Secondary WWTP preceded by UASB reactors - an excellent Brazilian experience

2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
E. P. Jordäo ◽  
I. Volschan ◽  
P. Alem Sobrinho

Anaerobic treatment, such as the Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket - UASB - has many advantages: a compact system, with practically no equipment in the anaerobic vessel, low operational costs, very low energy consumption, and low excess sludge produced. However, taking into account its poor effluent quality, and the legal water quality standards, post treatment is a must. Brazil is experiencing the scheme UASB plus aerobic secondary treatment, aiming reduction in investment and mainly in operational costs, with excellent results. Three cases are discussed in this paper: two small plants, Barreto (0,14 m3/s) and Itaipu (0.07 m3/s, 1.6 MGD); and the Rio Preto plant (1.34 m3/s), the first two already operational. All adopt the UASB plus activated sludge process, the last two with denitrification. Several other important plants are in the stage of design or construction in Brazil, with flows as high as 3.35 m3/s, UASB plus activated sludge with nitrogen and phosphorus removal and UASB plus trickling filters. Design criteria for the anaerobic reactor and for the different secondary treatment processes, and available operational data as well, are discussed in the paper. Particular attention is given to special restraints with activated sludge as post treatment, such as the higher sludge age required for nitrification, and the difficulty in denitrifying the anaerobic effluent.

2013 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 808-819 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo Bruno ◽  
Roberto A. de Oliveira

In this study it was evaluated the efficiency of the treatment of wet-processed coffee wastewater in upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors in two stages, in bench scale, followed by post-treatment with activated sludge in batch. The first UASB reactor was submitted to an hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 6.2 d and organic loading rates (OLR) of 2.3 and 4.5g CODtotal (L d)-1, and the second UASB reactor to HRT of 3.1 d with OLR of 0.4 and 1.4g CODtotal (L d)-1. The average values of the affluent CODtotal increased from 13,891 to 27,926mg L-1 and the average efficiencies of removal of the CODtotal decreased from 95 to 91%, respectively, in the UASB reactors in two stages. The volumetric methane production increased from 0.274 to 0.323L CH4 (L reactor d)-1 with increment in the OLR. The average concentrations of total phenols in the affluent were of 48 and 163mg L-1, and the removal efficiencies in the UASB reactors in two stages of 92 and 90%, respectively, and increased to 97% with post-treatment. The average values of the removal efficiencies of total nitrogen and phosphorus were of 57 to 80% and 44 to 60%, respectively, in the UASB reactors in two stages and increased to 91 and 84% with the post-treatment.


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.


1999 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. H. P. Fang ◽  
D. Wai-Chung Chung

Experiments were conducted in two 2.8 liter UASB (upflow anaerobic sludge blanket) reactors treating proteinaceous wastewaters at 37° and 55°C with 9 hours of hydraulic retention. Results showed that the mesophilic reactor consistently removed 83.5-85.1% of COD (chemical oxygen demand) at loading rates ranging 8-22 g COD l−1 d−1 (corresponding to 3000-8250 mg l−1 of proteinaceous COD in wastewater), whereas the thermophilic reactor removed only 68.5-82.7%. At 32 g COD l−1 d−1 (i.e. 12000 mg COD l−1), the removal efficiencies were lowered to 75.7% in the mesophilic reactor and 65.1% in the thermophilic reactor. At 42 g COD l−1 d−1, severe sludge washout occurred in the mesophilic reactor; at the same loading rate, the thermophilic reactor removed only 53.8% of COD even though sludge washout was under control. The degradation rate in the both reactors was limited by the initial hydrolysis of proteins. However, batch tests showed that thermophilic sludge had slightly higher methanogenic activities than mesophilic sludge in treating proteins and intermediate acids, except propionate. The sludge yields in mesophilic and thermophilic reactors were 0.066 and 0.099 g VSS g COD−1, respectively. Observations by scanning electron microscopy indicated that both types of sludge granules were of irregular shape. There was little noticeable difference between the two granules; both had neither a layered microstructure nor a predominant bacterial species.


2006 ◽  
Vol 27 (9) ◽  
pp. 1031-1036 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Makni ◽  
F. Bettaieb ◽  
H. Dhaouadi ◽  
F. M'Henni ◽  
A. Bakhrouf

2010 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 805-813 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siriuma Jawjit ◽  
Winai Liengcharernsit

This study aims to investigate treatment performance of the two-stage upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) applied to concentrated latex processing wastewater in Thailand. First, optimal conditions including the hydraulic retention time (HRT) in the acid tank and the UASB tank, pH, and temperature (mesophilic and thermophilic) were determined. It was found that the HRT at 24 h and 48 h were the optimal HRT for the acid tank and the UASB tank, respectively. The pH of the system should be controlled at 7 to prevent rubber coagulation and to achieve high treatment performance, and the mesophilic condition (35°C) was found to be the optimal temperature. Second, the two-stage UASB was applied with the optimal conditions mentioned earlier with real wastewater at a latex mill. It was found that methane production was about 0.116 L CH4/g COD removed (16.3–22.8 m3CH4/d), and average chemical oxygen demand (COD) and suspended solids (SS) removal efficiency were about 82% and 92%, respectively. In case of SS removal, the results revealed that the two-stage UASB was capable of overcoming the limitations of the single-stage UASB in treating concentrated latex effluent. The results indicated that application of the two-stage UASB to concentrated latex processing wastewater is feasible. Nevertheless, combination with other treatment systems (e.g., oxidation pond, aerated lagoon) is necessary to meet Thailand's industrial effluent standards (in the case of COD).


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