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An evaluation of single‐ and separated‐phase anaerobic industrial wastewater treatment in fluidized bed reactors
Author(s) -
Bull Michael A.,
Sterritt Robert M.,
Lester John N.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
biotechnology and bioengineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.136
H-Index - 189
eISSN - 1097-0290
pISSN - 0006-3592
DOI - 10.1002/bit.260260907
Subject(s) - fluidized bed , anaerobic exercise , waste management , industrial wastewater treatment , wastewater , environmental science , pulp and paper industry , phase (matter) , bioreactor , chemistry , process engineering , chromatography , environmental engineering , engineering , biology , organic chemistry , physiology
Abstract Four fluidized bed reactors were used to evaluate single‐and separated‐phase anaerobic treatments of a high strength wastewater. Two reactors were fed with a synthetic wastewater, containing glucose as the primary carbon source, with a COD of 1.2 × 10 4 mg/L while the remaining pair were fed with a wastewater with a COD of 6000 mg/L. AT each influent strength, one fluidized bed reactor was operated as a single‐phase system while the other was operated as a methanogenic reactor which was preceded by an acidification reactor in a separatedphase system. The reactors were operated under steady‐state and variable process conditions. The separated‐phase system consistently gave a better quality effluent with lower effluent suspended solids and total COD, and the methane yield was also improved. Under variable process conditions, the separated‐phase system was inherently more stable and recovered more rapidly following a shock loading. Propionate and acetate degradation studies indicated that the biomass in the methanogenic fluidized beds of the two‐phase systems was more adapted to volatile acid degradation than the biomass in the single‐phase fluidized beds.