Hydrodynamic behaviour and its effects on the treatment performance of panelled anaerobic baffle-cum filter reactor

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to present the influence of hydraulic behaviour in the treatment of sewage (domestic wastewater) using panelled anaerobic baffle-cum filter reactor (PABFR). The PABFR has five compartments of equal size in which the first three compartments operate as anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) followed by anaerobic filters (AF). The combined reactor has a great potential for its application due to its panelled structure and arrangement of baffles inside each compartment. Hydrodynamic behaviour of the reactor was determined by means of a pulse tracer test and by calculating the residence time distribution curves at different flow rates. At high flow rates [with hydraulic retention time (HRT) \4 h], the mixing pattern in ABR showed a completely mixed type with a maximum dead space of 14 % and as the flow decreased (HRT of 8 and 12 h), the ABR's mixing behaviour was intermediate between plug flow and completely mixed. In the case of AF, as the flow increased, the dispersion was intermediate between completely mixed and plug flow, and as the flow rate decreased, the reactor became completely plug flow with the dead space ranging between 2.2 and 7.4 %. On the whole, PABFR treatment performance in terms of chemical oxygen demand removal was 90, 89 and 64 % for 12-, 8-and 4-h HRT, respectively, which clearly shows the correlation between mixing and reactor process performance.Thus, the outcome of this research in general highlights the importance of hydrodynamic behaviour for a better operation of the reactor.

Feasibility Study of Anaerobic Baffled Reactor Coupled with Anaerobic Filter Followed by Membrane Filtration for Wastewater Treatment

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Evaluation of the effect of copper on the restart of a novel combined two‐stage anaerobic digester

“…The COD mass balance equation used for the present study considers the COD of the influent , effluent , biogas, aqueous biogas and the remaining portion as unaccounted COD (Renuka et al, 2015). Equation () gives the COD mass balance equation.…”

Hydrodynamic behavior of a combined anaerobic-aerobic system employed in the treatment of vinasse

“…The combination of these processes enables the construction of models that are more compact, with lower power consumption by aerators due to the reduced dissolved oxygen demand and lower production of biomass (sludge). However, in order to ensure greater performance wastewater treatment, knowledge on the hydrodynamic characteristics of these reactors is of fundamental importance (Renuka et al, 2016). The hydrodynamics and the degree of mixing that occur in a biological reactor can strongly influence the degree of contact between the substrate and the bacteria, thus controlling mass transfer, the biological kinetics and the performance potential of the reactors (Liu et al, 2007;Tian;Chen, 2010;Mansouri et al, 2012).…”