Production and application of anaerobic granular sludge produced by landfill

Sludge granulation is considered to be the most critical parameter governing successful operation of an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket and expanded granular sludge bed （EGSB） reactors. Pre-granulated seeding sludge could greatly reduce the required startup time. Two lab-scale and a pilot-scale EGSB reactors were operated to treat Shaoxing Wastewater Treatment Plant （SWWTP） containing wastewater from real engineering printing and dyeing with high pH and sulfate concentration. The microbiological structure and the particle size distribution in aerobic excess sludge, sanitary landfill sludge digested for one year, and the granular sludge of EGSB reactor after 400 d of operation were analyzed through scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and sieves. The lab-scale EGSB reactor seeded with anaerobic sludge after digestion for one year in landfill showed obviously better total chemical oxygen demand （TCOD） removal efficiency than one seeded with aerobic excess sludge after cation polyacrylamide flocculation-concentration and dehydration. The TCOD removed was 470.8 mg/L in pilot scale EGSB reactor at short hydraulic retention time of 15 h. SEM of sludge granules showed that the microbiological structure of the sludge from different sources showed some differences. SEM demonstrated that Methanobacterium sp. was present in the granules of pilot-scale EGSB and the granular sludge produced by landfill contained a mixture of anaerobic/anoxic organisms in abundance. The particle size distribution in EGSB demonstrated that using anaerobic granular sludge produced by sanitary landfill as the seeding granular sludge was feasible.

Identical full-scale biogas-lift reactors(BLRs) with anaerobic granular sludge and residual activated sludge for brewery wastewater treatment and kinetic modeling

Two identical full-scale biogas-lift reactors treating brewery wastewater were inoculated with different types of sludge to compare their operational conditions, sludge characteristics, and kinetic models at a mesophilic temperature. One reactor （R1） started up with anaerobic granular sludge in 12 weeks and obtained a continuously average organic loading rate （OLR） of 7.4 kg chemical oxygen demand （COD）/（m3.day）, COD removal efficiency of 80%, and effluent COD of 450 mg/L. The other reactor （R2） started up with residual activated sludge in 30 weeks and granulation accomplished when the reactor reached an average OLR of 8.3 kg COD/（m^3·day）, COD removal efficiency of 90%, and effluent COD of 240 mg/L. Differences in sludge characteristics,biogas compositions, and biogas- lift processes may be accounted for the superior efficiency of the treatment performance of R2 over R1. Grau second-order and modified StoverKincannon models based on influent and effluent concentrations as well as hydraulic retention time were successfully used to develop kinetic parameters of the experimental data with high correlation coefficients （R2 〉 0.95）, which further showed that R2 had higher treatment performance than R1. These results demonstrated that residual activated sludge could be used effectively instead of anaerobic granular sludge despite the need for a longer time.

Biosorption of Direct Black 38 by dried anaerobic granular sludge

The biosorption of Direct Black 38 by dried anaerobic granular sludge in a batch system under specific temperatures and initial pH was investigated.The adsorption reaction is pH dependent with higher removal at low pH.The adsorption equilibrium data fit very well with both Langmuir and Freundlich models in the concentration range of Direct Black 38 at all chosen temperatures.The adsorption parameters show that the adsorption of Direct Black 38 is an endothermic and more effective process at high temperatures.The kinetics of adsorption was found to be second order and adsorption rate constants increased with increasing temperature.Activation energy was determined as 26.8 kJ/mol for the process.This suggests that the adsorption of Direct Black 38 by dried anaerobic granular sludge is chemically controlled.

Concept and application of anaerobic suspended granular sludge bed （SGSB） reactor for wastewater treatment

Bed expansion serves an important function in the design and operation of an upflow anaerobic reactor. An analysis of the flow pattern of expanded granular sludge bed （EGSB） reactors shows that most EGSB reactors do not behave as expanded bed reactors, as is widely perceived. Rather, these reactors behave as fluidized bed reactors based on the classic chemical reactor theory. In this paper, four bed expansion modes, divided as static bed, expanded bed, suspended bed, and fluidized bed, for bioreactors are proposed. A high-rate anaerobic suspended granular sludge bed （SGSB） reactor was then developed. The SGSB reactor is an upflow anaerobic reactor, and its expansion degree can be easily controlled within a range to maintain the suspended status of the sludge bed by controlling upfiow velocity. The results of the full-scale reactor confirmed that the use of SGSB reactors is advantageous. The full-scale SGSB reactor runs stably and achieves high COD removal efficiency （about 90%） at high loading rates （average 40 kg-COD·m^-3·d^-1, maximum to 52 kg·COD·m^-3 ·d^-1） based on the SGSB theory, and its expansion degree is between 22% and 37%.

Effect of wastewater composition on the calcium carbonate precipitation in upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors

Calcium carbonate often precipitates in anaerobic reactors treating wastewater with high calcium content.The aim of this paper is to study the effect of wastewater composition on calcium carbonate precipitation in upflow anaerobic sludge blanket(UASB)reactors.Two laboratory-scale UASB reactors were operated with calcium-containing influents using acetate and carbohydrate as substrate,respectively.There was an obvious accumulation of inorganic precipitate observed in the biogranules.Observations via scanning electron microscope(SEM)and energy dispersive spectroscopy(EDS)showed that the acclimated biogranules in the two reactors differed in microstructure.Calcium carbonate was found to have precipitated on the surface of acetate-degrading biogranules,but precipitated at the core of the carbohydrate-degrading biogranules.The results indicated that substrates had significant influence on the location of calcium carbonate precipitation in anaerobic granular sludge,which was expected due to the different methanogens distribution and pH gradient within the granular sludge degrading various substrates.Moreover,the location of calcium carbonate precipitation substantially affected the specific methanogenic activity(SMA)of the granular sludge.The SMA of the acetate-degrading biogranules dropped from 1.96 gCODCH4·gVSS^(–1)·d^(–1)to 0.61 gCODCH4·gVSS^(–1)·d^(–1)after 180-d of operation in the reactor.However,the SMA of the carbohydrate-degrading biogranules was not adversely affected by calcium carbonate precipitation.

Impact of roxarsone on the UASB reactor performance and its degradation

Roxarsone （3-nitro-4-hydroxyphenylarsonic acid, ROX） has been widely used for decades as an organoarsenic feed additive to control intestinal parasites and improve feed efficiency in animal production. However, most of the ROX is excreted into the manure, causing arsenic contamination in wastewater. The arsenic compounds are toxic to microorganisms, but the influence of continuous ROX loading on upflow anaerobic sludge blanket （UASB） reactor is still unknown. In this study, the impact of ROX and its degradation products on the performance of the UASB reactor and the degradation and speciation of ROX in the reactor were investigated. The UASB reactor （hydraulic retention time： 1.75 d） was operated using synthetic wastewater supplemented with ROX for a period of 260 days. With continuous ROX addition at 25.0 mg.L-1, severe inhibition to methanogenic activity occurred after 87 days operation accompanied with an accumulation of volatile fatty acids （VFAs） and a decline in pH. The decrease of added ROX concentration to 13.2 mg.L-1 did not mediate the inhibition. As（III）, As （V）, MMA（V）, DMA（V）, HAPA and an unknown arsenic compound were detected in the reactor, and a possible biotransformation pathway of ROX was proposed. Mass balance analysis of arsenic indicated that 60%-70% of the arsenic was discharged into the effluent, and 30%-40% was precipitated in the reactor. The results from this study suggest that we need to pay attention to the stability in the UASB reactors treating organoarsenic-contaminated manure and wastewater, and the effluent and sludge from the reactor tO avoid diffusion of arsenic contamination.