Two-stage UASB concept for treatment of domestic sewage including sludge stabilization process

A multi-target study was conducted to assess the feasibility of the UASB-reactor system for the anaerobic treatment of raw domestic sewage (low-strength complex wastewater; CODtot=200-700 mg/l and CODss=45-55% of CODtot) combined with sludge stabilization process under a moderate temperature of 18-20 degrees C. The study has produced a design of a modified Three-Phase Separator (TPS) to control the sludge retention inside the UASB reactors as well as the determination of design parameters of the treatment process viz. the hydraulic retention time (HRT), the potential period of loading the UASB reactors and the most convenient digestion time required for advanced sludge stabilization. The study was performed in a Two-Stage Flocculent-Granular-Sludge UASB-reactor system. The first stage consisted of two identical UASB reactors seeded with flocculent sludge and operated alternately (i.e. one reactor was fed while the other was unfed for the stabilization of the sludge). The second stage consisted of one UASB reactor seeded with granular sludge and was operated continuously. The feed period and the corresponding feedless period of the first stage were two days. The results study have shown that the removal efficiency of the COD increases considerably with the decrease of the HRT, as a treatment efficiency of 75% was achieved at HRT=10 h (8 h for Stage I and 2 h for Stage II), while the treatment efficiency was 84% at HRT=6 h (4 h for Stage I and 2 for Stage II). In contrast to the above the extent of sludge stabilization (i.e. conversion into methane) for the first stage of the system was directly proportional to the HRT as 41% of the removed CODtot was converted into methane at HRT=8 h, the conversion ratio decreased to 28% at HRT=4 h. For the granular sludge (the second stage of the system), the conversion ratio of the removed CODtot into methane was almost stable in the range of 17-20%. The percentages CODpaper-filtered of the CODtot were 85-90% and 92-97% for the effluents of the first and second stages respectively with the conclusion that the modified Three-Phase Separator (TPS) has a satisfactory operational potential. (C) 1996 IAWQ. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.