Influence of phase separator design on the performance of UASB reactors treating municipal wastewater

The objective of anaerobic sewage treatment is to maximize the fraction of influent organic material that is transformed into methane, thus minimizing the COD fractions that are discharged with the effluent or in the excess sludge production. Experimental data in this paper show that in the case of...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water S. A. 2016-04, Vol.42 (2), p.176-172
Main Authors: Van Haandel, Adrianus, Raphaele, Morais Chaves Silvia, Lucas dos Santos, Silvania
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Anaerobic digestion
Anaerobic sewage treatment
Anaerobic treatment
Biodegradable materials
Bioreactors
Design
Design and construction
Efficiency
Effluents
Equipment and supplies
Municipal wastewater
Performance optimization
Phase separator design
Production increases
Properties
Purification
Reactors
Retention
Retention time
Separators (Machines)
Sewage
Sewage treatment
Sludge
Sludge age
UASB reactor
Wastewater treatment
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The objective of anaerobic sewage treatment is to maximize the fraction of influent organic material that is transformed into methane, thus minimizing the COD fractions that are discharged with the effluent or in the excess sludge production. Experimental data in this paper show that in the case of application of a UASB reactor for sewage treatment, the phase separator design has an important influence on digestion efficiency. An efficient phase separator leads to retention of a larger sludge mass, which means that the mean solids retention time is increased. The data show that the mean solids retention time or sludge age is the fundamental operational parameter that determines the efficiency of the anaerobic treatment. A simple way to improve the phase separator performance is to apply parallel plates in the settling section of the UASB reactor, above the conventional phase separator design of triangular prisms with an open base.
ISSN:0378-4738
0378-4738
DOI:10.4314/wsa.v42i2.01