Anaerobic treatment of crude glycerol from biodiesel production

2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (8) ◽  
pp. 1383-1389 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. Nakazawa ◽  
W. R. S. Silva Júnior ◽  
M. T. Kato ◽  
S. Gavazza ◽  
L. Florencio
Keyword(s):  
Crude Glycerol ◽  
Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis ◽  
Biogas Production ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Experimental Period ◽  
Anaerobic Treatment ◽  
Biodiesel Production ◽  
Uasb Reactor ◽  
Anaerobic Sludge ◽  
Reactor Performance

In this study, we evaluated the use of an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor to treat crude glycerol obtained from cottonseed biodiesel production. The laboratory-scale UASB reactor (7.0 L) was operated at ambient temperature of 26.5°C with chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentrations between 0.5 and 8.0 g/L. The volatile fatty acid contents, pH, inorganic salt contents and biogas production were monitored during a 280-day experimental period. Molecular biology techniques were used to assess the microbial diversity in the bioreactor. The reactor achieved COD removal efficiencies of up to 92% except during one phase when the efficiency decreased to 81%. Biogas production remained stable throughout the experimental period, when the fraction converted to methane reached values as high as 68%. The profile of the denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) bands suggested slight changes in the microbial community during reactor operation. The overall results indicated that the crude glycerol from biodiesel production can serve as a suitable substrate for anaerobic degradation with a stable reactor performance and biogas production as long as the applied organic loads are up to 8.06 kg COD/m3·d.

Herbal pharmaceutical wastewater treatment by a pilot scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor

2009 ◽  
Vol 59 (11) ◽  
pp. 2265-2272 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Satyanarayan ◽  
A. Karambe ◽  
A. P. Vanerkar
Keyword(s):  
Biogas Production ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
High Strength ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Pilot Scale ◽  
Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket ◽  
Uasb Reactor ◽  
Anaerobic Sludge ◽  
Reactor Performance ◽  
Anaerobic Sludge Blanket

Herbal pharmaceutical industry has grown tremendously in the last few decades. As such, literature on the treatment of this wastewater is scarce. Water pollution control problems in the developing countries need to be solved through application of cost effective aerobic/anaerobic biological systems. One such system—the upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) process which is known to be cost effective and where by-product recovery was also feasible was applied for treatment of a high strength wastewater for a period of six months in a pilot scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor with a capacity of 27.44 m3. Studies were carried out at various organic loading rates varying between 6.26 and 10.33 kg COD/m3/day and hydraulic retention time (HRT) fluctuating between 33 and 43 hours. This resulted in chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and suspended solids (SS) removal in the range of 86.2%–91.6%, 90.0%–95.2% and 62.6%–68.0% respectively. The biogas production varied between 0.32–0.47 m3/kg COD added. Sludge from different heights of UASB reactor was collected and subjected to scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results indicated good granulation with efficient UASB reactor performance.

scholarly journals Modification of UASB reactor by using CFD simulations for enhanced treatment of municipal sewage

2017 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 766-776 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suprotim Das ◽  
Supriya Sarkar ◽  
Sanjeev Chaudhari
Keyword(s):  
Cfd Simulation ◽  
Biogas Production ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Vertical Wall ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Uasb Reactor ◽  
Municipal Sewage ◽  
Anaerobic Sludge ◽  
Reactor Performance ◽  
And Performance

Abstract Up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) has been in use since last few decades for the treatment of organic wastewaters. However, the performance of UASB reactor is quite low for treatment of low strength wastewaters (LSWs) due to less biogas production leading to poor mixing. In the present research work, a modification was done in the design of UASB to improve mixing of reactor liquid which is important to enhance the reactor performance. The modified UASB (MUASB) reactor was designed by providing a slanted baffle along the height of the reactor having an angle of 5.7° with the vertical wall. A two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of three phase gas-liquid-solid flow in MUASB reactor was performed and compared with conventional UASB reactor. The CFD study indicated better mixing in terms of vorticity magnitude in MUASB reactor as compared to conventional UASB, which was reflected in the reactor performance. The performance of MUASB was compared with conventional UASB reactor for the onsite treatment of domestic sewage as LSW. Around 16% higher total chemical oxygen demand removal efficiency was observed in MUASB reactor as compared to conventional UASB during this study. Therefore, this MUASB model demonstrates a qualitative relationship between mixing and performance during the treatment of LSW. From the study, it seems that MUASB holds promise for field applications.

scholarly journals Anaerobic treatment of coconut husk liquor for biogas production

2009 ◽  
Vol 59 (9) ◽  
pp. 1841-1846 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Leitão ◽  
A. M. Araújo ◽  
M. A. Freitas-Neto ◽  
M. F. Rosa ◽  
S. T. Santaella
Keyword(s):  
Biogas Production ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Anaerobic Treatment ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket ◽  
Uasb Reactor ◽  
Toxicity Tests ◽  
Anaerobic Sludge ◽  
Methanogenic Activity ◽  
Coconut Husk

The market for coconut water causes environmental problems as it is one of the major agro-industrial solid wastes in some developing countries. With the aim of reusing the coconut husk, Embrapa developed a system for processing this raw material. During the dewatering stage Coconut Husk Liquor (CHL) is generated with chemical oxygen demand (COD) varying from 60 to 70 g/L due to high concentrations of sugars and tannins. The present study evaluated the feasibility of anaerobic treatment of CHL through Anaerobic Toxicity Assay and the operation of a lab-scale Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) reactor. Results showed that CHL can be treated through a UASB reactor operating with an OLR that reaches up to 10 kg/m3·d and that is maintained stable during the whole operation. With this operational condition, the removal efficiency was higher than 80% for COD and approximately 78% for total tannins, and biogas production was 20 m3 of biogas or 130 KWh per m3 of CHL. Seventy-five percent of the biogas composition was methane and toxicity tests demonstrated that CHL was not toxic to the methanogenic consortia. Conversely, increasing the concentration of CHL leads to increased methanogenic activity.

scholarly journals The Concept of Wastes to Energy Using Sugary Wastes

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 57-62
Author(s):  
Fiza Sarwar ◽  
Wajeeha Malik ◽  
Muhammad Salman Ahmed ◽  
Harja Shahid
Keyword(s):  
Volatile Fatty Acids ◽  
Loading Rate ◽  
Biogas Production ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Uasb Reactor ◽  
Organic Loading Rate ◽  
Anaerobic Sludge ◽  
Loading Rates ◽  
Sugar Mills ◽  
Anaerobic Sludge Blanket

Abstract: This study was designed using actual effluent from the sugary mills in an Up-flow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) Reactor to evaluate treatability performance. The reactor was started-up in step-wise loading rates beginning from 0.05kg carbon oxygen demand (COD)/m3-day to 3.50kg-COD/m3-day. The hydraulic retention time (HRT) was slowly decreased from 96 hrs to eight hrs. It was observed that the removal efficiency of COD of more than 73% can be easily achieved at an HRT of more than 16 hours corresponding to an average organic loading rate (OLR) of 3.0kg-COD/m3-day, at neutral pH and constant temperature of 29°C. The average VFAs (volatile fatty acids) and biogas production was observed as 560mg/L and 1.6L/g-CODrem-d, respectively. The average methane composition was estimated as 62%. The results of this study suggest that the treatment of sugar mills effluent with the anaerobic technology seems to be more reliable, effective and economical.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/hn.v9i0.7075 Hydro Nepal Vol.9 July 2011 57-62

Thermophilic anaerobic digestion of methanol in UASB reactor

2001 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 129-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. L. Paulo ◽  
B. Jiang ◽  
S. Rebac ◽  
L. Hulshoff Pol ◽  
G. Lettinga
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Drop ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Granular Sludge ◽  
Methanol Conversion ◽  
Uasb Reactor ◽  
Anaerobic Sludge ◽  
Reactor Performance ◽  
Thermophilic Conditions ◽  
Main Components ◽  
Main Component

A 5.1 L laboratory scale upflow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) reactor was operated at 55°C over 130 days in order to investigate the feasibility of treating methanol-containing wastewater under thermophilic conditions, focussing on start-up and process stability. Batch assays were conducted to elucidate the most probable pathway for methanol conversion. The results demonstrated a good performance, with a chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal averaging 82% throughout the experiment. No significant VFA accumulation was detected in the effluent, even with bicarbonate concentration exceeding 20 mM. Acetate was the main component of the VFA at relatively low organic loading rates (OLR). At high OLR, the main components were propionate and butyrate. Reactor performance was hardly affected when the system was exposed to non-optimal conditions, i.e., temperature drop, overloading and no feeding. Good thermophilic granular sludge was retained in the reactor. Washout of biomass was not severe during the experiment. From the pathway analysis it could be concluded that indirect pathways play an important role in the methanol degradation by the cultivated consortia.

Effective carbon and nutrient treatment solutions for mixed domestic-industrial wastewater in India

2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 651-657 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Saha ◽  
N. Badhe ◽  
D. Seuntjens ◽  
S. E. Vlaeminck ◽  
R. Biswas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Removal ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Sewage Treatment ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Anaerobic Treatment ◽  
Fecal Coliforms ◽  
Uasb Reactor ◽  
Anaerobic Sludge ◽  
Anaerobic Sludge Blanket

The present study evaluates effectiveness of up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor followed by two post-anaerobic treatment options, namely free-surface, up-flow constructed wetland (FUP-CW) and oxygen-limited anaerobic nitrification/denitrification (OLAND) processes in treating sewage from the peri-urban areas in India receiving illegal industrial infiltrations. The UASB studies yielded robust results towards fluctuating strength of sewage and consistently removed 87–98% chemical oxygen demand (COD) at a hydraulic retention time of 1.5–2 d. The FUP-CW removed 68.5 ± 13% COD, 68 ± 3% NH4+-N, 38 ± 5% PO43−-P, 97.6 ± 5% suspended particles and 97 ± 13% fecal coliforms. Nutrient removal was found to be limiting in FUP-CW, especially in winter. Nitrogen removal in the OLAND process were 100 times higher than the FUP-CW process. Results show that UASB followed by FUP-CW can be an excellent, decentralized sewage treatment option, except during winter when nutrient removal is limited in FUP-CW. Hence, the study proposes bio-augmentation of FUP-CW with OLAND biomass for overall improvement in the performance of UASB followed by FUP-CW process.

scholarly journals Utilization of Biodiesel By-Products for Biogas Production

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Kolesárová ◽  
Miroslav Hutňan ◽  
Igor Bodík ◽  
Viera Špalková
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Degradation ◽  
Crude Glycerol ◽  
Biogas Production ◽  
Anaerobic Treatment ◽  
Biodiesel Production ◽  
Oil Cakes ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Biodiesel Purification ◽  
Washing Water ◽  
By Products

This contribution reviews the possibility of using the by-products from biodiesel production as substrates for anaerobic digestion and production of biogas. The process of biodiesel production is predominantly carried out by catalyzed transesterification. Besides desired methylesters, this reaction provides also few other products, including crude glycerol, oil-pressed cakes, and washing water. Crude glycerol or g-phase is heavier separate liquid phase, composed mainly by glycerol. A couple of studies have demonstrated the possibility of biogas production, using g-phase as a single substrate, and it has also shown a great potential as a cosubstrate by anaerobic treatment of different types of organic waste or energy crops. Oil cakes or oil meals are solid residues obtained after oil extraction from the seeds. Another possible by-product is the washing water from raw biodiesel purification, which is an oily and soapy liquid. All of these materials have been suggested as feasible substrates for anaerobic degradation, although some issues and inhibitory factors have to be considered.

Impact of ozone pre-treatment on the performance of upflow anaerobic sludge blanket treating pre-treated grain distillery wastewater

2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (10) ◽  
pp. 1702-1708 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Robertson ◽  
T. J. Britz ◽  
G. O. Sigge
Keyword(s):  
Unsaturated Fatty Acids ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket ◽  
Uasb Reactor ◽  
Anaerobic Sludge ◽  
Reactor Performance ◽  
Distillery Wastewater ◽  
Pre Treatment ◽  
Anaerobic Sludge Blanket ◽  
Performance Results

Two 2 L laboratory-scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors were operated for 277 days. The substrate of the control reactor (Rc) contained grain distillery wastewater (GDWW) that had undergone coagulant pre-treatment, and the substrate of the second UASB reactor consisted of GDWW that had undergone coagulant pre-treatment and ozone pre-treatment (Ro). Both reactors treated pre-treated GDWW successfully at ca. 9 kgCOD m−3 d−1. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) reductions of ca. 96% for Rc and 93% for Ro were achieved. Fats, oils and grease (FOG) reductions (%) showed variations throughout the study, and reductions of ca. 88 and 92% were achieved for Rc and Ro, respectively. Rc produced more biogas, and the methane percentage was similar in both reactors. UASB granule washout in Rc suggested possible toxicity of unsaturated fatty acids present in non-ozonated substrate. The feasibility of FOG removal was demonstrated as both reactors successfully treated pre-treated GDWW. Better results were obtained for Ro effluent during post-ozonation. The ozone pre-treatment possibly led to easier degradable wastewater, and better results could potentially be obtained when other post-treatment steps are applied. Ozone pre-treatment did not, however, show an added benefit in the reactor performance results.

Anaerobic baffled reactor treatment of biodiesel-processing wastewater with high strength of methanol and glycerol: reactor performance and biogas production

2011 ◽  
Vol 65 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Darin Phukingngam ◽  
Orathai Chavalparit ◽  
Dararat Somchai ◽  
Maneerat Ongwandee
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Oxygen Demand ◽  
Volatile Fatty Acids ◽  
Biogas Production ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Anaerobic Treatment ◽  
Organic Loading Rate ◽  
Organic Loading ◽  
Reactor Performance ◽  
Electron Microscopic ◽  
Anaerobic Baffled Reactor

AbstractBiodiesel-processing factories employing the alkali-catalyzed transesterification process generate a large amount of wastewater containing high amount of methanol, glycerol, and oil. As such, wastewater has high potential to produce biogas using anaerobic treatment. The aim of this research was to investigate the performance of an anaerobic baffled reactor for organic removal and biogas production from biodiesel wastewater. The effect of different organic loading rates, varying from 0.5 kg m−3 d−1 to 3.0 kg m−3 d−1 of chemical oxygen demand, was determined using three 22 L reactors, each comprising five separate compartments. Wastewater was pretreated with chemical coagulants to partially remove oil prior to experimentation. Results show that the anaerobic baffled reactor operated at 1.5 kg m−3 d−1 of chemical oxygen demand and ten days of hydraulic retention time provided the best removal efficiencies of 99 % of chemical oxygen demand, 100 % of methanol, and 100 % of glycerol. Increasing the organic loading rate over 1.5 kg m−3 d−1 of chemical oxygen demand led to excessive accumulation of volatile fatty acids thereby making the pH drop to a value unfavorable for methanogenesis. The biogas production rate was 12 L d−1 and the methane composition accounted for 64–74 %. Phase-separated characteristics revealed that the highest chemical oxygen demand removal percentage was achieved in the first compartment and the removal efficiency gradually decreased longitudinally. A scanning electron microscopic study indicated that the most predominant group of microorganisms residing on the external surface of the granular sludge was Methanosarcina.

scholarly journals Biogas Production by Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Dairy Wastewater with the Crude Glycerol from Slaughterhouse Sludge Cake Transesterification

Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 618 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Chun Chou ◽  
Jung-Jeng Su
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cattle ◽  
Removal Efficiency ◽  
Methane Production ◽  
Crude Glycerol ◽  
Biogas Production ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Dairy Wastewater ◽  
Anaerobic Sludge ◽  
Fatty Acid Accumulation ◽  
Sludge Cake

Excessive sludge in the wastewater treatment basins has to be removed periodically and collected as the form of sludge cake for promising good water quality of the effluent. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of biogas production by anaerobic co-digestion of dairy cattle wastewater and crude glycerol from transesterification of sludge cake. Different ratios of crude glycerol, i.e., 2, 4, and 8% (v/v), from the previous experiment were mixed with dairy cattle wastewater and inoculated with anaerobic sludge in cap-sealed 1-L serum bottles as anaerobic digesters. Although the 8% crude glycerol set showed the highest total biogas and methane production, low pH from volatile fatty acid accumulation decreased the removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand, and suspended solids after a 14-d incubation period. The experimental sets with 2 and 4% of crude glycerol increased total methane production up to 177 and 226% compared to the control set, respectively. We found that addition of crude glycerol decreased removal efficiency of total solids and volatile solids. In our study, we proved that slaughterhouse sludge cake is a feasible feedstock for producing biogas through transesterification and anaerobic co-digestion.

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