Resumo

INIGUEZ-COVARRUBIAS, G  e  CAMACHO-LOPEZ, A. Evaluation of an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactor (UASB) with Changes in the Upflow Velocity. Ing. invest. y tecnol. [online]. 2011, vol.12, n.2, pp.199-208. ISSN 2594-0732.

In this study wastewaters of a fermented beverages industry were treated in an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor (UASB) with a volume of2,500 m³. The work investigated primarily the effect of the upflow velocity from 1 to 0.5 m/h in the biomass washout in the reactor outlet, as well as the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiencies and the biogas production. The biomass washout in the reactor outlet ranging between 1342 and 436 mg/L, the removal efficiencies of soluble COD varied from 78.6 to 95.4% and the conversion rate of removed COD to biogas was between 0.439 and 0.491 m³ of biogas/kg of soluble COD. During the study a stable anaerobic system was maintained as indicated by a low volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentration and a stable pH. The reactor performance at an upflow velocity of 0.5 m/h resulted in the smaller loss of biomass, a soluble COD removal efficiency of 94% and a biogas production of 0.467 m³/kg of soluble DQO removal.

Palavras-chave : anaerobic process; UASB reactor; wastewater.