Performance study on enlarged‐clarifier hybrid upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor for treating the slaughterhouse wastewater

Abstract

The performance of an Enlarged-Clarifier Hybrid Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (EC-HUASB) reactor in treating slaughterhouse wastewater under the mesophilic temperature was studied. The reactor was started-up with the well-grown anaerobic digested sludge from a dairy farm, which was subsequently acclimated with real slaughterhouse wastewater. The Clarifier section of the HUASB was also enlarged to improve its performance for removal of Total Suspended Solids (TSS). The reactor performance was monitored in respect of pH, MLSS, MLVSS, COD, Volatile Fatty Acids (VFAs) and Alkalinity. The performance of EC-HUASB reactor was studied under the organic loading rate (OLR) ranging between 3.03 and 38.19 kg COD/m 3 /day under the hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 24 and 6 h respectively. Maximum values of COD and TSS removal were recorded as 95.8 and 98% respectively under the OLR of 18.75 kg COD/m 3 /day at 10 h HRT, which also exhibited 61.5 L/day of methane production.