Enhanced Degradation of the Substrate Using Modified Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactor–Static Granular Bed Reactor Series with Varying Hydraulic Retention Time at Lab Scale
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 149, Issue 1
Abstract
The performance of a modified upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (MUASB) reactor with a modified three-phase separator and a rope matrix, combined with SGBR in series was analyzed for the treatment of synthetic wastewater. The performance of the reactor series in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal was evaluated by varying the operational hydraulic retention times (HRT) from 12 to 30 h. The optimum HRT for the reactor series was found to be 24 h, with a corresponding organic loading rate (OLR) of . The maximum overall COD removal of the reactor series of 98.75% was obtained with the corresponding overall biogas production of . The reactor series was found to be stable during the operational period in terms of volatile fatty acids (VFAs)/alkalinity ratio. The analytical hierarchy process was used for choosing a better treatment option among the alternatives based on the selected criteria. MUASB–static granular bed reactor (SGBR) series was found to be superior to the MUASB and the SGBR individually based on COD removal. The payback period for the reactor series was calculated to be 8 years (approximately). The MUASB-SGBR series was found to be robust, stable, and economical, with better performance in terms of COD removal.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published paper.
Acknowledgments
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
References
Abbasi, T., and S. A. Abbasi. 2012. “Formation and impact of granules in fostering clean energy production and wastewater treatment in upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors.” Renewable Sustainable Energy Rev. 16 (3): 1696–1708. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2011.11.017.
Adebayo, A. O., S. O. Jekayinfa, and B. Linke. 2015. “Effects of organic loading rate on biogas yield in a continuously stirred tank reactor experiment at mesophilic temperature.” Br. J. Appl. Sci. Technol. 11 (4): 1–9. https://doi.org/10.9734/BJAST/2015/18040.
Ahmad, A., R. Ghufran, and Z. A. Wahid. 2011. “Role of calcium oxide in sludge granulation and methanogenesis for the treatment of palm oil mill effluent using UASB reactor.” J. Hazard. Mater. 198 (Oct): 40–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2011.10.008.
Aiyuk, S., P. Odonkor, N. Theko, A. van Haandel, and W. Verstraete. 2010. “Technical problems ensuing from UASB reactor application in domestic wastewater treatment without pre-treatment.” Int. J. Environ. Sci. Dev. 1 (5): 392–398. https://doi.org/10.7763/IJESD.2010.V1.76.
Baird, R., A. D. Eaton, E. W. Rice, and L. Bridgewater, eds. 2017. Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater. Washington, DC: American Public Health Association.
Basitere, M., M. Njoya, Z. Rinquest, S. K. O. Ntwampe, and M. S. Sheldon. 2019. “Performance evaluation and kinetic parameter analysis for static granular bed reactor (SGBR) for treating poultry slaughterhouse wastewater at mesophilic condition.” Water Pract. Technol. 14 (2): 259–268. https://doi.org/10.2166/wpt.2019.010.
Caixeta, C. E. T., M. C. Cammarota, and A. M. F. Xavier. 2001. “Slaughterhouse wastewater treatment: Evaluation of a new three-phase separation system in a UASB reactor.” Bioresour. Technol. 81 (1): 61–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0960-8524(01)00070-0.
Cecconet, D., M. Mainardis, A. Callegari, and A. G. Capodagilo. 2022. “Psychrophilic treatment of municipal wastewater with a combined UASB/ASD system, and perspectives for improving urban WWTP sustainability.” Chemosphere 297 (Mar): 134228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.134228.
Central Pollution Control Board. 1986. “The environment (protection) rules.” Accessed October 26, 2021. https://cpcb.nic.in/env-protection-act/.
Chong, S., T. K. Sen, A. Kayaalp, and H. M. Ang. 2012. “The performance enhancements of upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors for domestic sludge treatment—A state-of-the-art review.” Water Res. 46 (11): 3434–3470. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2012.03.066.
Daud, M. K., H. Rizvi, M. F. Akram, S. Ali, M. Rizwan, M. Nafees, and Z. S. Jin. 2018. “Review of upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor technology: Effect of different parameters and developments for domestic wastewater treatment.” J. Chem. 2018: 1596319. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/1596319.
Debik, E., A. Coban, G. Kaykioglu, and B. B. Kayacan. 2012. “SGBR performance on the basis of color and COD removal from textile wastewater.” Clean-Soil Air Water 40 (6): 648–651. https://doi.org/10.1002/clen.201100327.
Debik, E., and T. Coskun. 2009. “Use of the static granular bed reactor (SGBR) with anaerobic sludge to treat poultry slaughterhouse wastewater and kinetic modeling.” Bioresour. Technol. 100 (11): 2777–2782. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2008.12.058.
de Sousa, J. T., K. Dantas Santos, I. Nunes Henrique, D. P. Brasil, and E. Cavalcante Santos. 2008. “Anaerobic digestion and the denitrification in UASB reactor.” J. Urban Environ. Eng. 2 (2): 63–67. https://doi.org/10.4090/juee.2008.v2n2.063067.
El-Kamah, H., A. Tawfik, M. Mahmoud, and H. Abdel-Halim. 2009. “Treatment of high strength wastewater from fruit juice industry using integrated anaerobic/aerobic system.” Desalination 253 (1–3): 158–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2009.11.013.
Evans, E. A., and T. G. Ellis. 2010. “Experimental validation of the static granular bed reactor for industrial waste anaerobic treatment.” J. Environ. Eng. 136 (10): 1139–1146. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EE.1943-7870.0000256.
Ghangrekar, M. M., S. R. Asolekar, and S. G. Joshi. 2005. “Characteristics of sludge developed under different loading conditions during UASB reactor start-up and granulation.” Water Res. 39 (6): 1123–1133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2004.12.018.
Gonzalez-Tineo, P. A., U. Duran-Hinojosa, L. R. Delgadillo-Mirquez, E. R. Meza-Escalante, P. Gortáres-Moroyoqui, R. G. Ulloa-Mercado, and D. Serrano-Palacios. 2020. “Performance improvement of an integrated anaerobic-aerobic hybrid reactor for the treatment of swine wastewater.” J. Water Process Eng. 34 (Feb): 101164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2020.101164.
Grady, C. P. L., Jr., G. T. Daigger, N. G. Love, and C. D. M. Filipe. 2011. Biological wastewater treatment. 3rd ed. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Habeeb, S. A., A. A. Latiff, Z. B. Daud, and Z. B. Ahmad. 2011. “A review on granules initiation and development inside UASB reactor and the main factors affecting granules formation process.” Int. J. Energy Environ. 2 (2): 311–320.
Hu, Y., C. Yang, J. Dan, W. Pu, and J. Yang. 2017. “Utilization of anaerobic granular sludge for chromium (VI) removal from wastewater: Optimization by response surface methodology.” Water Sci. Technol. 76 (5): 1112–1123. https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2017.297.
Hussain, A., and S. K. Dubey. 2013. “Specific methanogenic activity test for anaerobic treatment of phenolic wastewater.” Desalin. Water Treat. 52 (37–39): 7015–7025. https://doi.org/10.1080/19443994.2013.823116.
Jiraprasertwong, A., K. Maitriwong, and S. Chavadej. 2018. “Production of biogas from cassava wastewater using a three-stage upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor.” Renewable Energy 130 (Jun): 191–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2018.06.034.
Khan, A. A., R. Z. Guar, V. K. Tyagi, A. Khursheed, B. Lew, I. Mehrotra, and A. A. Kazmi. 2011. “Sustainable options of post treatment of UASB effluent treating sewage: A review.” Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 55 (12): 1232–1251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2011.05.017.
Khemkhao, M., B. Nuntakumjorn, S. Techkarnjanaruk, and C. Phalakornkule. 2012. “UASB performance and microbial adaptation during a transition from mesophilic to thermophilic treatment of palm oil mill effluent.” J. Environ. Manage. 103 (Mar): 74–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2012.03.004.
Kiani Deh Kiani, M., M. Parsaee, and Z. Mahdavifar. 2021. “Biogas production from sugarcane vinasse at mesophilic and thermophilic temperatures by static granular bed reactor (SGBR).” Sustainable Energy Technol. Assess. 48 (Sept): 101569. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2021.101569.
Kundu, P., A. Debsarkar, and S. Mukherjee. 2013. “Treatment of slaughterhouse wastewater in a sequencing batch reactor: Performance evaluation and biodegradation kinetics.” Biomed Res. Int. 2013 (Aug): 134872. https://doi.org/10.1201/b18616-11.
Li, J., J. Wang, Z. Luan, Z. Ji, and L. Yu. 2012. “Biological sulfate removal from acrylic fiber manufacturing wastewater using a two-stage UASB reactor.” J. Environ. Sci. 24 (2): 343–350. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1001-0742(11)60772-9.
Lim, S. J., and P. Fox. 2011. “Bioresource technology evaluation of a static granular bed reactor using a chemical oxygen demand balance and mathematical modeling.” Bioresour. Technol. 102 (11): 6399–6404. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2011.03.031.
Lim, S. J., and T.-H. Kim. 2013. “Applicability and trends of anaerobic granular sludge treatment processes.” Biomass Bioenergy 60 (Dec): 189–202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2013.11.011.
Loganath, R., and D. Mazumder. 2018. “Performance study on organic carbon, total nitrogen, suspended solids removal and biogas production in hybrid UASB reactor treating real slaughterhouse wastewater.” J. Environ. Chem. Eng. 6 (2): 3474–3484. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2018.05.031.
Mahmod, S. S., J. M. Jahim, P. M. Abdul, A. A. Indera Luthfi, and M. S. Takriff. 2021. “Techno-economic analysis of two-stage anaerobic system for biohydrogen and biomethane production from palm oil mill effluent.” J. Environ. Chem. Eng. 9 (4): 105679. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2021.105679.
Mainardis, M., M. Buttazzoni, and D. Goi. 2020. “Up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) technology for energy recovery: A review on state-of-the-art and recent technological advances.” Bioengineering 7 (2): 43. https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering7020043.
Mao, C., Y. Feng, X. Wang, and G. Ren. 2015. “Review on research achievements of biogas from anaerobic digestion.” Renewable Sustainable Energy Rev. 45 (Feb): 540–555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.02.032.
Mariraj Mohan, S., and T. Swathi. 2022. “A review on upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor: Factors affecting performance, modification of configuration and its derivatives.” Water Environ. Res. 94 (1): 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1002/wer.1665.
Mohan, S., and V. Nehru Kumar. 2006. “Performance study on modified USABR for treating dairy effluent.” J. Ind. Pollut. Control 22 (2): 253–256.
Montalvo, S., J. San Martin, C. Huilinir, L. Guerrero, and R. Borja. 2014. “Assessment of a UASB reactor with high ammonia concentrations: Effect of zeolite addition on process performance.” Process Biochem. 49 (12): 2220–2227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procbio.2014.09.011.
Musa, M. A., and S. Idrus. 2020. “Effect of hydraulic retention time on the treatment of real cattle slaughter house wastewater and biogas production from HUASB reactor.” Water (Basel) 12 (2): 490. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12020490.
Niwa, T., M. Hatamoto, T. Yamashita, H. Noguchi, O. Takase, K. A. Kekre, W. S. Ang, G. Tao, H. Seah, and T. Yamaguchi. 2016. “Demonstration of a full-scale plant using an UASB followed by a ceramic MBR for the reclamation of industrial wastewater.” Bioresour. Technol. 218 (Jun): 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2016.06.036.
Nwaogazie, I. L., O. Bovwe, and L. O. Uba. 2016. “Analytical hierarchy process in concept selection of wastewater treatment plant.” Br. J. Appl. Sci. Technol. 17 (4): 1–10. https://doi.org/10.9734/BJAST/2016/28978.
Ravichandran, P., and K. Balaji. 2020. “Effect of HRT on performance of hybrid upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (HUASB) reactor using bio balls in treatment of pulp and paper mill bagasse wash water.” Mater. Today: Proc. 22 (Feb): 627–632. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2019.09.011.
Renuka, R., S. Mariraj Mohan, B. Sowmiya, and S. Amal Raj. 2016. “Performance evaluation of panelled anaerobic baffle-cum-filter reactor in treating municipal wastewater.” Ecol. Eng. 97 (Dec): 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2016.07.020.
Ribera-Pi, J., A. Campitelli, M. Badia-Fabregat, I. Jubany, X. Martínez-lladó, E. McAdam, B. Jefferson, and A. Soares. 2020. “Hydrolysis and methanogenesis in UASB-AnMBR treating municipal wastewater under psychrophilic conditions: Importance of reactor configuration and inoculum.” Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. 8 (Nov): 567695. https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2020.567695.
Rizvi, H., N. Ahmad, F. Abbas, I. H. Bukhari, A. Yasar, S. Ali, T. Yasmeen, and M. Riaz. 2015. “Start-up of UASB reactors treating municipal wastewater and effect of temperature/sludge age and hydraulic retention time (HRT) on its performance.” Arabian J. Chem. 8 (6): 780–786. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arabjc.2013.12.016.
Roslev, P., and G. M. King. 1995. “Aerobic and anaerobic starvation metabolism in methanotrophic bacteria.” Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 61 (4): 1563–1570. https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.61.4.1563-1570.1995.
Ruiz, I., M. C. Veiga, P. de Santiago, and R. Blázquez. 1997. “Treatment of slaughterhouse wastewater in a UASB reactor and an anaerobic filter.” Bioresour. Technol. 60 (3): 251–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0960-8524(97)00020-5.
Sampaio, G. F., A. M. Santos, P. R. da Costa, R. P. Rodriguez, and G. P. Sancinetti. 2019. “High rate of biological removal of sulfate, organic matter, and metals in UASB reactor to treat synthetic acid mine drainage and cheese whey wastewater as carbon source.” Water Environ. Res. 92 (2): 245–254. https://doi.org/10.1002/wer.1235.
Sato, N., T. Okubo, T. Onodera, L. K. Agrawal, A. Ohashi, and H. Harada. 2007. “Economic evaluation of sewage treatment processes in India.” J. Environ. Manage. 84 (4): 447–460. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2006.06.019.
Tan, Y., J. Park, K. Ikuma, E. A. Evans, J. J. Flamming, and T. G. Ellis. 2020. “Feasibility test of autotrophic denitrification of industrial wastewater in sequencing batch and static granular bed reactors.” Water Environ. Res. 92 (5): 749–758. https://doi.org/10.1002/wer.1271.
Turkdogan, F. I., J. Park, E. A. Evans, and T. G. Ellis. 2013. “Evaluation of pretreatment using UASB and SGBR reactors for pulp and paper plants wastewater treatment.” Water Air Soil Pollut. 224 (5): 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-013-1512-6.
Yadav, T., A. A. Mungray, and A. K. Mungray. 2016. “Effect of nanoparticles on UASB biomass activity and dewatered sludge.” Environ. Technol. 38 (4): 413–423. https://doi.org/10.1080/09593330.2016.1196738.
Yoda, M., and S. Nishimura. 1997. “Controlling granular sludge floatation in UASB reactors.” Water Sci. Technol. 36 (6–7): 165–173. https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.1997.0588.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 149 • Issue 1 • January 2023
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 8, 2022
Accepted: Aug 6, 2022
Published online: Nov 10, 2022
Published in print: Jan 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Apr 10, 2023
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Anaerobic processes
- Bed materials
- Biological processes
- Chemical processes
- Chemistry
- Engineering materials (by type)
- Environmental engineering
- Granular materials
- Hydraulic engineering
- Hydraulics
- Materials engineering
- Oxygen demand
- Pollutants
- River and stream beds
- River engineering
- Rivers and streams
- Sludge
- Waste management
- Waste treatment
- Wastes
- Water and water resources
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.