TECHNICAL PAPERS
Feb 1, 2007

Enhanced Start-Up of Upflow Anaerobic Filters by Pulsation

Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 133, Issue 2

Abstract

In this work, the effect of the pulsing flow on the start-up efficiency and hydraulics of upflow anaerobic filters (UAF) has been assessed. With this aim, a reactor operated in pulsing form (P) was compared with a conventional nonpulsed UAF reactor (NP). Although the operation of the two reactors was similar, the pulsed UAF attained a higher efficiency (92 versus 85%) at a higher organic loading rate (15 versus 11kg chemical oxygen demandm3day ), after a start-up period of 140 days. The hydraulic behavior, determined from residence time distribution curves, of the two reactors showed that the useful liquid volume in the pulsed reactor was 10% higher than in the NP reactor. Further, the useful volume of the pulsed UAF was higher (76%) than in reactor NP (58%), which indicates the efficiency of the pulsing device for degasification.

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Published In

Go to Journal of Environmental Engineering
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 133Issue 2February 2007
Pages: 186 - 190

History

Received: Jan 27, 2005
Accepted: May 10, 2006
Published online: Feb 1, 2007
Published in print: Feb 2007

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Authors

Affiliations

Amaya Franco
Doctor in Chemical Engineering, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, Univ. de Santiago de Compostela, Av. Lope Gomez de Marzoa, Santiago de Compostela 15782, Spain. E-mail: [email protected]
Enrique Roca
Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, Univ. de Santiago de Compostela, Av. Lope Gomez de Marzoa, Santiago de Compostela 15782, Spain. E-mail: [email protected]
Juan M. Lema
Professor of Chemical Engineering, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, Univ. de Santiago de Compostela, Av. Lope Gomez de Marzoa, Santiago de Compostela 15782, Spain. E-mail: [email protected]

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