Influence of Daily Variation of Flow and Pollution Load on the Performance of Submerged Anaerobic/Aerobic Biofilm System

Abstract

Effects of daily variation of flow on the performance of submerged anaerobic/aerobic biofilm systems were investigated both by laboratory study using synthetic wastewater and by field study using gray water. In laboratory study, concentration of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in effluent from anaerobic filter fluctuated with daily variation of flow when average hydraulic retention time (HRT) was below 10 h. However, daily mean values of DOC under the varied flow was almost the same as those under constant flow within the same daily mean HRT. Aerobic filter linked to anaerobic filter reduced the concentration of DOC satisfactorily though the concentration in anaerobic filter increased under short HRT. In field study, percent removal of organic carbon by anaerobic filter was considerably smaller (20-30%) than that in laboratory study (90-95%) both at HRT of 20 h though it was improved up to 60-80% by aerobic filter. Effects of peaking factor of flow on the variation of DOC were evaluated by mathematical analysis. It seemed that the peaking factor hardly affected daily mean values of DOC within the same daily mean HRT though maximum values of DOC increased with the increase of peaking factor.