Abstract
Crab cooker wastewater contains high concentrations of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), and total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN). Biological treatment of the wastewater releases high concentrations of ammonia. In this paper the treatment of crab cooker wastewater by means of upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) technology was evaluated. When treating unamended crab cooker wastewater, UASB performance appeared similar to upflow anaerobic bed filter (UBF) and upflow anaerobic packed filter (UPF) reactor performances. When treating unamended wastewater at an organic loading rate (OLR) of 3.0 g COD/L/d (0.25 d−1 F/M ratio), a UASB reactor's effluent soluble COD fluctuated and increased to above 6,000 mg/L. Batch toxicity assays indicated that unionized ammonia limited anaerobic treatment performance. Unionized ammonia concentrations of 41 and 120 mg/L (as nitrogen) caused 50 and 80% inhibition, respectively, of acetate-utilizing methanogens. Acidification of the feed wastewater greatly enhanced UASB treatment performance by reducing reactor pH and wastewater feed suspended solids concentrations. When fed acidified wastewater at an OLR of 6.4 g COD/L/d (F/M = 0.3 d−1), a UASB reactor's effluent soluble COD was 1,220 mg/L. The wastewater feed TSS was reduced from 910 mg/L, prior to acidification, to 249 mg/L in the reactor's effluent.
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