Abstract
This study aims to present the time behavior of wastewater flow parameters, organic matter, biogas flow, biogas composition, and its relations, measured through online sensors, in a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) operating full-scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors, installed in the south of Brazil. WWTP has online measurement devices to evaluate some physicochemical variables of the sewage and the biogas. The COD analyzer (UV– Vis probe), ultrasonic flow meter, biogas flow meter, and biogas composition analyzer were the equipment used. The monitoring occurred for two time periods each of 72 h and one time period for 48 h in the year 2018. Data were checked with descriptive statistics, data independence was checked through the autocorrelation Box– Ljung test, normality behavior was checked with several tests (Shapiro– Wilk, Kolmogorov–Smirnov, Lilliefors, Anderson–Darling, D’Agostino K2, and Chen–Shapiro), and Spearman’s correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the correlations among the parameters. The mean sewage flow was 345 ± 120 L.s-1; removed organic load was, in average, 48%; biogas quality values were 82.32% ± 3.62% v/v (CH4), 2.66% ± 1.19% v/v (CO2), and 3453 ± 1268 ppm (H2S); and the production per capita obtained was 4.51 ± 1.65 NL.hab-1.d-1. It was estimated an electric power generation of 3118.6 kWh.d-1, which is equivalent to an installed power of 130 KW. The behavior of removed organic load and biogas flow (Nm3.h-1), produced in the treatment plant, showed variable, periodic, and nonstationary time behavior.
Highlights
The treatment of sewage in warm regions, such as South America and Caribe, generally occurs via anaerobic technologies, such as upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors. Von Sperling and Oliveira (2009), Noyola et al (2012), Chernicharo et al (2015), and Mainardis et al (2020) recognized the great advantages of UASB, since it allows the reduction of the costs of implementation, operation, and maintenance of wastewater treatment plants (WWTP); besides, it requires a low initial investment.UASB reactors are well known for their efficiency on removal of organic matter and solids, low energy demand, and without adding chemicals
Among the main parameters related to the design of UASB reactors, hydraulic volumetric rate (HVR), hydraulic retention time (HRT), volumetric organic loading rate (Lv), and upflow velocity should be accounted
This study aims to present the time behavior of wastewater flow parameters, organic matter, biogas flow, and biogas composition, measured with online sensors, in a municipal wastewater treatment plant operating with UASB reactors, in full scale
Summary
UASB reactors are well known for their efficiency on removal of organic matter and solids, low energy demand, and without adding chemicals. The structure of these reactors basically consists of a tank with a bottom layer of biological sludge and a settler and gas deflector on the top container. A tendency of separation of solid, liquid, and gas phases occurs (Lettinga et al, 1983; Chernicharo et al, 1999) For these authors, among the main parameters related to the design of UASB reactors, hydraulic volumetric rate (HVR), hydraulic retention time (HRT), volumetric organic loading rate (Lv), and upflow velocity should be accounted
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