Performance and Modeling of an Up-flow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket(UASB) Reactor for Treating High Salinity Wastewater from Heavy Oil Production

In this study,an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket(UASB) reactor was applied to treat the high salinity wastewater from heavy oil production process.At a HRT of ≥24 h,the COD removal reached as high as 65.08% at an influent COD ranging from 350mg/L to 640mg/L.An average of 74.33% oil reduction was also achieved in the UASB reactor at an initial oil concentration between 112mg/L and 205mg/L.These results indicated that this heavy oil production related wastewater could be degraded efficiently in the UASB reactor.Granular sludge was formed in this reactor.In addition,two models,built on the back propagation neural network(BPNN) theory and linear regression techniques were developed for the simulation of the UASB system performance in the oily wastewater biodegradation.The average error of COD and oil removal was-0.65% and 0.84%,respectively.The results indicated that the models built on the BPNN theory were wellfitted to the detected data,and were able to simulate and predict the removal of COD and oil by the UASB reactor.

Effect of Sodium Ion Concentration on Hydrogen Production from Sucrose by Anaerobic Hydrogen-producing Granular Sludge

This work evaluated the effects of sodium ion concentration, ranging from 0 to 16000mg·L^-1（Na^＋）, on the conversion of sucrose to hydrogen by a high-activity anaerobic hydrogen-producing granular sludge. At the optimum sodium ion concentration [1000-2000mg·L^-1（Na^＋）] for hydrogen production at 37℃, the maximum sucrose degradation rate, the specific hydrogen production yield and the specific hydrogen production rate were 393.6-413.1mg·L^-1.h^-1, 28.04-28.97ml·g^-1, 7.52-7.83ml·g^-1.h^-1, respectively. The specific production yields of propionate, butyrate and valerate decreased with increasing sodium ion concentration, whereas the specific acetate production yield increased, meanwhile the specific production yields of ethanol and caproate were less than 55.3 and 12.6mg·g^-1, respectively. The hybrid fermentation composition gradually developed from acetate, propionate and butyrate to acetate with the increase in sodium ion concentration.

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.

Feasibility assessment of up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket treatment of sulfamethoxazole pharmaceutical wastewater

Treatment of sulfamethoxazole pharmaceutical wastewater is a big challenge.In this study,a series of anaerobic evaluation tests on pharmaceutical wastewater from different operating units was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of using anaerobic digestion,and the results indicated that the key refractory factor for anaerobic treatment of this wastewater was the high sulfate concentration.A laboratory-scale up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket(UASB)reactor was operated for 195 days to investigate the effects of the influent chemical oxygen demand(COD),organic loading rate(OLR),and COD/SO_(4)^(2-) ratio on the biodegradation of sulfamethoxazole in pharmaceutical wastewater and the process performance.The electron flow indicated that methanogenesis was still the dominant reaction although sulfidogenesis was enhanced with a stepwise decrease in the influent COD/SO_(4)^(2-) ratio.For the treated sulfamethoxazole pharmaceutical wastewater,a COD of 4983 mg/L(diluted by 50%),OLR of 2.5 kg COD/(m^(3)·d),and COD/SO_(4)^(2-) ratio of more than 5 were suitable for practical applications.The recovery performance indicated that the system could resume operation quickly even if production was halted for a few days.

Anaerobic treatment of wastewater containing methanol in up-flow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) reactor

The direct conversion of methanol into methane is the main process in anaerobic treatment of methanol containing wastewater.However,acetic acid can also be produced from methanol theoretically,which may probably result in an abrupt pH drop and deteriorate the anaerobic process.Therefore,it is interesting to know what would really happen in an anaerobic reactor treating methanol wastewater.In this study,an up-flow anaerobic sludge bed(UASB)reactor treating methanol wastewater was operated.The chemical oxygen demand(COD),acetic acid and pH of the effluent were monitored at different loadings and influent alkalinity.The results showed that the anaerobic reactor could be operated steadily at as low as 119 mg/L of influent alkalinity and high organic loading rate with no obvious pH drops.Volatile fatty acids accumulation was not observed even at strong shock loadings.The microorganisms in the sludge at the end of the test became homogeneous in morphology,which were mainly spherical or spheroidal in shape.

Deciphering the effect of sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate on up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket treatment of synthetic sulfate-containing wastewater

In this study,the effects of organic sulfur on anaerobic biological processes were investigated by operating two up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket(UASB)reactors with sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate(SDBS)as a representative of organic sulfur.The results indicated that the specific methanogenic activity(SMA)and chemical oxygen demand(COD)removal efficiency of R2(with SDBS added)were higher than those of R1(without SDBS)when the COD/SO_(4)^(2−)ratio was above 5.0.However,when the COD/SO_(4)^(2−)ratio was lower than 5.0,the sulfate reduction efficiency of R2 was higher than that of R1.These results and the observed SDBS transformation efficiency in anaerobic reactors indicate that low concentrations of SDBS accelerate methane production and the continuous accumulation of SDBS does not weaken the reduction of sulfate.Similarly,the calculated electron flux for a COD/SO_(4)^(2−)ratio of 1.0 indicates that the utilization intensity of electrons by sulfate-reducing bacteria(SRB)in R2 was 36.48%higher than that of SRB in R1 and exceeded that of methane-producing archaea(MPA)under identical working conditions.Moreover,the addition of SDBS in R2 made sulfidogenesis the dominant reaction at low COD/SO_(4)^(2−),and Methanobacterium and Methanobrevibacter with H_(2)/CO_(2)as the substrate and Desulfomicrobium were the dominant MPA and SRB,respectively.However,methanogenesis was still the dominant reaction in R1,and Methanosaeta with acetic acid as the substrate and Desulfovibrio were the dominant MPA and SRB,respectively.

Comparison of different valent iron on anaerobic sludge digestion:Focusing on oxidation reduction potential,dissolved organic nitrogen and microbial community

This study compared effects of three different valent iron(Fe^(0),Fe(II)and Fe(III))on enhanced anaerobic sludge digestion,focusing on the changes of oxidation reduction potential(ORP),dissolved organic nitrogen(DON),and microbial community.Under the same iron dose in range of 0−160 mg/L after an incubation period of 30 days(d),the maximum methane production rate of sludge samples dosed with respective Fe^(0),Fe(II)and Fe(III)at the same concentration showed indiscernible differences at each iron dose,regardless of the different iron valence.Moreover,their behavior in changes of ORP,DON and microbial community was different:(1)the addition of Fe^(0) made the ORP of sludge more negative,and the addition of Fe(II)and Fe(III)made the ORP of sludge less negative.However,whether being more or less negative,the changes of ORP may show unobservable effects on methane yield when it ranged from−278.71 to−379.80 mV;(2)the degradation of dissolved organic nitrogen,particularly proteins,was less efficient in sludge samples dosed with Fe^(0) compared with those dosed with Fe(II)and Fe(III)after an incubation period of 30 d.At the same dose of 160 mg/L iron,more cysteine was noted in sludge samples dosed with Fe(II)(30.74 mg/L)and Fe(III)(27.92 mg/L)compared with that dosed with Fe^(0)(21.75 mg/L);(3)Fe^(0) particularly promoted the enrichment of Geobacter,and it was 6 times higher than those in sludge samples dosed with Fe(II)and Fe(III)at the same dose of 160 mg/L iron.

Effect of Sodium Ion Concentration on Hydrogen Production from Sucrose by Anaerobic Hydrogen-producing Granular Sludge

This work evaluated the effects of sodium ion concentration, ranging from 0 to 16000mg·L-1(Na+), on the conversion of sucrose to hydrogen by a high-activity anaerobic hydrogen-producing granular sludge. At the opti- mum sodium ion concentration [1000—2000mg·L-1(Na+)] for hydrogen production at 37℃, the maximum sucrose degradation rate, the specific hydrogen production yield and the specific hydrogen production rate were 393.6— 413.1mg·L-1·h-1, 28.04—28.97ml·g-1, 7.52—7.83ml·g-1·h-1, respectively. The specific production yields of propionate, butyrate and valerate decreased with increasing sodium ion concentration, whereas the specific acetate production yield increased, meanwhile the specific production yields of ethanol and caproate were less than 55.3 and 12.6mg·g-1, respectively. The hybrid fermentation composition gradually developed from acetate, propionate and butyrate to acetate with the increase in sodium ion concentration.

Inhibitory effect of ammonia nitrogen on specific methanogenic activity of anaerobic granular sludge

A series of batch experiments were conducted in 125 mL serum bottles to assess the toxicity of different concentrations of ammonia nitrogen to the specific methanogenic activity of anaerobic granular sludge from upflow anaerobic sludge bed（UASB） and expanded granular sludge bed（EGSB） reactors. The effects of pH value and temperature on toxicity of ammonia nitrogen to anaerobes were investigated. The results show that the specific methanogenic activity of anaerobic granular sludge suffers inhibition from ammonia nitrogen, the concentrations of ammonia nitrogen that produce 50 % inhibition of specific methanogenic activity for sludge from UASB and EGSB reactor are 2.35 and 2.75 g/L, respectively. Hydrogen utilizing methanogens suffers less inhibition from ammonia mtrogen than that of acetate utilizing methanogens. Hydrogen-producing acetogens that utilize propionate and butyrate as substrates suffer serious inhibition from ammonia nitrogen. The toxicity of ammonia nitrogen to anaerobic granular sludge enhances when pH value and temperature increase. Anaerobic granular sludge can bear higher concentrations of ammonia nitrogen after being acclimated by ammonia nitrogen for 7 d.

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.

Study on anaerobic co-digestion with distillery wastewater to improve the dewatering property of the secondary sludge

This paper presents the results obtained for the effluent dewatering properties of anaerobic digestion of secondary sludge （SS） and anaerobic co-digestion of mixture of this sludge with the distillery wastewater （DW） under thermophilic （55±1 ℃）, 5 L of working volume, three parallel lab-scale conditions. Its mixtures were prepared with a DW content of 25%and 50% and the C/N ratios of mixtures are 13.1 and 17.6, respectively. The effluent dewatering properties were evaluated under stable conditions which the biogas yield and the effluent pH were steady. The natural settleability, biogas yield, centrifugal dewatering, centrifugal supernatant turbidity and specific resistance filtration （SRF） were investigated. The results showed that the effluent dewatering properties of anaerobic co-digestion of mixtures between SS and DW were better than that of anaerobic digestion of SS alone. In the anaerobic digestion system with the feed were SS, mixture of SS and a DW content of 25%and 50% in order, the net biogas yield of secondary sludge in ADSA,ADSB and ADSC were 0.42 0.507 and 0.511 m3 biogass/kg.VS.d ; compared with the biogas yield in anaerobic digestion system A （ADSA）, the biogas yield in anaerobic digestion system B （ADSB） and anaerobic digestion system C （ADSC） had been increased by more than 20% respectively; the SRF of three digested sludge are（were） from 6.8×10^13, 1. 1×10^13 to 5.1×10^12 m/Kg, natural settling rates of 12 h are 26, 37 and 56% and that of 24 h are 32%, 45% and 59% respectively; the centrifugal dewatering rate of 3 min at speed of 1000 rpm were 16%, 31% and 51% respectively; the turbidity of centrifugal supernatant were 804, 754 and 678FTU simultaneously.

Microbiological Characteristics of Anaerobic Granular Sludge in Hybrid Anaerobic Baffled Reactor

Anaerobic granular sludge is of key importance for highly effective operation of hybrid anaerobic baffled reactor(HABR).An observation and analysis on the composition of anaerobic granular sludge in each separation compartment of HABR was conducted by using scanning electron microscope(SEM)and molecular biotechnology,and specific methanogenic activity(SMA)and coenzyme F420 content were determined.It was indicated that the disparity of microbial composition was significant among these separation compartments of HABR,and the HABR encouraged phase separation.The results show the understanding of microbiological characteristics of anaerobic granular sludge in HABR is helpful for cultivating granular sludge,which ensures the effective operation of the reactor.

Design and study on hydraulics characteristic of multistage anaerobic granular sludge reactor

This article provides some ideas about several key parameters in design of multistage anaerobic granular sludge reactor （MA（iSR）, and an MAGSR was designed by these ideas. By experiment this paper studies the productivity of biogas and circulation flux of wastewater. The results indicate that in certain scope the circulation flux increases in linear with the biogas productivity rise. The result by the experiment and by the hydraulics model about the circulation flux is different. The circulation flux can be several or more than ten times of the influence.

Treating leachate mixture with anaerobic ammonium oxidation technology

Large amounts of ammonium and a low content of biodegradable chemical oxygen demand（COD） are contained in leachate from aged landfills, together with the effluent containing high concentration of nitric nitrogen after biochemical treatment. Treatment effect of anaerobic ammonium oxidation （anammox） process on the mixture of the leachate and its biochemical effluent was investigated. The results show that the average removal efficiencies of ammonium, nitric nitrogen and total nitrogen are 87.51%, 74.95% and 79.59%, respectively, corresponding to the average ratio of removed nitric nitrogen to ammonium, i.e. 1.14 during the steady phase of anammox activity. The mean removal efficiency of COD is only 24.01% during the experimental period. Thc,dcmand of total phosphorous for the anammox process is unobvious. Especially, the alkalinity and pH value of the effluent are close to those of the inftuent during the steady phase of anammox activity. In addition, it is demonstrated that the status of the anammox bioreactor can be indicated by the alkalinity and pH value during the course of the experiment. The anammox bioreactor has shown potential for nitrogen removal in the leachate mixture. However, COD and total phosphorous in the leachate mixture need further treatment for removal efficiencies of COD and total phosphorous are not good in the anammox bioreactor.

A novel technology for quick acclimation of an anaerobic microbial consortia used for biodegrading teraphthalic acid (TA)

The seed sludge originated from a methane fermentation reactor was enriched and acclimated with TA as sole carbon source under nitrate respiration mode first for 6 week, and then can be turned to methane fermentation conditions. After 6 weeks processing, the specific rate of TA degradation under nitrate respiration mode reached 23.8 mgTA/(L·gVSS), more than two times of that under methane fermentation mode 11.4 mg TA/(L·gVSS). The TA reductive cleavers' population density increased about 6 times and 20 times after 30 days and 90 days acclimation. After a total of 90 days for the enrichment and acclimation, the fermentative bacteria which originally existed in the seed sludge nearly disappeared, and instead of them, the TA reductive and cleaving bacteria group was formed in the new consortia, which was confirmed by the MPN counts and roll tube counts. Compared with the control experiment, the acclimation period can be shortened by about 50%.

Treatment of methanol wastewater in external circulation anaerobic reactor with different inoculums

In order to guide the inoculums selection for the anaerobic treatment of methanol wastewater in the engineering application,two 7 L bench-scale external circulation (EC) anaerobic reactors were operated to investigate the inoculums of anaerobic granular sludge and anaerobic digested sludge,focusing on the efficiency and process stability.The effect of impact concentration and temperature on the performance was studied.The results demonstrated that anaerobic granular sludge as the inoculums could complete the start-up more rapidly than the anaerobic digested sludge,and above 90% COD removal were achieved at the organic loading rate of 10 to 15 kgCOD/(m3·d).The effect of impact COD on the methanogenic activity of sludge was weak and the removal efficiencies recovered gradually in the two reactors.The COD removal efficiencies reduced swiftly to 50%-60% due to the impact temperature.The results indicated that the complex bacterial groups in anaerobic digested sludge benefited to enhance the reactor's capacity for withstanding the temperature shock at some extent.

Effects of treatment time and temperature on the DC corona pretreatment performance of waste activated sludge

In order to improve the anaerobic digestion efficiency of waste activated sludge（WAS）,a pretreatment procedure should be carried out so as to disrupt the microbial cell structure,thus releasing intracellular organic matters.In this paper,a corona discharge triggered by a DC voltage was employed to pre-treat WAS for various time periods under different temperatures.The magnitude of the DC voltage was 4 k V at both negative and positive polarities.The changes in the soluble chemical oxygen demand,phosphorus and nitrogen content,and p H value within the WAS were utilized to estimate the pretreatment performance of the DC corona.It was found that with increasing treatment time,the pretreatment efficiency tends to be reduced.With increased temperature,the pretreatment efficiency appears to be better.It is suggested that the oxidative species and the active particles generated in the corona discharge play an important role in disrupting the microbial cell structure,which is dependent upon the treatment time and the temperature.

Extracellular polymeric substances as paper coating biomaterials derived from anaerobic granular sludge

Recovering extracellular polymeric substances(EPS)from waste granular sludge offers a cost-effective and sustainable approach for transforming wastewater resources into industrially valuable products.Yet,the application potential of these EPS in real-world scenarios,particularly in paper manufacturing,remains underexplored.Here we show the feasibility of EPS-based biomaterials,derived from anaerobic granular sludges,as novel coating agents in paper production.We systematically characterised the rheological properties of various EPS-based suspensions.When applied as surface sizing agents,these EPS-based biomaterials formed a distinct,ultra-thin layer on paper,as evidenced by scanning electron microscopy.A comprehensive evaluation of water and oil penetration,along with barrier properties,revealed that EPS-enhanced coatings markedly diminished water absorption while significantly bolstering oil and grease resistance.Optimal performance was observed in EPS variants with elevated protein and hydrophobic contents,correlating with their superior rheological characteristics.The enhanced water-barrier and grease resistance of EPS-coated paper can be attributed to its non-porous,fine surface structure and the functional groups in EPS,particularly the high protein content and hydrophobic humic-like substances.This research marks the first demonstration of utilizing EPS from anaerobic granular sludge as paper-coating biomaterials,bridging a critical knowledge gap in the sustainable use of biopolymers in industrial applications.

H_2S removal in landfill leachate treatment using UASB reactor

Leachate from a sanitary landfill site in Chengdu, China is treated using a hybrid-UASB reactor at pilot scale. H2S, resulting from the anaerobic bioconversion process of sulfate-reducing bacteria（SRB）, inhibits the growth and activity of methane-producing bacteria（MPB）and poses serious problems of pollution, so FeCl3is used for H2S removal. The results show that the system performs well in the treatment process. COD removal generally increases with the increase in the organic loading rate（OLR）, while the sulfate removal decreases slowly. As the OLR is higher than 7 kgCOD/（m3·d）, both COD and sulfate removal tend to be stable. When the reactor is operated at the design load of 9 kgCOD/（m3·d）, COD and sulfate removal remain about 79% and 91%, respectively. At the same time, the percentage of COD removed by SRB（CODSRB）also decreases from 8.9% to 4.0%. With FeCl3 addition, COD removal increases to 83%, while sulfate removal and CODSRBfurther decrease to 89% and 1.89%, respectively. According to the mass balance, nearly 82% of the sulfur is prevented from converting into H2S. Moreover, when the FeCl3 dosage is more than 1.6 g/L leachate, H2S can be removed totally from the biogas. Therefore, the application of FeCl3 for H2S removal in leachate treatment using the UASB reactor is very suitable and viable.

Nitrogen removal via nitrite from municipal landfill leachate

A system consisting of a two-stage up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket （UASB）, an anoxic/aerobic （A/O） reactor and a sequencing batch reactor （SBR）, was used to treat landfill leachate. During operation, denitrification and methanogenesis took place simultaneously in the first stage UASB, and the effluent chemical oxygen demand （COD） was further removed in the second stage UASB. Then the denitrification of nitrite and nitrate in the returned sludge by using the residual COD was accomplished in the A/O reactor, and ammonia was removed via nitrite in it. Last but not least, the residual ammonia was removed in SBR as well as nitrite and nitrate which were produced by nitrification. The results over 120 d （60 d for phase I and 60 d for phase II） were as follows： when the total nitrogen （TN） concentration of influent leachate was about 2500 mg/L and the ammonia nitrogen concentration was about 2000 mg/L, the shortcut nitrification with 85%-90% nitrite accumulation was achieved stably in the A/O reactor. The TN and ammonia nitrogen removal efficiencies of the system were 98% and 97%, respectively. The residual ammonia, nitrite and nitrate produced during nitrification in the A/O reactor could be washed out almost completely in SBR. The TN and ammonia nitrogen concentrations of final effluent were about 39 mg/L and 12 mg/L, respectively.