Wastewater treatment in an anaerobic filter using small lava stones as filter media without temperature control

2011 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 1188-1195
Author(s):  
Simón González-Martínez ◽  
Óscar González-Barceló ◽  
Carlos A. Flores-Torres

For their simplicity and using cheap support materials, biological filtration of municipal wastewater can be adequate for developing countries where the legislation is not as strict as in other countries, like the members of the European Union. Biological filters are fixed biomass reactors where the suspended pollutants can easily be retained and the dissolved substances can be transformed by microbial activity. A pilot anaerobic filter was built and filled with lava stones sieved to obtain particles with an average size of 6 mm. The filter was fed with municipal wastewater during 220 days under hydraulic retention times (HRT) of 4.3 and 9.8 hours (average organic loading rates of 0.48 and 1.23 kgCOD/m3 d). The results show that the pH did not change significantly during the process. Lower organic loading rates (higher HRT) resulted in better COD and TSS removal rates. Average biogas composition showed methane to be 67% for the lower organic loading rate and 63% for the higher one. Backwashing with air for 5 minutes every 72 hours did not negatively affect the overall anaerobic process. Average TSS removal was 79 and 73% for the higher and lower HRT (lower and higher organic loading rates), respectively. The overall performance of the anaerobic filter is comparable with the reported values in the literature. The COD and TSS removal rates are slightly inferior to the ones reported in the literature for UASB reactors treating municipal wastewater.

Author(s):  
Nithya Gopinath ◽  
Madhu G. ◽  
Joseph Francis

In this study, wastewater from a centrifuge rubber latex concentration unit was experimentally treated by an up-flow anaerobic filter (UAF) at variable hydraulic detention time to investigate the COD removal efficiency and the gas production rate. The UAF reactors were made of PVC pipe with an inside diameter of 9.5 cm, 180 cm in height, with a bed volume of 12.8 L, and filled with polyethylene media. The initial COD concentration of wastewater was in the range 4620 - 10400 mg.L-1. HRTs were controlled at 20 days, with the organic loading rate varying from 2.9 to 10.5 kg.day.m-3. The findings show that the COD removal efficiency of the system was in the range of 85% to 92% for the varying organic loading rates. In addition, the specific methane production rate varied from 8.2 to 14 L of CH4 produced/g of COD destroyed/day for the different organic loading rates.


2007 ◽  
Vol 55 (7) ◽  
pp. 255-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. González-Martínez ◽  
T. Millán ◽  
O. González-Barceló

The main objective of this research was to demonstrate that selected natural lava stones can be successfully used for low-cost aerobic biofiltration of municipal wastewater. To demonstrate the procedure a pilot filter was built using 6 mm lava stones as support material. The filter depth was 3.0 m. Provided with sampling ports at different depths analysis of the wastewater could be made for COD, TSS, ammonia and nitrates nitrogen, pH, temperature and Kjeldahl nitrogen. Backwashing was performed every 72 hours. Total and dissolved COD and TSS behaved similarly with the organic load: The highest removal rates were observed with the lowest organic load of 0.8 kgCOD/m3 d. These removal rates decreased to a minimum value at organic loading rates of 1.5 kgCOD/m3 d and then remained without noticeable changes to the highest value of 3.5 kgCOD/m3 d. The highest total and dissolved COD removal values were 81 and 84%, respectively. For TSS the best removal value was 95%. Up to 75% ammonia removal was achieved at the lowest organic load of 0.8 kgCOD/m3 d. Ammonia removal decreased to 36% with a higher organic load of 1.6 kgCOD/m3 d. The Mean Cellular Retention (MCRT) time varied from 1 to 6 days with an average of 3.2 days. This fact proves that the MCRT depends on the backwashing frequency more than of any other factor involved. The bed volume decreased in about 5% after 300 days of operation. Microscopic observations showed that the small stones were rounder after 300 days and that the volume losses were caused when the edges of the stones were cut by the abrasion caused by backwashing.


2009 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 723-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Castilla ◽  
L. Aguilar ◽  
M. Escamilla ◽  
B. Silva ◽  
Z. Milán ◽  
...  

Municipal wastewater was amended with organic garbage leachates at a concentration around 700 mgCODsoluble/L and fed to three different anaerobic systems to compare their performance: a down flow fluidized bed (DFFB), an expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) and a zeolite-packed anaerobic filter reactor (ZPF). The DFFB and EGSB reactors were operated at HRT of 6 and 4 h and the ZPF reactor at 12 and 36 h. Organic loads rate for the DFFB reactor were 2.3±0.9 and 4.8±1.8 gCOD/L·d, with removal efficiencies around 40% and a methane productivity of 0.2±0.03 L/Lreactor·d. For the EGSB reactor, organic loads tested were 2.1±0.9 and 4.3±1.3 gCOD/L·d, removal efficiencies attained were of 77.6±12.7% and 84.4±4.9%, respectively at both conditions and total suspended solids were removed in 54.6±19.3%, while methane productivity at 4 h HRT was of 1.29±0.4 L/Lreactor·d. The ZPF reactor was operated at lower organic loading rates, 1.4±0.27 and 0.42±0.13 gCOD/L·d and attained removal efficiencies of 48±18% and 83±8%, respectively, reaching a methane productivity of 0.21±0.09 and 0.12±0.04 L/Lreactor·d, 83±8.0% of total suspended solids were retained in the reactor and as HRT was increased ammonium concentrations increased in 39%. Specific methanogenic activity in all systems was around 0.2 gCOD-CH4/gVSS d.


Energies ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 736-750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuling Chen ◽  
Benjamin Rößler ◽  
Simon Zielonka ◽  
Anna-Maria Wonneberger ◽  
Andreas Lemmer

2011 ◽  
Vol 71-78 ◽  
pp. 2103-2106
Author(s):  
Ming Yue Zheng ◽  
Ming Xia Zheng ◽  
Kai Jun Wang ◽  
Hai Yan

The performance of upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) fed with three metabolic intermediate (acetate, ethanol, and propionate) respectively was studied. The degradation of metabolic intermediate were investigated to discuss the reason for propionate inhibition problem in anaerobic treatment. The hydraulic retention time (HRT) in the reactors started with 8.0h.The yield rate of biogas were 237ml/gCOD, 242ml/gCOD, 218ml/gCOD for acetate, ethanol and propionate, respectively when finishing start-up under OLR of 5.0 kgCOD/(m3·d) (HRT=9.6h).The HRT remained constant 9.6h,and the substrate concentration was gradually increased from 1,000 to 16,000mg/L as COD,and the organic loading rates(OLR) was from 3.0 to 40.0 kgCOD/(m3·d).The maximum propionate concentration was 41.6 gHPr-COD/L at the organic loading rate of 43.9 kgCOD/(m3·d) (HRT, 9.6h) as well as acetate and ethanol.


1991 ◽  
Vol 23 (7-9) ◽  
pp. 1283-1291 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. F. Parkin ◽  
M. A. Sneve ◽  
H. Loos

The use of anaerobic biological processes for the treatment of industrial wastewaters has significant merit. When high levels of sulfate are present, the sulfate is biologically reduced to sulfide, the result being potential toxicity to the consortia of organisms responsible for producing methane. An upflow anaerobic filter-fed propionate as a substrate was used to study the interaction between sulfate-reducing bacteria and methane-producing bacteria. Hydraulic retention times of one and two days were used, organic loading rates were varied from 3 to 5 g COD/L-day, and feed COD/S ratios were varied from 20/1 to 8/1. Unionized hydrogen sulfide and dissolved sulfide levels associated with decreased process performance were approximately 110 mg S/L and 350 mg S/L, respectively. These levels are significantly higher than those levels causing inhibition in completely mixed-reactors. Most of the sulfate reduction and propionate removal took place in the first 300 mm of the 1050-mm-long reactor, indicating that sulfate reduction and methane production were occurring in the sane location in the filter.


1996 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 1305-1315 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Prakash ◽  
K. J. Kennedy

Start-up and steady state operation of anaerobic fluidized bed reactors (AFBRs) with biolite as the inert carrier material was studied. Start-up and concomitant biofilm development of AFBRs was performed using two common start-up techniques, the maximum efficiency profile (MEP) technique and the maximum load profile (MLP) technique. The MEP start-up technique increases the volumetric organic loading rates to the reactor gradually and is tied to the removal efficiency of the process. The MLP start-up technique maintains a moderately high but constant volumetric organic loading rate irrespective of reactor performance. Using sucrose-based wastewater as feed, both start-up techniques led to equally fast biofilm development and start-up times of approximately 5 weeks. However, the MEP technique resulted in more stable controlled reactor operation during the start-up period. The quick start-up confirms the high compatibility of biolite for bio-adhesion and the development of a healthy active biofilm.High concentrations of biofilm biomass achieved in AFBRs (69 g volatile biofilm solids (VBS)/L of expanded bed volume at an organic loading rate of 25 g COD/(Lùd)) allowed the successful treatment of wastewaters at high organic loading rates and organic removal efficiencies. During steady state experiments, organic removal efficiencies over 80% were obtained for organic loading rates as high as 20 g COD/(L∙d). It was found that the dependence of removal efficiency on hydraulic retention time is influenced by substrate concentration. Total biofilm yield was determined to be 0.08 g VBS/g COD removed, demonstrating the low net synthesis of solids in the AFBR. AFBRs had an average solids retention time of 150 days, corresponding to a washout factor of 0.01. Extrinsic kinetics of the AFBRs was determined to be zero order with a maximum specific utilization rate of 0.48 g COD/(g VBS∙d).AFBRs used to treat municipal landfill leachate with a BOD5:COD ratio of 0.86 achieved steady state COD removal efficiencies that ranged from 70% to 87%, depending on the reactor organic loading rate and the concentration of the leachate being treated. During leachate treatment, biofilm biomass gradually became "mineralized" as a result of precipitation of metal sulfides and carbonates. This eventually resulted in a decrease in biofilm microbial activity and the need for higher pumping rates to maintain the same degree of bed expansion. Key words: anaerobic, biological fluidized bed reactor, biolite, landfill leachate, sucrose, modeling, start-up, steady state kinetics.


1989 ◽  
Vol 21 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 133-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juu-En Chang

The operational characteristics, efficiency of treatment of landfill leachate, and recovery of energy in a laboratory scale hybrid bioreactor were investigated. The reactor was a continuous upflow system combining a sludge bed and a filter and was operated at 35°C. This modified anaerobic sludge bed filter (SBF) reactor was found to provide efficient treatment of the organic constituents of the leachate. Removal of soluble COD was greater than 92% at organic loading rates less than 13 kg COD/m3/d, and removal decreased to 70% with an organic loading rate of 21.77 kg COD/m3/d. A solids balance indicated that 0.041 g volatile suspended solids (VSS) were produced per gram of COD removed. The removal of sulfate and soluble Fe was as high as 90% and 96.9%, respectively. An accumulation of Fe was observed. When the influent concentration of total Fe ranged from 160 to 515 mg/l, the total Fe concentration in the sludge was as high as 7,100 mg/l after a 185 day period of operation. The sulfate loading of the system affected energy recovery. When the sulfate loading rate increased from 102 to 683 mg/l/d, energy recovery decreased from 90% to 52%. The biogas conversion factor for methane was 0.31 1 at STP per gram of COD removed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenda Cea-Barcia ◽  
Jaime Pérez ◽  
Germán Buitrón

Abstract The anaerobic co-digestion of microalga-bacteria biomass and papaya waste (MAB/PW) was evaluated under semi-continuous conditions. Microalgae-bacteria biomass was obtained from a high rate algal pond fed with municipal wastewater and artificially illuminated. The co-digestion of MAB/PW was evaluated using a 1:1 (w/w) ratio and an organic loading rate of 1.1 ± 0.1 g COD/L/d. Enzymatic activity assays of papain were performed in the feeding to determine the activity of this enzyme in the substrate mixture. A methane yield of 0.55 L CH4/gVS and 68% of total volatile solid removal were observed. The volumetric productivity was 0.30 ± 0.03 L CH4/L/d with a methane content of 71%. It was observed that papaya waste was a suitable co-substrate because it maintained a low ammonium concentration, decreasing the risk of inhibition due to ammonia and then increasing the methane yield of the microalgae-bacteria biomass compared to the biomass alone. The pretreatment effect by the addition of papaya waste on the microalgae-bacteria biomass was supported by the papain activity remaining in the substrate.


Author(s):  
M Kalyani ◽  
Shalini Suran ◽  
P Ramya

This paper primarily focuses on the effect of feed to inoculum ratio on biogas digestion; and outlines the various feeds, inoculums, and synergistic effects of the combination of inoculums by referring to the literature. The Start-up of an anaerobic digestion system is highly critical and pivotal for the successful operation of an anaerobic digester. For this purpose, a certain amount of inoculum is added to the digester along with the substrate to provide the necessary microorganisms to initiate the digestion process. The ratio and the type of inoculum used substantially affect the rate of biodegradation and the lag time. The degradation of substrate depends on the concentration of microorganisms. When food waste was considered as the feed it was found that factors such as waste oil content, the addition of alkaline buffer, particle size, organic loading rate had a considerable effect on the feed to inoculum ratio. Studies considering some other feeds such as animal by products from piggery slaughterhouses, poultry slaughterhouse wastes, agro-industrial waste, anaerobically digested sludge obtained from municipal wastewater, and dewatered digestate cake were also compared. Hence, the objective of this study is to offer an integrated view of the appropriate feed and the inoculum under the effect of various other essential parameters. The major performance indicators from this study were found to be particle size of inoculum, organic loading rate, the addition of alkaline buffer, F/I ratio, and structure of inoculum


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