Use of the Upflow Sludge Blanket (USB) Reactor Concept for Biological Wastewater Treatment, Especially for Anaerobic

Treatment
G. LETTINGA, A. F. M. VAN VELSEN, S. W. HOBMA, W. DE ZEEUW, and A. KLAPWIJK, Department o f Water Pollution Control, Agricultural University, Wageningen, 6703 BC Wageningen, l h e Netherlands

Summary
In recent years considerable effort has been made in the Netherlands toward the development of a more sophisticated anaerobic treatment process, suitable for treating low strength wastes and for applications at liquid detention times of 3-4 hr. The efforts have resulted in a new type of upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) process, which in recent 6 m3 pilot-plant experiments has shown to be capable of handling organic space loads of 15-40 kg chemical oxygen demand (COD).m-Yday at 3-8 hr liquid detention times. In the first 200 m3 full-scale plant of the UASB could be treated concept, organic space loadings of up to 16 kg COD.~n-~/day satisfactorily at a detention time of 4 hr, using sugar beet waste as a feed. The main results obtained with the process in the laboratory as well as in 6 m3 pilot plant and 200 m3 full-scale experiments are presented and evaluated in this paper. Special attention is given to the main operating characteristics of the UASB reactor concept. Moreover, some preliminary results are presented of laboratory experiments concerning the use of the USB reactor concept for denitrification as well as for the acid formation step in anaerobic treatment. For both purposes the process looks feasible because very satisfactory results with respect to denitrification and acid formation can be achieved at very high hydraulic loads (12 day-') and high organic loading in the denitrification and 60-80 kg C O D ~ r ~ / d a iny rates, i.e., 20 kg COD.~n-~/day the acid formation experiments.

INTRODUCTION In recent years energy considerations and environmental concerns have increased the interest in direct anaerobic treatment of industrial wastes. The anaerobic method of waste treatment offers, under the present circumstances, a number of significant advantages with little serious o r insuperable drawbacks over other treatment methods. Benefits and limitations of the process have been summarized in Table I. In spite of its favorable prospects and its present
Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Vol. XXII, Pp. 699-734 (1980) 0006-3592/80/0022-0699$0 1.OO

@ 1980 John Wiley t i Sons, Inc.

700

LETTINGA ET AL. TABLE I Benefits and Limitations of Anaerobic Treatment of Wastewaters Benefits Limitations Anaerobic digestion is a rather sensitive process, e.g., the presence of specific compounds, such as CHC13, CCI,, and CN2) Relatively long periods of time are required to start-up the process, as a result of the slow growth rate of anaerobic bacteria 3) Anaerobic digestion is essentially a pretreatment method; an adequate post-treatment is usually required before the effluent can be discharged into receiving waters 4) Little practical experience has been gained with the application of the process to the direct treatment of wastewater
1)

1)

2)

3)
4) 5)

6)
7)

Low production of waste biological solids Waste biological sludge is a highly stabilized product that as a rule can be easily dewatered Low nutrient requirements N o energy requirement for aeration Production of methane, which is a useful end product Very high loading rates can be applied under favorable conditions Active anaerobic sludge can be preserved unfed for many months8.*o

significance for the stabilization of sludge from municipal sewage works, anaerobic digestion still is not a generally well-accepted method of waste treatment, in particular not for the treatment of low-strength wastes. The major obstacle to the application of the process for this specific purpose is perhaps the difficulty of extending it to a stable and simple operational form. However, considerable progress has been recently made in the Netherlands in this respect through the development of a more sophisticated form of the upflow sludge blanket (USB) concept. Therefore an extensive full-scale application of the process in the near future may now be expected. The main objective of this paper is to present and evaluate the most relevant results of recent pilot-plant and full-scale experiments with the USB process for anaerobic treatment in the light of earlier results obtained with this process in the laboratory for anaerobic for the separate stage of acid formation, and for denitrification. Detailed information on the pilot-plant and full-scale experiments has been presented in separate reports .5-8
ANAEROBIC WASTE TREATMENT METHODS

The loading rates permissible in an anaerobic waste treatment process are primarily dictated by the sludge retention in the anaer-

USB REACTOR FOR WASTE TREATMENT

701

obic reactor. The maintenance of a high sludge retention time (SRT) has been-at least until recently-the major problem in the practical application of the process, especially for wastes with a chemical oxygen demand (COD) below about 3000 mg/liter. Obviously a waste treatment process for low-strength wastes is an economical one if large volumes of waste can be forced through the system in a relatively short time period. For this purpose processes are required in which the biomass retention time can be controlled independently of the wastewater flow rate. Conventional anaerobic treatment processes of the flow-through type are therefore inadequate to .treat low-strength wastes. The solution for the biomass retention problem resulted in the development of different anaerobic treatment processes. These systems have been schematically presented in Figure 1. The essential feature of the anaerobic contact process is that

Conwnticmal dgester

v 9 - m
~

intlucnt

Uptbw anoerobc sludge m e t p r m s

Fig. 1.

Schematic diagrams of various anaerobic treatment processes.

702

LETTINGA ET AL.

the washout of the active anaerobic bacterial mass from the reactor is controlled by a sludge separation-and-recycle system. The major problem in the practical application of the contact process has always been the separation (and concentration) of the sludge from the effluent solution. For this purpose several methods have been used or were recommended for use, e.g., plain sedimentation, 11-13,18--20 settling combined with chemical flocculation, with vacuum d e g a s s i f i c a t i ~ n , ~ or ~ - even ~ ~ ~with ~ flotation, and centrifugation. 13,17 A basic idea underlying the contact process is that it is considered necessary to thoroughly mix the digester contents, e.g., by gas recirculation, sludge recirculation, or continuous or intermittent mechanical agitation. A somewhat modified version of the contact process is based on an upward movement of the liquid waste through a dense blanket of anaerobic sludge. This system was first described by Coulter et aLZ3 In South Africa, extensive studies on the upflow contact process have been made, and the process was successfully applied by means of a reversed-flow modified DorrOliver Clarigester for the treatment of glucose-starch,24~26 wine distillery ~ a s t e ,and ~ ~ yeast , ~ ~ wastewater.26 The reactor was equipped to allow an external recirculation of sludge, e.g., via the central compartment of the clarifier, in order to facilitate the return of settled sludge from the clarifier back to the digester compartment. For the same reason a scraper has been installed at the bottom of the clarifier. The raw feed was introduced via adjustable inlets situated around the lower perimeter of the digester compartment and via a rotating central-feed pipe with a distributor at the lower part of the digester compartment. The maximum loading rate applied with wine distillery waste was 3.2 kg COD~n;~/day at a 6.9 days detention time and at a temperature of 33C. The COD reduction attained under these circumstances was 97.3%. The primary limitation of the process with respect to the loading rate was shown to be the loss of sludge in the clarified effluent. Therefore the sludge retention was considered to be the primary limitation of the process. The maximum loading rate perat missible without undue loss of sludge was 3.2 kg COD*~n.-~/day an operating temperature of 30C. An average total solids (TS) concentration of about 25 g/liter could be maintained in the reactor under these circumstances. A rather promising development is the anaerobic filter (AF) process. This system simply consists of a vertical filter bed filled with an inert support material such as gravel, rocks, coke, or some

USB REACTOR FOR WASTE TREATMENT

703

plastic media. Laboratory and pilot-plant e x p e r i r n e n t ~ ~ ' - ~ have ~,~~,~~ shown that the AF process is suitable to treat various types of chiefly dissolved wastes with a very satifactory treatment efficiency at high hydraulic and organic loading rates. The SRT of the AF process is very satisfactory, which may be attributed to the gradual development of a highly settleable-more or less granular-sludge. This sludge is effectively entrapped in the packing. In our laboratory we have made similar observations on experiments using methanol solutions,31 potato starch and solutions of volatile fatty acids (VFA). The process was found particularly suitable for the treatment of wastewaters from potato starch plants, i.e., the process wastewater (composed of diluted potato sap) as well as the wash-and-tranport water. Small pilot-plant experiments with 150 cm high and 14 cm diam coke-packed columns using potato-sap solutions as feed indicated that the process was feasible to handle organic loads up to 10 kg COD.~n,-~/day at 30C and could withstand hydraulic retention times as low as 10 hr. Moreover, it was found that shock loads up to 17 kg COD.~n,-~/day were also fairly well accommodated. Despite the good results obtained with the AF process, the further development of this concept has been abandoned in the Netherlands in favor of the upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) process. The remainder of this paper will be confined to a discussion of the features and prospects of the USB concept for the purpose of anaerobic treatment in particular. Results of small (laboratory phase) and large pilot-plant studies as well as of the first full-scale experiment will be considered.

USB CONCEPT
The USB process for anaerobic treatment resembles the USB processes described in the l i t e r a t ~ r e , ~ except ~ - ~ ~ ,that: ~ ~ a) sludge recirculation and/or mechanical agitation are kept at a minimum or even completely omitted, and that-in particular-, b) the reactor is equipped in the upper part with a proper system for gas-solids separation. A schematic diagram of an UASB reactor is shown in Figure 1. The basic ideas underlying the process are a) The anaerobic sludge obtains and maintains superior settling characteristics if chemical and physical conditions favorable to sludge flocculation and to the maintenance of a well flocculated sludge are provided.

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LETTINGA ET AL.

b) A sludge blanket (bed) may be considered as a separate-more or less-fluid phase with its own specific characteristics. A wellestablished sludge blanket frequently forms a rather stable phase, capable of withstanding relatively high mixing forces. The redispersion of the sludge in the liquid phase therefore may require a significant amount of mixing energy. c) The washout of discrete sludge particles (flocs) released from the sludge blanket can be minimized by creating a quiescent zone within the reactor, enabling the sludge particles to flocculate, to settle, and/or to be entrapped in a secondary sludge blanket (present in the settler compartment).

Laboratory Experiments
The USB concept has been extensively investigated in the laboratory with reactors varying in volume from 1 to 60 liter and in height from 0.2 to 1 m. The potential feasibility of the USB concept has been demonstrated for anaerobic treatment, for the separate stage of acid formation, as well as for denitrification.

Anaerobic treatment
The USB concept has been investigated in our laboratory since 1971 for the one-step anaerobic treatment of a variety of industrial wastes, including wastes in which the acid fermentation was already complete or in a more or less progressed stage. The most relevant results of these laboratory-phase experiments,lP4 are contained in Table 11. Part of these experiments has already been described in detail previously. The maximum organic space loadings that could be achieved were between 10-14 kg COD-m-3/day corresponding to maximum sludge loads in the range of 1 kg COD/kg VSS/day (VSS = volatile suspended solids). Considerable emphasis has been given in the laboratory phase of the study to the start-up of the process with digested sewage sludge as seed. Evidence was obtained that the first start-up of the process is predominantly important with respect to both the specific activity and the settleability of the sludge that develops in the reactor. Although the investigations are continuing in our laboratory, some important directions for the procedure to be followed in the first start-up should be mentioned here, viz.: 1) The initial sludge load should be below 0.1-0.2 kg COD/kg total solids (TS)/day.

TABLE I1 Results of Some Laboratory UASB Experiments with Various Types of Wastesa Maximum COD load applied UASB reactor Sludge yield factor Temp. volume height (kg/kg COD) ("C) (liter) (cm) 0.15
30 30 61 18 30 105 70 100
0

Waste solution

COD

Origin nil
0.5-0.8 48-24 95
4-5 (diss.)

total dissolvedb VFA (mg/liter) (%) (mglliter)

sludge load COD space load (kg/kg HRT reduction ( k g . ~ ~ / d a y VSS/day) ) (hr) (5%)

2 W

Sugar-beet sap, unsoured Sugar-beet sap, soured (closed circuit)'

8-10 (diss.) 10-14 (total)

50006000 60009500

95 80-60 0.7-1.1 12-24 84-95 (diss.) 65-75 (tot.) 90-97 90-95 0.09-0.07 (diss.) >O. 1 (tot) 0.04-0.03

40005000

w
30 18 70

60009000 24 13-15
8-10

95
8-9 (2nd stage) 0.6-0.8

54008000

0.8- 1.O (2nd stage)

Sugar-beet sap, soured (twostage) Bean blanching

5200

90

30

2.7

30

Sauerkraut
8-9 7-8 0.4-0.6 0.8-1.2

10000-

97

20000

5001500 400I500
>24 5

88-93 90

0.05-0.07

30

2.7

30

Dairy (skimmed milk)

1500

>75

nil

<O. 18d

30

18

70

Values mentioned for the COD load concern the maximum values that could be applied in the specific experiment. COD remaining after filtration over a filter SS 520 b. ' Experiments conducted in a closed simulated wastewater circuit; a known amount of sugar-beet sap solution is supplied continuously in the circuit water. Higher values are obtained in case of substrate precipitation (i.e., at a pH fall or in case of overloading).

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LETTINGA ET AL.

2) The loading rate of the reactor should not be increased, unless all volatile acids present or formed are effectively decomposed. 3) The environmental conditions for growth of the anaerobic bacteria should be favorable. In following these directions within 6- 12 weeks after the start-up, sludge loads exceeding 0.5 kg COD/kg VSS/day can be handled satisfactorily for most of the wastes investigated at temperatures of about 30C. Moreover, also the development of a well-settling sludge will be promoted in such circumstances. However, in ignoring the directions mentioned above, a rather voluminous sludge may result that is also relatively low in specific activity. Such a sludge type was formed especially in the experiments with the unsoured sugar-beet sap solutions. Together with the results of the experiments with soured sugar-beet sap solutions, these results indicate that the two-phase concept for anaerobic treatment, as proposed by Gosh et al.36and Pohland and G h ~ s h , ~ may be an attractive proposition. Significant higher loading rates could be applied with soured than with unsoured sugar-beet sap solutions. Hence, even in the treatment of relatively simple wastes of the type investigated, the introduction of a separate acid-forming reactor may be justified. Evidently, this can be accomplished relatively easily by employing a holding period prior to treatment.
Acid fermentation

The significance of the two-phase concept is reinforced by the evidence obtained from some preliminary souring experiments with sugar-beet sap solutions, in which an USB reactor has been used for the acid fermentation step. From the results of these experiments-contained in Table 111-it appears that an almost complete souring is achieved at space loading rates up to 70 kg COD-m-3/day and detention times as low as 3 hr. These loading rates could be applied as the result of the high settleability (i.e., SVI: 15-20 ml/g) and-presumably-of the high specific activity of the sludge formed. The main part of the sludge consisted of granules of about 1-3 mm in size. Comprehensive studies on the acid fermentation step are being presently undertaken by Zoetemeyer and Cohen at the University of Amsterdam.
Denitrification

The USB concept has been investigated in a number of experiments in our laboratory for its feasibility for denitrification; acetate

TABLE 111 Performance of a 2.8 liter USB Reactora for Acid Fermentation at 30C Using Sugar-Beet Sap Solutions as Substrate
9/25
10/11

Date (1975)
10/17 11/21 11/28 1214 1/3 1/7 10.2
0.5

119 67.3 0.13 9070 6800 6500 4.8 71 42

Organic load (kg COD.m-Vday) HRT (day) COD,, (mg/liter) CODeffb, (mdliter) CODe~~cem (mg/liter) CODVFA,(mg/liter) PHO VFAm (mequivlliter) HCOI alkalinity,, (mequivhter) 5090 4480 4090 3960 6.0 32 35
24.3 0.2 1 5100 3800 6.1 30 35 34.6 0.2 6930 5770 5440 4300 4.5 40 17 18.6 0.3 5580 4970 4570 4720 4.6 36 17 3 1.7 0.23 7300 6630 6330 4200 4.3 46 17 46.8 0.18 8430 8850 6220 6190 4.9 64 40

7 0.79 5510 5830 4830 4600 6.5 44 75

83.5 0.12 10040 7215 6210 5720 4.9 63 42

VFA composition effluent (% VFA-COD)

36
11

I 30
1

34 48 0.9 13
-

35 30 0.7 31
-

3
1

26 7 0.6 37 0.6 8 21
-

% c, % c, % i-C, % c, %i-t5 % c, % c, % c,

7 1.3 -

21 8 0.3 34 0.3 9 19 -

17 18 0.8 34 0.6 24 5 3

25 32 1.3 28 7 6 -

3 -

43 28 0.8 25 4 -

43 28 1.4 20 2 6 -

a Experiments conducted over a period of four months of continuous operation. Amount of sludge in the reactor varied between 20-30 g VSSiliter.

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LETTINGA ET AL.

solutions as well as an alcoholic waste have been used as the carbon source in these experiments. The most relevant results obtained in the experiments will be mentioned here, because they are also appropriate to the use of the USB process for anaerobic treatment, such as to the question whether mechanical agitation is required or not at high hydraulic loads and/or at low organic loads. The experiments have been conducted in 24 and 41 liter reactors both approximately 1 m in height. The sludge bed compartment of the reactor was equipped with a central axis, carrying three pitchedblade turbines in the 24 liter reactor and three anchor-type impellers in the 41 liter reactor. The main results of these experiments are contained in Table IV. The performance of the process with respect to nitrate and/or COD reduction was very satisfactory, even at the extremely high organic and hydraulic loading rates applied. Again this should mainly be attributed to the formation of a highly settleable (i.e., SVI values approaching 20 ml/g) and active sludge. With the alcoholic waste a granular sludge (pellets of 1 to 3 mm in diam) developed in the course of 6-8 weeks. In order to ensure sufficient contact between sludge and feed solution-and hence a satisfactory operation with respect to denitrification and/or COD-reduction-it appeared necessary to exercise a moderate-intermittent or continuous-mechanical agitation in the sludge bed, particularly at high hydraulic loading rates and at low gas production rates. In this way the formation of cracks and canals in the sludge bed could be effectively combatted. A stable, although expanded, sludge bed could be maintained at superficial velocities as high as 4 d h r . Moreover, in spite of the mechanical mixing, the sludge retained its high settleability. In the anaerobic experiments mechanical stirring was always kept at a minimum, viz. never exceeding 1 min at 10-30 rpm every 10 min. Because of the rather fragile character of anaerobic sludge flocs, as compared to denitrifying sludge, a more intensive mechanical agitation was considered to be detrimental for the sludge retention in the reactor. Moreover, in view of the treatment efficiency obtained and the loading rates applied at that time, there was no serious need in these particular experiments for a more intensive agitation than that brought about by the gas production.
Pilot-Plant and Full-scale Studies with the UASB Process

The first pilot-plant experiments have been carried out with sugarbeet wastes (see Table V for the main characteristics) in close cooperation with the CSM sugar-beet company. Initially a 6 m3

TABLE IV Results of Denitrification Experiments Using the USB Process Influent COD reduction
(%) (%)
100

COD load

space load (kg.m-Yday) 68 44 36 98 90 55 99 42 1.5 0.97 0.38 380 380 450

sludge load (kgikglday)

COD (mgiliter)

NO,--N (mgiliter)

HRT (hr)

NO,--N reduction

Amount of sludge in reactor (g)

TS in sludge bed (giliter) -20 25-22 42-33

I ) Experiments with acetate as C sourcea 5.0 0.3-0.33 4.8 0.3-0.31 11.1 0.6-0.65

288 194 178

2 ) Experiments with alcoholic-wasteb as C sourceC 19.7 1.1 2600 1.1 1590 18.8 19.7 1.1 495 1.1 19.7 370 19.7 1.8 270
858 426 163 123 89 98 97 93 91 92 3.2 2.0 0.6 0.5 0.3

89 96 85 82 77

700 650 700 700 420

60 47 31 -

USB reactor: 31.2 liter volume; d t = 19 cm, 110 cm height; stirring: 2 sec at 45 rpm every 1-2 min. Composition of the undiluted waste: methanol: 380 g COD/liter; ethanol: 201 g CODiliter; propanol: 81 g COD/liter; butanol: 76 g COD/ liter. USB reactor: 41 liter volume; d t = 19 cm; 140 cm height; stirring: 6 sec at 21 rpm every 30-45 sec.

TABLE V Main Characteristics of the Different Types of Wastes Used in the Pilot Plant and Full-Scale Experiments COD/BOD CODVFA CODtot PH Total-N 25- 100
40

Code Origin

COD (mdliter)

Total-P

r
30-80 3-30 3 1-3

Sugar-beet wastes (6 m3 pilot plant) (a) Campaign wastea 1000-4500 (b) Stored campaign waste 1000-3000 6000- 18000 (c) Liquid sugar wasteb .6-2. I .6-2. I I .6 0.5-0.8 0.5-0.8 0.2 6.5-7.5 6.5-7.5 3.8-4.3

2 2
30-1 10 5-20 50-100
5-10

Q 9

Sugar-beet waste (200 m3 full-scale plant) 1000-5500 Campaign" .6-2. I 0.5-0.85

6.5

rn

r
I .6 0.08-0.3 4.5

Potato-processing waste (6 m3 pilot plant) Campaignc 2000-5000

a Campaign waste contained varying amounts of suspended matter, viz. generally in the range 0.2- 1.5 g/liter, but occasionally-due to the presence of clay-reaching values of 1.5-3 g/liter with peak values up to 30 dliter! Diluted with tap water to 2000-6000 mg COD/liter and supplied with varying amounts of soda or bicarbonate before introducing it in the reactor. Supplied with 15-25 mequiv/liter of either bicarbonate (period 0-361) or lime (period 361-438) before it is introduced in the reactor.

USB REACTOR FOR WASTE TREATMENT

71 1

reactor was used. Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of the reactor. In the second stage a 30 m3 reactor twice as high as the 6 m3 reactor (6 instead of 3 m) was tested, in order to obtain additional data for the design of a full-scale plant. Based on the information thus obtained, a 200 m3 full-scale plant (4.5 m high) was designed and built. The full-scale plant (Fig. 3) was put in to operation at the end of September 1977. Once the experiments with sugar-beet waste had been completed, the 6 m3 pilot plant was employed to investigate the anaerobic treatment for potato processing waste (see Table V). These experiments have been recently ~ o m p l e t e d . ~ In the Netherlands a number of pilot-plant studies are running presently or will be started in the near future, e.g., with distillery wastes, vegetable canning wastes, and sewage. Some of these studies (as was the case for the experiments with sugar-beet wastes) were made possible through grants of the Ministry of Environmental Protection. In the next sections the most relevant results obtained with sugar-beet and potato-processing wastes will be discussed and evaluated in the light of the experience gained during the laboratory phase of the investigations.
Start-up

The 6 m3 pilot-plant experiments with both sugar-beet waste and potato-processing wastes were started up with sludge obtained from a municipal digester. In view of our laboratory experience much attention was paid to the start-up procedure, viz. care was taken to follow as strictly as possible the directions given above. In accord with the laboratory experience the results indicated that with both types of waste a well-adapted sludge could be obtained within a period of 8-12 weeks. Then space loadings up to 10 kg C O D . I ~ - ~ / day could be handled at 30C and hydraulic loads up to 3 m3-m-3/ day. The 30 and 200 m3 reactors were seeded with well-adapted sludge fostered during the former experiments, and no difficulties were encountered to start the process. Conformably the 200 m3 reactorseeded with approximately 1800 kg sludge TS (84% VS)-could already digest a COD load of 8.5 kg COD*~n-~/day after only 14 days of operation. The start-up after a feed interruption of even a few weeks never gave any difficulty; the gas production always remained at the desired level as measured a few hours after feeding was resumed.

spray water

,1
1.35

4
9
I

$18 f
9

p q 8I

Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of the 6 m3 UASB pilot plant as employed in the experiments with sugar-beet and potato-processing wastes, although the gas-solid separator was slightly different in construction in the latter case. (1) Digestion compartment (4.65 m3); (2) gas seal; (3) gas bowl; (4) settler compartment (1.15 m3); (5) foam separator; (6) gas meter; (7) water seal; (8) influent buffer with heating and supply of chemicals and-if desired-of dilution water. Height of the reactor: 3 m; 1.59 m i.d.

USB REACTOR FOR WASTE TREATMENT

713

Fig. 3. First full-scale UASB plant (200 m3), installed and tested in 1978 at the CSM sugar-beet factory in Halfweg.

Loading rates and treatment efficiency

As appears from the results presented in Table VI, exceptionally high organic and hydraulic loading rates were possible in combination with satisfactory treatment efficiencies. Moreover and perhaps the more interesting, this ability was observed for both soured and almost unsoured wastes. The reason for the moderate treatment efficiency corresponding to the sugar-beet campaign wastewater probably was the presence of a not unsignificant quantity of finely dispersed and poorly biodegradable matter in this waste, viz. ranging in the order of 10-20% of the COD. Only 20-25% of this matter was retained in the reactor. The process accommodates fairly well to hydraulic and organic shock loads, temperature fluctuations, and low influent pH values, provided the digester pH remains well above pH 6.0 and that the sludge load applied is below the maximum specific COD removal rate of the sludge at the temperature prevailing in the digester. From the results presented in Figure 4,which were obtained with the liquid sugar waste, it appears that a low influent pH value did not have any detectable harmful effect. The results in this figure do reveal the adverse effect of a nutrient deficiency, i.e., phosphate in

TABLE VI Results Obtained in a 6 m3 Pilot-Plant and 200 m3 Full-scale Plant Experiments, After Adaptation Maximum loading rates applied organic hydraulic (kg COD.~n-~/day) (m-3.m-3/day) Temp. ("C)
(%)

Influent characteristics soured

(%)

Treatment efficiency based on EcoD,,~ &OD,,"

(%)
-~oD,,,

Type of waste

UASB reactor (m3)

COD rangea (mg/liter)

(%)

r
-

3
Q 9

Liquid sugar Campaign waste Campaign waste Potato processing (lime used as neutralizing agent)

6 6 200 6 6 6 6

4000-6000 3500-4000 4000-5200 2000-5000 2000-5000 2000-5000 4000- 16500

15-25 75 70-90 25 30 12 8

20-25 30-32 14-16 3-5 10-15 15-18 25-45

4 4-6 3-4 1.2 3 4 6-7

28-32 28-32 30-34 19 26 30 35

93-98 92-95 95-98 95-80 87-95 95(92)d 95(89) 95(89) 93(89) -

90-95 94 98 97 96

COD values based on centrifugated samples. EcoD,,,: based on centrifuged effluent samples and raw influent COD values. ECODdlm: based on centrifuged influent COD values and effluent COD values determined after flocculation of the sample with 200 mg Fe3+/ liter. Values in parentheses refer to effluent samples that have been allowed to settle for 30 min.

USB REACTOR FOR WASTE TREATMENT

715

2 6 0

284

308

332 d o y m

Fig. 4. Results of the 6 m3 pilot-plant experiments with liquid sugar waste as feed (influent COD: 2500-5500 mgfliter). Nutrients were not supplied until day 271, but beyond day 271 an amount of 6-7 mg P0,3--P/liter was supplied to the influent solution. Low influent pH values @Hi)during various periods of the experiment resulted from interruptions in the supply of NaHCO, (Na2C0,) to the feed solutions.

this case. The response of the process upon resuming the supply of phosphorus was immediate. Consistent with the laboratory experiments it has been found that substrate degradation occurred for 80-90% in the lower part of the reactor. Similar observations have been made with the anaerobic filter.27,29*32*33 An important reason for this phenomenon is the presence of a high concentration of active anaerobic sludge in the lower part of the reactor. A second main cause is the effective mixing (due to the upward escape of the produced gas) of the incoming waste flow with the partially purified liquor present in the upper part of the reactor. The occurrence of colloidal particles and other suspended solids in specific wastes, and the precipitation, sedimen-

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LETTINGA ET AL.

tation, and/or entrapment of such undissolved matter are factors of importance to an efficient substrate removal in the bottom part of the reactor. These kinds of physical processes have been observed in our laboratory and elsewhere with various wastes, i.e., potato starch wastes, dairy wastes, sewage, etc. To what extent absorption of dissolved compounds may contribute to the COD removal is insufficiently known as yet.
Sludge characteristics

One of the principal features of the USB process certainly is its quality to enhance the development of a sludge with a high specific activity and superior settling properties. The feasibility of the USB reactor concept for anaerobic treatment, as demonstrated in the laboratory experiments, has not only been confirmed by the pilotplant and full-scale experiments, but in fact appreciable better results were obtained during this stage of the study. So it was found that sludge loads could be applied ranging from 0.5-0.8 kg COD/kg VSS/day for sugar-beet wastes to I .O- I .4 kg COD/kg VSS/day for potato-processing wastes. Moreover, it was shown in the experiments with potato-processing waste that such loading rates were possible with almost unsoured wastes, viz. with 10% of the total COD converted to VFA-COD at the maximum. Conforming to the results obtained in the laboratory USB experiments with denitrification and acid fermentation (acidogenesis), it was now found that in due course a significant part of the anaerobic sludge occurred in a granular form as well. This appeared to be the case with both the sugar-beet and potato-processing wastes. The settleability of the granular sludge was somewhat better in comparison to the "flocculated" sludge, viz. SVI,,,, = 10-20 mlig and SVIfl,, = 20-40 mlig. Accordingly the granular sludge occurred mainly in the lower regions of the sludge bed. Some scanning electron micrographs (SEMs) of granular sludge are shown in Figure 5. From experiments carried out and/or underway in the Netherlands with a variety of wastes, we obtained evidence that anaerobic sludge as a rule exhibits fairly satisfactory flocculation characteristics, provided the first start-up has been carefully made and that there is no nutrient deficiency. Moreover, the flocculation ability of the sludge was shown to depend on the occurrence of divalent cations (e.g., Ca2+) and of finely dispersed, poorly flocculating, matter in the waste. Calcium ions have an evident positive effect on the flocculation ability of anaerobic sludge, presumably mainly because they improve the mechanical strength of the flocs. The

USB REACTOR FOR WASTE TREATMENT

717

Fig. 5. SEMs of the surface of an anaerobic sludge granule from the 6 m3 UASB experiments with potato processing waste (3000 X ) (TFDL, electron microscopy, Wageningen).

effect of calcium is clearly illustrated in Figure 6, which shows some relevant results of the experiments with potato waste.' The results in Figure 6 show that the system responded within a few days after NaHCO, was substituted by Ca(OH), (7- 12 mequivl liter) as supplied buffer to the wastewater, i.e., the SVI values of the sludge decreased and at the same time a comparably sharp increase of the sludge concentration occurred in the lower regions of the reactor. An even more pronounced effect of calcium has been found recently in experiments with a distillery waste, i.e., consisting of an alcoholic solution in almost salt-free water; here a similar substitution resulted in an increase of the sludge SVI from 100-150 to 30-40 ml/g within a few weeks.39

718
C O D - l o a d (kg/rn:/doy)

LETTINGA ET AL.
S V I (rnl/g)

50-

25

40

20

20 space load+
10-

,-I

15

0 .

1 0

I
1

0 100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450
day no

Fig. 6. Results of experiments in the 6 m3 UASB pilot plant with potato processing waste.' COD reduction vaned from 70-90% on the basis of raw effluent samples, from 85-98% on the basis of centrifuged effluent samples, and from 8595% on the basis of settled (30 min) effluent samples (compare Table VI).

Some additional settling tests with digested sewage sludge have been conducted in order to illustrate the effect of the presence of different concentrations of Mg2+,Ca2+,and Ba2+salts in the sludge. As an index for the flocculation ability of the sludge we have used the amount of sludge remaining in the supernatant. The results in Table VII clearly indicate the positive effect of these salts. As the experiments were conducted at a pH of about 6.0, the effect should be attributed mainly to the ionic forms of these elements and not to a clarification brought about by the precipitation of CaCO, and BaCO,. Likewise, the improvement of the sludge settleability in the UASB experiments as a result of the presence of calcium in the waste certainly should not be exclusively attributed to a possible entrapment of precipitated CaCO, in the sludge; the ash content of well-settling anaerobic sludge is striking low!

USB REACTOR FOR WASTE TREATMENT

719

Finely dispersed, poorly flocculating, matter exerts an adverse effect on the flocculation of the sludge, and therefore on the sludge retention of the reactor. This has been particularly observed in the laboratory experiments with a simulated closed sugar-beet wastewater circuit.2 The suspended matter accumulating in the circuit, which probably mainly consisted of acid-forming organisms, greatly hampered the reflocculation of disintegrated sludge flocs especially at concentrations exceeding approximately 1000 mg/liter. Similar indications have been obtained in the 6 m3 pilot-plant experiments with sugar-beet campaign waste. Here the dispersed organic matter reached concentrations up to 1500 mg/liter at the end of the campaign. Neither in the laboratory nor in the pilot-plant or full-scale experiments was this organic matter retained in the reactor for more than 20-25%. As a rule sugar-beet campaign waste also contains varying quantities of dispersed inorganic matter (mainly clay); occasionally concentrations exceeding I g/liter may occur. This matter is retained to some extent in the reactor. The retention of inorganic solids is clearly reflected in the trend of the volatile solids content curve of the sludge as illustrated in Figure 7. As shown in Figure 7 a sharp decrease in the fraction of volatile matter of the sludge occurs beyond day 80. This was caused by the exceptionally high quantity of inorganic sludge solids (SS) in the 1974 campaign wastewater, viz. 0.5-1.5 g/liter at the average with peaks during some days occasionally reaching values up to 30 gi liter. In the 1975 campaign wastewater (period 436-524) the quantity
TABLE VII Results of Settling Tests with an Anaerobic Sludge Conducted in the Presence of Increasing Concentrations of Divalent Cationsa
SS in supernatant solution

Cation added

Conc. cation added

10

20 40 (mgiliter) 800-1000

100

Mgz+

CaZ+ BaZ+

750 480 550

680 365 350

580

140
160

580 120 30

a The numerical values represent the sludge concentration (in mg SS/liter) remaining in the supernatant after 45 min of settling (sludge TS: 50-60 giliter).

720

LETTINGA ET AL.
'b"

t"
coops

~ ' ; ;b', ' ' I i i i ! , ~ ~ ~ i I I J

IC
0

mm
1 "

type of waste

CODlTS- rut^^ d the 5 1 u q *

0

'4

o
0

xo

% <

-x

& L x /

-x-

-x-

rsludgenreactm skidge in effluent

of ash content of the sludge remains a t about the same level. The results obtained thus far in the various experiments indicate that the accumulation of clay in the sludge will be limited, as long as the sludge mainly consists of granular material and the quantity of clay in the wastewater is below 0.25 g/liter.
Dynamic behavior of the sludge blanket (bed)

The presence of the different types of sludge is reflected in TS profiles determined over the height of the reactor. Some profiles are shown in Figure 8. The specific shape of a profile, which is no more than an instantaneous shot, depends strongly on the pattern of hydraulic and organic loading during a longer or shorter period preceding the sampling moment. Many hours or even days may pass before a steady profile is reestablished once the loading rates and/or other factors affecting the state of the sludge bed have been altered. Although the sludge bed may be composed of two or more distinct parts, the blanket as a whole should be considered as a coherent dynamic unity, even if it extends within the settler compartment. At low loading rates the sludge appears to be already markedly expanded, mainly as a result of occluded gas. As was observed,

USB REACTOR FOR WASTE TREATMENT

72 1

particularly in the small pilot-plant experiments conducted in the laboratory, the occluded gas occasionally causes smaller or larger parts of the bed to move upwards, inducing a more or less pulselike liberation of the entrapped gas and a local turnover of the sludge bed (vertical mixing of the sludge). At increasing gas production the gas eruptions succeed each other more rapidly, giving the surface of the sludge blanket somewhat of the appearance of a boiling fluid, ejecting gas bubbles and sludge particleshlocs. The half-freed particles eventually become liberated from the blanket through the tearing forces of fast upward moving separate gas bubbles. They are kept dispersed in the liquid bulk above the sludge blanket as a result of the agitation caused by the gas bubbles. When the concentration increases here the reflocculation to larger-more easily settling-flocs may gradually improve, ultimately leading to a balance between sludge ejection from and entrapment in the sludge blanket. The gas-solids separator has an important function in the reflocculation of the sludge. This point will be discussed below.
Sludge retention in an UASB reactor

The sludge retention of an UASB reactor primarily depends on the sludge settleability. In turn, the sludge settleability is closely

height (rn) &y 411

day 424
HRT = 6 1 . 0
Mt=128

day 430
2.0
1 . 0

HRT = 3.9

M t= 149
0

Mt = 205

xf

40

60

20

40

60

sludge T.SA kg/rn3)

Fig. 8. Some T S profdes as measured in the 6 m3 pilot-plant experiments with Organic space load applied (kg COD.m-Yday); HRT potato-processing waste^.^ (0) = hydraulic retention time (hr).

122

LETTINGA ET AL.

connected to the waste characteristics (i.e., Ca2+ concentration, nature of pollutants, and presence of dispersed poorly flocculating matter), the start-up procedure followed, and the time past since start-up. For a given situation (reactor, waste, and sludge) the sludge retention is essentially determined by operational factors such as the hydraulic and organic loading rates. The effect of the hydraulic loading rate on the sludge retention is closely related to the agitation intensity in the sludge bed. In the absence of mechanical mixing or mixing through gas evolution, the wastewater may find its way through the bed predominantly via canals and cracks formed in the bed, leaving the thickened character of the main part of the sludge unaffected. This has been demonstrated in the laboratory USB reactor for denitrification as well as in adsorption experiments in a fluidized bed of flocculated activated carbon.40In both cases mechanical agitation was required to ensure a sufficient liquid-solids contact. If mechanical agitation is applied, the sludge bed expansion will increase appreciably with an increasing hydraulic load, and consequently the quantity of sludge that can be retained in the reactor will decrease. In view of what has been discussed in the preceding paragraphs the organic loading rate (gas production) is a rather crucial factor for the sludge retention of the reactor. Already at low loading rates a marked expansion of the sludge bed always occurs. There is little doubt that at increasing organic load (and gas production), a contraction of the bed will soon take place, although it is uncertain at present to what extent and at what load. The improved agitation brought about by the increased gas production will result in a decrease of the hold-up of entrapped gas and-even more importantwill improve the thickening of the sludge. Moreover, also certainly the formation as well as the erosion of granular sludge will be affected by the gas production rate. At present the effect of the gas production on either of these factors is insufficiently known. The results obtained up to now-especially those obtained with potato wastewater-do not indicate that the sludge retention is adversely affected by the gas production. As a matter of fact the contrary has been found. This is illustrated by the results of the potato wastewater experiments, as summarized in Table VIII. In all situations considered in Table VIII, the sludge bed was expanded (compare Fig. 8) over almost the entire reactor height. Despite the exceptionally high loading rates applied, the data in Table VIII indicate that there is an evident increase in the amount of sludge retained in the reactor. Attempts to incorporate the effect of the hydraulic and

vl W

TABLE VIII Effect of a Stepwise Increase of the Organic Load (and Gas Production Rate) on the Sludge Retention in the 6 m3 UASB Reactor as Found in the Experiments with Potato Wastewatera Gas productionb
~

ga

Loading rates
( m3/day) ( m3.m-V hr)

Sludge characteristics %VS SVI 16

16

A el B
vl

Day No.

organic (kg~m-~/day)

hydraulic (~n~.m-~/day)

Weight of sludge retained (kg)

ga

?i rn
I14 I28 149 205 81 82.5 83 83 16 16
4 ga

41 1 424 430 43 8

I5 17 30 40

3.7 4 6.2 7

36 41 73 97

3.0 3.4 6.0 8. I

Compare Figure 8 for sludge profiles over the height of the reactor. Gas surface load in the gas collector.

E? 5

4 W N

724

LETTINGA ET AL

organic loading rates in a dynamic model are being made at the Delft Technical University by Heertjes and van der M e e ~ . ~ l
Sludge washout

Sludge washout is closely connected to the amount of finely dispersed sludge present in the reactor, and therefore to the factors that are important in this respect. Some relevant data concerning the washout of sludge from the 200 m5 reactor in the treatment of sugar-beet campaign wastewater have been summarized in Table IX. Concerning the washout of sludge three situations should be distinguished: a) The top of the sludge blanket remains well below the effluent weir of the reactor. Under such circumstances sludge washout is considerably less than sludge accretion from growth. This is even more true because the sludge lost with the effluent generally will not consist completely of bioactive matter. A considerable part of the effluent suspended solids may originate from suspended solids supplied with the influent solution; this has been particularly observed for sugar-beet campaign waste. Moreover, strong indications have been obtained that a majority of the bioactive sludge can be recovered from the effluent by plain sedimentation. b) The sludge blanket reaches the effluent weir under steady loading conditions. In this situation the washout of sludge and the accretion of sludge by growth will range over a similar order of magnitude per unit of time. c) An excessive expansion of the sludge blanket may occur as a result of a shock loading or due to suddenly deteriorating conditions (i.e., nutrient deficiency, high concentrations of finely dispersed poorly flocculating matter, etc.). Under such circumstances a temporary drastic washout of the sludge may occur and last until a new steady bed has been established.
Gas-solids separator

Apart from some technical imperfections the performance of the gas-solids separator originally employed in the 6 m3 reactor (see Fig. 2 ) was fairly satisfactory. Nevertheless, considerable effort was made to develop a more sophisticated device. However, as, in fact, none of the alternative means proved to be more effective nor were simpler in construction, they will not be discussed here. It should be emphasized that no additional measures are required to

TABLE IX Suspended Solids Washout as Found in 6 m3 Pilot-Plant and Full-Scale Experiments with the UASB Process

SS washout
after 30 min total settling (mg SS-COWg CODinfla) (kg TS) 110-120 125-130 145-155 200-2 10 Total amount of sludge in reactor (kg vol TS) 89-97 110-114 127-136 174-183 HRT (hr) 6.3 6.0 3.9 3.5 40-80 30-50 30-50

Period of experiment

COD space load (kg.m?/day)

I ) Potato waste (6 m3 pilot plant)b 408-4 13 10-13 423-427 15-17 429-434 22-30 436-440 33-43
70- 120 70-90 60-90 40-1 10

Total amount of sludge in reactor (kg TS)

(kg vol TS)

Day 6.7 7.6 7.5 8

100

COD space load (kg.w3/day)

HRT (hr)

SS washout (mg SS-CODa/g COD,"fl)

2) Sugar-beer waste (200 m3 full-scale plant)c

60 200 74
6500 6650 6650 6500 2280 2530 2530

54 61 68d 75

11.2 13.9 12.9 14.0

a SS COD-content in potato wastes varied between 100-150 mg CODig CODinn,and in the sugar beet waste between 70-150 mg COD/g CODlnnduring the experimental periods considered. Sludge growth: 0.18-0.20 g sludge-COD/g CODlnn(30C); 0.26-0.30 g sludge-CODig CODinfl(20C). Sludge growth: 0.08-0.16 sludge-CODig CODim. Only 20% of COD was present as VFA-COD, whereas this was 80-85% during the other days.

726

LETTINGA ET AL.

enhance the return of the sludge from the settler back into the digester compartment, provided that a number of conditions are fulfilled, viz.: a) The inclined wall of the settler should be at an angle of approximately 50". b) The surface load of the settler should be kept below about 0.7 m/hr, and the average flow through the aperture between the gas collectors below about 2 m/hr. c) The development and maintenance of a well settling sludge should be enhanced by adequate measures. d) The sludge present at the liquid-gas interface in the gas collector should be kept well immersed. e) Excessive foaming in the gas collector should be prevented. The first two conditions can be readily met by selecting a proper depth-area ratio for the reactor. For low-strength wastes this factor is primarily dictated by the restrictions placed on the surface load. For medium- and high-strength wastes the volume of gas released per unit of cross-sectional area may become the threshold criterion at extreme high loading rates. However, in view of the results obtained until now, little if any difficulties are expected provided that loading rates exceeding 20 kg.~n-~/day are avoided and that the height of the reactor remains below about 10 m. In order to meet the third condition an appropriate insight into the factors controlling the settleability of the sludge is required. As will be discussed in more detail below, the best guarantee for the formation and maintenance of a good settling sludge is to keep the conditions for flocculation as favorable as possible. The performance of the gassolids separator is closely connected to the conditions for flocculation prevailing within the system, because its operation is based on a combined process of sedimentation, flocculation, and-if present-sludge blanket filtration. As a matter of fact the flocculation, sedimentation, and filtration processes already start in or even below the aperture between the gas collector and reactor wall. In order to prevent any difficulty with buoying sludge the gasliquid interface in the gas collector should be kept well stirred. The surface area of the interface should be dimensioned so that entrapped gas can readily escape. If not, buoying sludge will be pushed through the aperture into the settling compartment, which may result in a poor sedimentation performance of this device and little return of sludge. It must be emphasized that an effective separation of entrapped or attached gas from the sludge flocs, before the sludge enters the settling compartment, is a primary condition for good

USB REACTOR FOR WASTE TREATMENT

727

operation of the gas-solids separator. At high organic loading rates the agitation caused by gas evolution will usually be sufficient to prevent an excessive buoying of sludge. However, at low organic loading rates-depending upon the design of the gas-solids separator (i.e., liquid surface area) and the type of waste treated-some form of mechanical agitation of the gas-liquid interface in the gas collector may be required. This applies in particular to wastes that can readily form a scum layer, i.e., dairy wastes' and raw sewage. Excessive foaming has only been observed in the event of relatively poor treatment efficiencies-due to overloading or a nutrient deficiency-and at very high gas production rates. However, with both the sugar-beet and potato-processing wastes foaming could always be effectively repressed by adding a small quantity of antifoaming agent to the feed solution. According to our laboratory results more difficulties may be expected in this respect if the wastes treated are relatively rich in proteins, such as potato starch wastewater.
DISCUSSION

The results obtained so far clearly demonstrate the feasibility of the USB reactor concept for anaerobic treatment. This certainly also applies to acid fermentation and denitrification. The UASB process matches its simplicity in construction and operation with its ability to tolerate extremely high organic and hydraulic loading rates, viz. exceeding 30 kg COD-m-3/day and 8 m3/m3/day,respectively. Obviously for practical reasons such excessive loading rates should not be pursued. From an economic viewpoint there is hardly any argument to justify such excessive claims. Moreover, to a certain extent, overcapacity is always desirable for the sake of process stability but also with a view to a possible future expanding production. In terms of construction the UASB process is very simple indeed. As was shown in the experiments with sugar-beet and potato-processing wastes the reactor requires no specific mechanical parts. However, in other situations provisions for mechanical agitation at the gas-liquid interface or in the digester compartment may be useful or even necessary. This is certainly the case if wastes composed of mainly undissolved solids must be treated. Either an intermittent or a continuous agitation mode should be applied, in order to prevent an accumulation of biodegradable waste solids in the lower part of the reactor and/or to ensure a good contact be-

728

LETTINGA ET AL.

tween bacteria and substrate (i.e., at low gas production rates or high hydraulic loading rates). At present no decisive answer can be given on the best way of mixing; tentatively, gas recirculation seems to be the most suitable method. However, provided that the reactor is equipped with any appropriate system to cause the degree of turbulence required, the UASB process proves to be a suitable method to treat wastes with a high concentration of undissolved solids.42Obviously in this respect the behavior of the AF is different, although it appears, according to McCarty and to personal observations of the authors, that a small amount of biodegradable suspended solids can be accepted by an AF. Colloidal suspensions can be handled' by the AF if coagulation remains insignificant. Taking into consideration the lack of an effective mixing of the solids in the AF process, it is obvious that this process is more sensitive to low influent pH values, to the presence of toxic compounds, and to shock loadings than the UASB process. Moreover, as a result of the less efficient contact between active sludge and substrate (i.e., blocking of canals, etc.), loading rates as high as in the UASB process are impossible with the AF process, even if the loss of actual volume by filter media is accounted for. As has been already mentioned no additional equipment (i.e., the installation of a scraper system) is necessary to ensure the return of settled sludge from the settler to the digester compartment. In fact, the upward liquid flow through the aperture between the gas collectors fluctuates considerably, depending on the local gas eruptions in the sludge bed. Occasionally (everywhere in the passage) a temporary downward flow may even occur, thus facilitating (initiating) the backsliding of agglomerate sludge particles into the digester compartment. Simple solutions for the construction of a large-scale UASB plant are shown in Figure 9. Undoubtedly one of the main features of the USB process is the development of a highly settleable sludge, more especially the formation of the granular sludge. The results obtained so far with the UASB process indicate that the pellet formation (size enlargement) proceeds fairly slowly with anaerobic sludge; viz. in the order of months. As has been shown in the laboratory this process proceeds considerably faster for denitrification and acid fermentation. The mechanism underlying the size enlargement process is not yet sufficiently understood and will therefore be subjected to further study in our laboratory. However, a number of factors have been recognized to play an important role in this process, namely: 1) The presence of sufficient nutrients and other requirements for

USB REACTOR FOR WASTE TREATMENT

729

Fig. 9. Schematic diagrams of a large-scale UASB plant. (a) Rectangular reactor; (b) cylindrical reactor. (1) Sludge bed; (2) bulk of liquid with suspended sludge; (3) gas bowl (collector);(4) gas seal; (5) feed inlet; (6) settler compartment; (7) launderer; (8) gas collector with gas outlet pipe to (3); (9) water seal.

bacterial growth and for the formation of the bonding agents responsible for the solid links between the bacterial cells (compare the SEMs of granular sludge as shown in Fig. 5). 2) The continuous removal (washout) of non- or poorly flocculating finely dispersed matter from the system, present in or formed from the feed. 3) The creation and maintenance of conditions favorable to the flocculation process in order to improve the development of granular sludge, i.e., presence of Ca2+ions, and absence of high concentrations of finely dispersed poorly flocculating matter. 4) The homogeneous and gentle agitation brought about by the gas production. Being mixed in this way rather effectively in the vertical direction, the sludge is exposed to varying forces of gravity compression (thickening). Except through the action of bacterial growth in and on the sludge flocs, the formation of granular sludge is presumably mainly driven by gravity compression forces. Sludge thickening is stimulated by increasing the height of the sludge blanket and-within certain lim-

130

LETTINGA ET AL.

its-also by increasing the stirring intensity. These two factors may at least partly explain the significant improvement in sludge retention observed upon scaling up the reactor (from 0.3- 1 .O m laboratory scale to 3 m pilot-plant scale), and upon increasing gas production (see Fig. 6). Contrary to earlier pre~urnptions,~,~ the presence of clay or other inorganic particles seems to be harmful to the formation of granular sludge. As was shown in the experiments with liquid sugar and potato wastes, granular sludge is fairly well formed in the absence of dispersed inorganic matter. The granular sludge then has a very high volatile solids content; SEMs indicate that probably a significant part of the organic matter consists of bacteria. This observation is supported by the fact that the nitrogen content of the volatile moiety of the granular sludge is in the range of 11- 12.5%, whereas it was about 5-7% in the seed sludge. It should be recognized that besides the formation of sludge granules, erosion also takes place in the sludge bed under the influence of friction forces to which the sludge flocs are exposed; in particular, at high mixing intensities. As was already mentioned, a better insight into the factors determining the mechanical strength of the sludge particles should be gained. Once more emphasis is laid on the significance of the first start-up to the quality of the sludge obtained. Sludge of a superior quality develops if the process is started up cautiously according to the directions outlined in the previous section. What remains to be briefly discussed are the prospects of the two-phase concept for the anaerobic treatment of more complex wastewaters, viz. consisting of almost unsoured dissolved and/or undissolved solids. The results obtained in the pilot-plant experiments with either liquid-sugar or potato-processing wastes are certainly disclosing and rather unexpected as far as the utility of the two-phase concept is concerned. In spite of the underlying philosophy, the two-phase ~ o n c e p t ~ and ~ * more ~' or less contrary to the experience obtained from the laboratory experiments with sugar sap solution^,^^^ the necessity of separating the stages of acid and methane fermentation has been rejected by the pilot-plant experiments for both types of wastes considered. Apparently in a welladapted system with almost unsoured wastes acidogenesis and methanogenesis can proceed simultaneously fairly well. In the experiments with potato-processing waste (see Table V) it even appeared that the rapid growth of the unsoured fraction at the sharply increased organic loads did not affect to any noticeable extent the performance efficiency of the process.

USB REACTOR FOR WASTE TREATMENT

73 1

How far these findings may apply to other types of waste is uncertain at present, but undoubtedly there are wastes for which a phase-separation may be very useful. We recently obtained evidence that such might be the case for methanolic waste^.^' The same may hold for wastes with a high fraction of undissolved matter. However, more research is required before decisive judgments can be made. Special attention should be given in this respect to the significance of optimum start-up and to the development of a granular type of sludge.

CONCLUSIONS
1) The USB reactor concept has been found to be very promising for anaerobic treatment of low-strength wastes. Full-scale and pilotplant experiments using sugar-beet and potato-processing wastes revealed that exceptionally high organic and hydraulic loading rates (up to 25 kg COD.m-3/day and 5 m3.m-3/day at 30C, respectively) can be satisfactorily handled in an USB reactor, once the sludge has been adapted to the waste. Results of small pilot-plant-scale experiments conducted in the laboratory indicate that the USB reactor concept is also feasible for denitrification and acid fermentation. 2) The use of an USB reactor promotes the development of a sludge of superior quality with respect to settling characteristics and specific activity. Presumably this is the result of a combination of factors, i.e.: The sludge is exposed to varying forces of gravity compression (dependent on the height of the sludge bed, sludge concentration, and place of the sludge in the reactor). Growth will take place in and on the sludge flocs/particles present. Disintegration (erosion) of sludge flocs/particles is kept at a minimum by allowing only a gentle and homogeneous agitation mode, e.g., as resulting from the escape of produced gas. An important additional factor in the development of sludge of desired quality is the creation and maintenance of favorable conditions for flocculation within the system, i.e., the presence of Ca2+ ions, adequate mixing, and the absence of a high concentration of poorly flocculating suspended matter in the wastewater. Moreover, sufficient nutrients should be present and available to ensure bacterial growth. 3) In terms of construction the USB process is very simple.

732

LETTINGA E T AL.

Except if applied at low organic loads (2-4 kg COD.m-3/day), at high hydraulic loads (3-4 m3.md3/day)and in treating wastes containing a significant amount of undissolved solids, there will be no need for any form of mechanical mixing. Concerning the construction of the gas-solids separator, it should be looked after a ready liberation of adherent/entrapped gas in bouying sludge (i.e., a well-mixed liquid-gas interface in the gas collector of sufficient area). Moreover, the inclined walls of the settler should be at an angle of approximately 50, in order to facilitate the return of the collected sludge back into the digester compartment. 4) The results obtained with unsoured or slightly soured sugarbeet and potato-processing wastes indicate that there does not exist any real need to separate the acid and methane fermentation phases, provided the sludge is well adapted.

References
1 . G. Lettinga and A. F. M.van Velsen, H 2 0 ,7, 281 (1974). 2. G. Lettinga, J. van der Ben, and J . van der Sar, H@, 9, 38 (1976). 3. P. J. Schellekens, Feasibility of anaerobic treatment for wastes of the food industry, Agricultural University of Wageningen, Internal report no. 7 6 5 , 1976 [in Dutch]. 4. G. Lettinga, A. G. N. Jansen, and P. Terpstra, H@, 8, 530 (1975). 5. G. Lettinga, K. Ch. Pette, R. d e Wetter, and E. Wind, HZO,10, 526 (1977). 6. G. Lettinga, K. Ch. Pette, R. de Wetter, and E. Wind, Anaerobic treatment of sugar beet waste water at pilot plant scale, final report, September, 1977 [in Dutch]. 7. A. J. Versprille, Anaerobic treatment of potato processing wastes, report 216, 1978 IBVL, Box 18, 6700 AA Wageningen [in Dutch]. 8. K. Ch. Pette, Anaerobic treatment of sugar beet waste in 200 m3 full scale plant, report in preparation [in Dutch]. 9. G. Lettinga and J. Stellema, H@, 7, 129 (1974). 10. G. Lettinga, Feasibility of anaerobic digestion for the purification of industrial waste water, in 4th European Sewage and Refuse Symposium (EAS, Munich, 1978). 1 I . R. R. Dague, R. E . McKinney, and Y. T. Pfeffer, J . Water Pollut. Control Fed., 38, 221 (1966); 42, R29 (1970). 12. D. Newton, H. Keinath, and L. S. Hillis, Pilot plant studies for the evaluation of methods of treating brewery wastes, in Proceedings of the 16th Industrial Waste Conference (Purdue U. P., Lafayette, IN, 1962), p. 332. 13. M. B. Rands and D. E. Cooper, Development and operation of a low cost anaerobic plant for meat waste, in Proceedings of the 2lst Industrial Waste Conference (Purdue U. P., Lafayette, IN,1966), p. 613. 14. A. J . Steffen and M. Bedker, Operation of full-scale anaerobic contact

USB REACTOR FOR WASTE TREATMENT

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Accepted for Publication May 31, 1979