Effect of post-digestion temperature on serial CSTR biogas reactor performance

The effect of post-digestion temperature on a lab-scale serial continuous-flow stirred tank reactor (CSTR) system performance was investigated. The system consisted of a main reactor operated at 55 °C with hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 15 days followed by post-digestion reactors with HRT of 5.3 days. Three post-digestion temperatures (55 °C, 37 °C and 15 °C) were compared in terms of biogas production, process stability, microbial community and methanogenic activity. The results showed that the post-digesters operated at 55 °C, 37 °C and 15 °C gave extra biogas production of 11.7%, 8.4% and 1.2%, respectively. The post-digester operated at 55 °C had the highest biogas production and was the most stable in terms of low VFA concentrations. The specific methanogenic activity tests revealed that the main reactor and the post-digester operated at 55 °C and 37 °C had very active acidogens and methanogens. In contrast, very low methanogenic activity was observed at 15 °C.     

State indicators for monitoring the anaerobic digestion process

Anaerobic process state indicators were used to monitor a manure digester exposed to different types of disturbances, in order to find the most proper indicator(s) for monitoring the biogas process. Online indicators tested were biogas production, pH, volatile fatty acids (VFA), and dissolved hydrogen. Offline indicators tested were methane and hydrogen content in the biogas. A CSTR reactor with 7.2 L working volume was operated at a varying hydraulic loading rate (HRT 10–20 days) for 200 days. During this period, the reactor was overloaded with extra organic matter such as glucose, lipid, gelatine, and bio-fibers, in order to create dynamic changes in the process state. Biogas production increased in response to the increase in organic load with a slight decrease in methane content. pH was relatively stable and did not show clear response to hydraulic load changes. However, pH changes were observed in response to extra organic load. Individual VFA concentrations were an effective indicator, with propionate persistent for the longest time after introduction of the disturbance. Dissolved hydrogen was very sensitive to the addition of easily degradable organics. However, it responded also to other disturbances such as slight air exposure which had no impact on process performance. A combination of acetate, propionate and biogas production is an effective combination to monitor this type of digesters effectively.     

Anaerobic digestion of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste: influence of co-digestion with manure

Anaerobic digestion of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) was investigated in two thermophilic (55 degrees C) wet digestion treatment systems R1 and R2. Initially OFMSW was co-digested with manure with a successively higher concentration of OFMSW, at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 14-18 d and an organic loading rate (OLR) of 3.3-4.0 g-VS/l/d. Adaptation of the co-digestion process to a OFMSW:manure ratio of 50% (VS/VS) was established over a period of 6 weeks. This co-digestion ratio was maintained in reactor R2 while the ratio of OFMSW to manure was slowly increased to 100% in reactor R1 over a period of 8 weeks. Use of recirculated process liquid to adjust the organic loading to R1 was found to have a beneficial stabilization effect. The pH rose to a value of 8 and the reactor showed stable performance with high biogas yield and low VFA levels. The biogas yield from source-sorted OFMSW was 0.63-0.71 l/g-VS both in the co-digestion configuration and in the treatment of 100% OFMSW with process liquid recirculation. This yield is corresponding to 180-220 m3 biogas per ton OFMSW. VS reduction of 69-74% was achieved when treating 100% OFMSW. None of the processes showed signs of inhibition at the free ammonia concentration of 0.45-0.62 g-N/l.     

Thermophilic anaerobic digestion of source-sorted organic fraction of household municipal solid waste: start-up procedure for continuously stirred tank reactor

Two feeding strategies for start-up of continuously stirred tank reactors (CSTR) treating source-sorted organic fraction of household municipal solid waste (SS-OFMSW) at 55 degrees C were evaluated. Two reactors were started up separately with a limited amount of initial inoculum (i.e. 10% of the final volume of 3.5l) and operated in a fed batch mode until the reactors were filled (30 days). A reference reactor was filled up with 3.5l of inoculum and fed at a constant rate (11.4 g volatile solids (VS)/d). Loading at progressively increasing rate (from 1.7 to 15 gVS/d), as calculated based on an activated biomass concept, showed superior process performance compared to a fixed feed rate (5.7 gVS/d). Methane yield of 0.32 m(3)/kg VS was produced during the start-up in reactor filled at progressively increasing rate and was comparable to the reference reactor. On the contrary, significant inhibition due to volatile fatty acid (VFA) build-up, mainly due to butyrate, was noticed in the reactor filled at constant rate. Thus, low initial and progressive increasing inoculum loading rate could be used as a strategy for a successful start-up of CSTR treating SS-OFMSW as it allowed a gradual acclimation of the biomass. Lab-scale results were further reaffirmed from the start-up of a full-scale plant (7000 m(3) total capacity) which was supplied with inoculum corresponding to approx. 16% of final volume and operated in a fed batch mode until the reactors were filled (58 days). Stable biogas production with low VFA (<3 g/L; based on titration method) were noticed during the start-up period when fed at progressively increasing rate. Thus, a controlled and reliable start-up procedure was found essential, which could allow rapid process stabilization and time to focus on other technical aspects of plant operation. In addition, the influence of substrate to inoculum amount (1.5-30% TS) and temperature (5-65 degrees C) on anaerobic degradation and methane production of SS-OFMSW was investigated in batch assays as a protocol for start-up procedure.     

Effect of process configuration and substrate complexity on the performance of anaerobic processes

The roles of substrate complexity (molecular size of the substrate) and process configuration in anaerobic wastewater treatment were investigated to determine optimal methanogenic technology parameters. Five substrates (glucose, propionate, butyrate, ethanol, and lactate) plus a mixed waste (60% carbohydrate, 34% protein, and 6% lipids) were studied under five reactor configurations: batch-fed single-stage continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR), continuously fed single-stage CSTR, two-phase CSTR, two-stage CSTR, and single-stage upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB). The substrate feed concentration was 20,000 mg/L as COD. The solids retention time (SRT) and hydraulic retention time (HRT) in the CSTR reactors were 20 d, while HRT in the UASB was 2 d. All reactors were operated for at least 60 d (equal to 3SRT). Substrate complexity was observed to be less significant under two-phase, two-stage and UASB reactor configurations. Two-phase CSTR, two-stage CSTR, and single-stage UASB configurations yielded the lowest effluent chemical oxygen demands (130-550, 60-700, and 50-250 mg/L, respectively). The highest effluent chemical oxygen demands were detected when feeding glucose, propionate, and lactate to continuously fed single-stage CSTRs (10, 400, 9900, and 4700 mg/L COD, respectively) and to batch-fed single-stage CSTRs (11, 200, 2500, and 2700 mg/L COD, respectively). Ironically, the one stage CSTR--most commonly utilized in the field--was the worst possible reactor configuration.     

New process for simultaneous removal of nitrogen and sulphur under anaerobic conditions

A granular activated carbon (GAC) anaerobic fluidised-bed reactor treating vinasse from an ethanol distillery of sugar beet molasses was operated for 90 days, the first 40 days of start-up followed by 50 days of operation at constant organic loading rate of 1.7g COD/Ld. The reactor showed good performance in terms of organic matter removal but an anomalous behaviour in terms of unusual high concentrations of molecular nitrogen in the biogas. The analysis of the different nitrogenous and sulphur compounds and the mass balances of these compounds in the liquid and gas phases clearly indicated an uncommon evolution of nitrogen and sulphur in the reactor. About 50% of the nitrogen entering the reactor as total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) was removed from the liquid phase appearing as N2 in the gas phase. Simultaneously, only 20% of the S-SO4(2-) initially present in the influent appears as S-S2- in the effluent or S-H2S in the biogas, indicating that 80% of the sulphur is removed. This behaviour has not been reported previously in the literature. These observations may suggest a new anaerobic removal process of ammonia and sulphate according to an uncommon mechanism involving simultaneous anaerobic ammonium oxidation and sulphate reduction.     

Comparative process stability and efficiency of anaerobic digestion; mesophilic vs. thermophilic

The comparative process stability and efficiency of mesophilic (35 degrees C) and thermophilic anaerobic digestion (55 degrees C) has been evaluated for four different reactor configurations, which are: daily batch-fed single-stage continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR), continuously fed single-stage CSTR, daily batch-fed two-phase CSTR, and daily batch-fed non-mixed single-stage reactor. The results are discussed for three periods: (1) start-up, (2) steady state, and (3) organic loading rate (OLR) increase until reactor failure (pH below 5.5). During the start-up, the single-stage CSTRs at both temperatures showed the least stability, while the non-mixed single-stage reactors reached steady state in the shortest time with relatively stable pH and low volatile fatty acid (VFA). In the case of the thermophilic non-mixed reactor, efficient removal of propionate occurred but supplementation of nutrients (Ca, Fe, Ni, and Co) was required when VFA increased. The results imply the importance of inorganic nutrients bioavailability. The comparative results of the reactor performance at steady state clearly showed the superior performance of the thermophilic non-mixed reactor with respect to lower VFA, higher gas production and volatile solids removal implying that microbial consortia proximity can alleviate the problem of poor effluent quality in thermophilic system. During the OLR increase until reactor failure, all thermophilic reactors except the thermophilic non-mixed reactor showed increases in propionate concentrations as the OLR increased, while all mesophilic reactors except the mesophilic two-phase system showed little increase in VFA concentrations. When all reactors had the same conditions with OLR increase, the continuously fed reactors showed the lowest gas production, while the non-mixed reactors showed the highest gas production at both temperatures. It is hypothesized that the non-mixing reactor configuration has closer microbial consortia proximity than others. Therefore, the results in this study indicated the importance of microbial consortia proximity. A proposed model for the effect of the distance between two syntrophic bacteria reasonably matched the data in this study.     

A continuous-flow approach for the development of an anaerobic consortium capable of an effective biomethanization of a mechanically sorted organic fraction of municipal solid waste as the sole substrate

An effective mesophilic continuous anaerobic digestion process fed only with a mechanically sorted organic fraction of municipal solid waste (MS-OFMSW) was developed. During a preliminary 3-month experimental phase, the microbial consortium was acclimated toward MS-OFMSW by initially filling the reactor with cattle manure and then continuously feeding it with MS-OFMSW. The Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) and Organic Loading Rate (OLR) were 23 days and 2.5 g/L/day, respectively. After 4 weeks, the reactor reached stationary performances (84% COD removal yield, 0.15 L₄CH/g_CODremoved methane production yield). The acclimated consortium was then employed in a second run in which the reactor was operated under steady state conditions at the previous HRT and OLR for 73 days. The COD removal and the methane production yield increased up to 87% and 0.25 L₄CH/g_CODremoved, respectively. The capability of the acclimated consortium to biomethanize MS-OFMSW was further studied via batch digestion experiments, carried out by inoculating the target waste with reactor effluents collected at the beginning of first run and at the end of the first and second run. The best normalized methane production (0.39 L₄CH/g_{initial COD}) was obtained with the inoculum collected at the end of the second run. Molecular analysis of the microbial community occurring in the reactor during the two sequential runs indicated that the progressive improvement of the process performances was closely related to the selection and enrichment of specific hydrolytic and acidogenic bacteria in the reactor.     

Pre-acidification in anaerobic sludge bed process treating brewery wastewater

The effect of pre-acidification on anaerobic granule bed processes treating brewery wastewater was the focus of a comparison study employing two configurations, (a) a single stage upflow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) and (b) an upflow acidification reactor in series with a methanogenic UASB. The pre-acidification reactor achieved 20±4% SCOD removal and 0.08±0.003 L of methane produced per gram of SCOD removal at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 0.75–4 h. Butyric acid was not detected and short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) were mainly acetic and propionic acids. The acidification ratio was about 0.42±0.02 g SCFAs as COD/g of influent COD.

Both systems’ critical loading rate to achieve 80% COD removal was established at 34–39 kg COD/m³ of total sludge bed volume per day. SCOD removal efficiency of 90±3% was achieved by both systems at an organic loading rate of 25±1 kg COD/m³ of total sludge bed volume per day, indicating that the installation of an acidification reactor had no effect in terms of the maximum granular activity, biomass granulation and the settleability of granules. At an organic loading rate of 67 kg COD/m³ of total sludge bed volume per day at an HRT of 1 h, the series system outperformed the single UASB by a removal of 62 compared to 57%.     

UASB处理低浓度城市污水的生产性研究

广东某城市污水处理厂采用UASB-好氧工艺处理低浓度城市污水，对UASB的实际处理效能进行了考察。结果表明，在试验的进水水质条件下，当UASB的水力停留时间为6h时，系统对COD和BOD5的平均去除率分别为50％和60％，对TP的去除率为15％～38％。当HRT由5．67h延长至10h时，出水VFA浓度会随之降低，而pH值则始终稳定在6．5～7．5，系统对COD和BOD5的去除率分别增加9％和19％，对溶解性COD和BOD5的去除率分别增加25％和24％。     

Mitigating ammonia inhibition of thermophilic anaerobic treatment of digested piggery wastewater: use of pH reduction, zeolite, biomass and humic acid

High free ammonia released during anaerobic digestion of livestock wastes is widely known to inhibit methanogenic microorganisms and result in low methane production. This was encountered during our earlier thermophilic semi-continuously fed continuously-stirred tank reactor (CSTR) treatment of piggery wastewater. This study explored chemical and biological means to mitigate ammonia inhibition on thermophilic anaerobic treatment of piggery wastewater with the aim to increase organic volatile carbon reduction and methane production. A series of thermophilic anaerobic batch experiments were conducted on the digested piggery effluent to investigate the effects of pH reduction (pH 8.3 to 7.5, 7.0 and 6.5) and additions of biomass (10% v/v and 19% v/v anaerobic digested piggery biomass and aerobic-anaerobic digested municipal biomass), natural zeolite (10, 15 and 20 g/L) and humic acid (1, 5 and 10 g/L) on methane production at 55 °C for 9-11 days. Reduction of the wastewater pH from its initial pH of 8.3 to 6.5 produced the greatest stimulation of methane production (3.4 fold) coupled with reductions in free ammonia (38 fold) and total volatile fatty acids (58% TVFA), particularly acetate and propionate. Addition of 10-20 g/L zeolite to piggery wastewater with and without pH reduction to 6.5 further enhanced total VFA reduction and methane production over their respective controls, with 20 g/L zeolite producing the highest enhancement effect despite the ammonia-nitrogen concentrations of the treated wastewaters remaining high. Without pH reduction, zeolite concentration up to 20 g/L was required to achieve comparable methane enhancement as the pH-reduced wastewater at pH 6.5. Although biomass (10% v/v piggery and municipal wastes) and low humic acid (1 and 5 g/L) additions enhanced total VFA reduction and methane production, they elevated the residual effluent total COD concentrations over the control wastewaters (pH-unadjusted and pH-reduced) unlike zeolite treatment. The outcomes from these batch experiments support the use of pH reduction to 6.5 and zeolite treatment (10-20 g/L) as effective strategies to mitigate ammonia inhibition of the thermophilic anaerobic treatment of piggery wastewater.     

Competition between planktonic and fixed microorganisms during the start-up of methanogenic biofilm reactors

The influence of the hydraulic retention time (HRT) on the start-up phase of a methanogenic inverse turbulent bed bioreactor was investigated. Two identical reactors were monitored, the only differing parameter being the HRT: one of the reactors was fed with a diluted wastewater at a constant HRT of 1 day, the organic loading rate (OLR) being increased by decreasing the substrate dilution; the second reactor was fed at a constant influent concentration of 20 g COD L(-1), the OLR being increased by decreasing the HRT from 40 days to 1 day. After 45 days of start-up, both reactors were operated at an OLR of 20 g COD L(-1)d(-1) and a HRT of 1 day. However, strong differences were observed on biofilm growth. In the reactor operated at a constant short HRT, biofilm concentration was 4.5 as high as in the reactor operated at an increasing HRT. This difference was attributed to the competition between planktonic and biofilm microorganisms in the latter reactor, whereas suspended biomass was quickly washed out in the former reactor because of the low HRT.     

A comparison of CSTR and SBR bioslurry reactor performance

A continuous-flow stirred tank reactor (CSTR) and a soil slurry-sequencing batch reactor (SS-SBR) were maintained in 8 l vessels for 180 days to treat a diesel fuel-contaminated soil. The SS-SBR provided markedly enhanced contaminant degradation relative to the CSTR. Diesel fuel removal efficiency was 96% in the SS-SBR, compared with 75% in the CSTR. Microbial growth was approximately 25% greater in the SS-SBR than the CSTR. However, significant biosurfactant production and foaming occurred in the SS-SBR, whereas none was observed in the CSTR. Surfactants were produced in the SS-SBR at concentrations up to 70 times the critical micelle concentration (CMC), but were biodegraded by the end of the cycle. Reactor operation was reversed after 80 days. The reactor converted from an SS-SBR to a CSTR lost surfactant production and showed reduced diesel fuel degradation. Converting the CSTR to an SS-SBR resulted in surfactant production and enhanced diesel fuel degradation. These results indicate that fill-and-draw operation selected for microbes with a greater ability to produce surfactants and degrade diesel fuel than the CSTR operation. Decreasing the diesel fuel addition rate in the SS-SBR by four times on day 160 reduced the maximum surfactant concentration and foam thickness by more than three times without affecting diesel fuel removal.     

Waste activated sludge fermentation: Effect of solids retention time and biomass concentration

Laboratory scale, room temperature, semi-continuous reactors were set-up to investigate the effect of solids retention time (SRT, equal to HRT hydraulic retention time) and biomass concentration on generation of volatile fatty acids (VFA) from the non-methanogenic fermentation of waste activated sludge (WAS) originating from an enhanced biological phosphorus removal process. It was found that VFA yields increased with SRT. At the longest SRT (10 d), improved biomass degradation resulted in the highest soluble to total COD ratio and the highest VFA yield from the influent COD (0.14 g VFA-COD/g TCOD). It was also observed that under the same SRT, VFA yields increased when the biomass concentration decreased. At a 10 d SRT the VFA yield increased by 46%, when the biomass concentration decreased from 13 g/L to 4.8 g/L. Relatively high nutrient release was observed during fermentation. The average phosphorus release was 17.3 mg PO₄-P/g TCOD and nitrogen release was 25.8 mg NH₄-N/g TCOD.     

Elutriated acid fermentation of municipal primary sludge

The performance of a novel fermentation process, adopting a sludge blanket type configuration, for higher hydrolysis/acidogenesis of the municipal primary sludge was investigated under batch and semi-continuous conditions with varying pH and temperature. This acid elutriation slurry reactor provided higher system performance with a short HRT (5d) and higher acidogenic effluent quality under pH 9 and thermophilic (55 degrees C) conditions. The hydrolysis of the sludge was revealed to be significantly dependent on seasonal effects for sludge characteristics but with little impact on acidogenesis. Based on the rainy season at the optimal conditions, VFA production and recovery fraction (VFA(COD)/COD) were 0.18 g VFA(COD)/g VSS(COD) and 63%. As byproducts, nitrogen and phosphorus release were measured at 0.006 g N/g VSS(COD) and 0.003 g P/g VSS(COD), respectively. For the mass balance in a full-scale plant (Q=158,880 m(3)/d) based on the rainy season, the VFA and non-VFA (as COD) production were 3110 kg VFA(COD)/d and 1800 kg COD/d, resulting in an increase of organics of 31 mg COD/L and 20mg VFA(COD)/L and nutrients of 0.7 mg N/L and 0.3 mg P/L in the influent sewage. The economical benefit from this process application was estimated to be about 67 dollars per 1000 m(3) of sewage except for energy requirements and also, better benefits can be expected during the dry season. Moreover, the results revealed that the process has various additional advantages such as pathogen-free stabilized solids production, excellent solids control and economical benefits.     

Aerobic moving bed biofilm reactor treating thermomechanical pulping whitewater under thermophilic conditions

The continuously operated laboratory scale Kaldnes moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) was used for thermophilic (55 degrees C) aerobic treatment of TMP whitewater. In the MBBR, the biomass is grown on carrier elements that move along with the water in the reactor. Inoculation with mesophilic activated sludge gave 60-65% SCOD removal from the first day onwards. During the 107 days of experiment, the 60-65% SCOD removals were achieved at organic loading rates of 2.5-3.5 kg SCODm(-3) d(-1), the highest loading rates applied during the run and HRT of 13-22h. Carbohydrates, which contributed to 50-60% of the influent SCOD. were removed by 90-95%, while less than 15% of the lignin-like material (30-35% of SCODin) was removed. The sludge yield was 0.23g VSSg SCOD(-1)removed. The results show that the aerobic biofilm process can be successfully operated under thermophilic conditions.     

A septic tank‐UASB combined system for domestic wastewater treatment: a pilot test

A 250 L and a 550 L pilot scale Up‐Flow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) reactors having different reactor height were fed septic tank effluents and operated at ambient temperatures of 0°C to 30°C. Both UASB reactors were fed intermittently at least 8 times per Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) and the performance was monitored at 4d and 1d HRT. The removal efficiencies of Total Suspended Solid (TSS) and Total Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD_t) were about 59–68% and 54–59%, respectively, for both reactors at both HRT. The TSS and CODt removal efficiencies of Septic tank – UASB combined system were above 80% for both HRTs tested. The average biogas yields were almost same at 4d and 1d HRT, representing 31(±3)% of influent CODt. The nitrogen and phosphorous removal efficiency was an average 20–30%. The tested system can become a suitable low cost yet effective option.     

Biodegradation of distillery spent wash in anaerobic hybrid reactor

A lab-scale anaerobic hybrid (combining sludge blanket and filter) reactor was operated in a continuous mode to study anaerobic biodegradation of distillery-spent wash. The study demonstrated that at optimum hydraulic retention time (HRT), 5 days and organic loading rate (OLR), 8.7kgCOD/m(3)d, the COD removal efficiency of the reactor was 79%. The anaerobic reduction of sulfate increases sulfide concentration, which inhibited the metabolism of methanogens and reduced the performance of the reactors. The kinetics of biomass growth i.e. yield coefficient (Y,0.0532) and decay coefficient (K(d), 0.0041d(-1)) was obtained using Lawrence and McCarty model. However, this model failed in determining the kinetics of substrate utilization. Bhatia et al. model having inbuilt provision of process inhibition described the kinetics of substrate utilization, i.e. maximum rate of substrate utilization (R,1.945d(-1)) and inhibition coefficient values (K(i),0.032L/mg). Modeling of the reactor demonstrated that Parkin and Speece, and Bhatia et al. models, both, could be used to predict the effluent substrate concentration. However, Parkin and Speece model predicts effluent COD more precisely (within +/-2%) than Bhatia et al. model (within +/-5-20%) of the experimental value. Karhadkar et al. model predicted biogas yield within +/-5% of the experimental value.     

污泥浓缩消化一体化中试反应器的启动研究

对污泥浓缩消化一体化(ISTD)中试反应器处理城市污泥的启动进行研究。试验进泥为二沉剩余污泥,含水率为98.1%～99.3%、pH值为6.75～7.2、挥发性脂肪酸(VFA)为30～144 mgHAc/L、碱度为172～277 mg/L(以CaCO3计,下同)、VS/TS值为0.355～0.434。启动试验采用逐步培养法、以投配率为10%的方式进行,污泥经加热后进入反应器。在中温条件下,经过约55 d的运行,ISTD反应器内各项指标趋于稳定,内反应室的VFA平均值为250 mgHAc/L,启动期间未出现酸化现象。稳定后,产气量为280～300 L/d、排泥含水率为92.0%～93.5%、VS/TS值为0.320～0.340、碱度为1 200～1 300 mg/L。     

负荷变化对ABR运行效果的影响研究

利用厌氧折流板反应器(ABR) 处理屠宰废水,研究了负荷变化对厌氧折流板反应器（ABR）运行效果的影响。研究结果表明：厌氧折流板反应器对负荷变化的适应能力较强,ABR反应器的特殊结构为其提供了良好的抗负荷变化的能力。当维持进水COD浓度在2 500~3 000 mg/L范围之内,改变水力负荷,使HRT由27.5 h下降到15 h,COD去除率下降不超过5％;当维持反应器HRT为20 h时,改变有机负荷,使进水COD浓度由2 500 mg/L提高到4 800 mg/L,在负荷改变后的第二天,COD去除率仅降