Determination of kinetic parameters of a lab-scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reator (uasb) removing organic loading from swine manure effluents

Abstract

The present work aimed at determining and evaluating the kinetic parameters from the UASB reactor treating swine manure effluent in a lab-scale experiment. The research was carried out in the Laboratory of Water Analysis at the Engineering Department (LAADEG) at the campus of Federal University of Lavras - UFLA. The system was assembled with an acidification and equalization tank (AET), an UASB reactor and an aerated facultative pond (AFP). The hydraulic retention time (HRT) adopted in the UASB reactor were: 55; 39; 34; 24; 17; and 16 hours. The operational average temperature in the UASB reactor was 25 ± 2ºC. The kinetic studies used the following parameters: Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD T), Total Volatile Solids (TVS), Temperature, Flowrate and Total Solids Profile (TVS P), in the reactor, and the number of analyses were: 72; 72; 250; 250; and 30, respectively. The frequency was twice a week for COD T, and TVS, and daily for temperature and flowrate. The kinetic parameters determined were: yield coefficient Y=0.3046 to 0.4231mg COD T mgTVS-1.d-1, decay coefficient Kd=0.0125 to 0.0173d-1, maximum growth rate coefficient ìmax=0.2835 to 0.03938d-1 and limiting substrate concentration coefficient Ks= 51.70 to 71.80mg COD T.L-1. The values found were within the range appointed in the specific literatures and were determined based on linear regression studies, giving in this way, a technical scientific support to the physical chemical operational data collected during the operational research period.