0000000000848815
AUTHOR
K. Torres
Intermittent operation of UASB reactors treating wastewater polluted with organic solvents: process performance and microbial community evaluation
The effect of intermittent feeding on the treatment of wastewater polluted with ethanol, ethyl acetate and 1-ethoxy-2-propanol in anaerobic upflow sludge blanket reactors was investigated. Three laboratory-scale reactors, one periodically supplemented with chitosan, were operated in an intermittent pattern (16 hours per day; 5 days per week) during 5 months. Removal efficiencies higher than 94% were obtained at organic loading rates up to 50 kg COD m−3 d−1. The addition of chitosan positively affected the specific methanogenic activity of the granular sludge. Although partial deterioration of the granules was observed, it was not correlated with variations in the production of extracellular…
Granulation and microbial community dynamics in the chitosan-supplemented anaerobic treatment of wastewater polluted with organic solvents.
Abstract The effect of chitosan on the development of granular sludge in upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors (UASB) when treating wastewater polluted with the organic solvents ethanol, ethyl acetate, and 1-ethoxy-2-propanol was evaluated. Three UASB reactors were operated for 219 days at ambient temperature with an organic loading rate (OLR) of between 0.3 kg COD m −3 d −1 and 20 kg COD m −3 d −1 . One reactor was operated without the addition of chitosan, while the other two were operated with the addition of chitosan doses of 2.4 mg gVSS −1 two times. The three reactors were all able to treat the OLR tested with COD removal efficiencies greater than 90%. However, the time required to…