumption with a rate of 0.103 g/L·d. Batch cultures demonstrated that under methanogenic and oxygen-limited methanogenesis conditions, the glucose was not used as an electron acceptor in the elimination of PRC.


2013 ◽  
Vol 634-638 ◽  
pp. 182-186
Author(s):  
Juan Wang ◽  
Qin Zhong

With the aim to use anaerobic granular sludge, the methanogenic activity inhibition and recovery of anaerobic granular sludge from an industrial anaerobic reactor (s1) were investigated by measuring the methane volume at low pH. A lab-scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor was inoculated with s1.s1 was used to remove Zn2+ in wastewater. The results show that activity of s1 is similar when the pH value is 6.5 to 7.0. The methane volume is obviously decreased when the pH value is 6.0. The activity is completely inhibited when the pH value is 4.5. The activity is fully recovered when the pH is above 6.5 and hardly recovers when the pH fell to 4.5. The main Zn2+ removal mechanism is chemical adsorption.


2020 ◽  
Vol 81 (9) ◽  
pp. 1951-1960 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. S. Cabral ◽  
A. L. Sanson ◽  
R. J. C. F. Afonso ◽  
C. A. L. Chernicharo ◽  
J. C. Araújo

Abstract Two bioreactors were investigated as an alternative for the post-treatment of effluent from an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor treating domestic sewage, aiming at dissolved sulfide and methane removal. The bioreactors (R-control and R-air) were operated at different hydraulic retention times (HRT; 6 and 3 h) with or without aeration. Large sulfide and methane removal efficiencies were achieved by the microaerated reactor at HRT of 6 h. At this HRT, sulfide removal efficiencies were equal to 61% and 79%, and methane removal efficiencies were 31% and 55% for R-control and R-air, respectively. At an HRT of 3 h, sulfide removal efficiencies were 22% (R-control) and 33% (R-air) and methane removal did not occur. The complete oxidation of sulfide, with sulfate formation, prevailed in both phases and bioreactors. However, elemental sulfur formation was more predominant at an HRT of 6 h than at an HRT of 3 h. Taken together, the results show that post-treatment improved the anaerobic effluent quality in terms of chemical oxygen demand and solids removal. However, ammoniacal nitrogen was not removed due to either the low concentration of air provided or the absence of microorganisms involved in the nitrogen cycle.


Processes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
pp. 418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Cisterna-Osorio ◽  
Verónica Lazcano-Castro ◽  
Gisela Silva-Vasquez ◽  
Mauricio Llanos-Baeza ◽  
Ignacio Fuentes-Ortega

The objective of this work is to evaluate the impact of innovative modifications made to conventional effluent capture and discharge devices used in subsurface flow wetlands (SSFW). The main modifications that have been developed extend the influence of the capture and discharge device in such a way that the SSFW width and height are fully covered. This improved innovative device was applied and evaluated in two subsurface flow wetlands, one on a pilot scale and one on a real scale. To evaluate the impact of the innovative device with respect to the conventional one in the operational functioning of subsurface flow wetlands, the elimination of chemical oxygen demand (COD) was measured and compared. The results show that for the innovative device, the COD removal was 10% higher than for the conventional device, confirming the validity and effectiveness of the modifications implemented in the effluent capture and discharge devices used in SSFW.


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