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Introduction
Biogas
Sludge Blanket Zone
Gas/ Liquid/ Solid Separator
Effluent
Overflow
Weir
Sludge Bed
Zone
Distributor
Influent
UASB process is the most widely used process in anaerobic wastewater treatment.
High concentration wastewater is introduced into the button of modified UASB reactor
through the inflow distributor. The wastewater passes upwards through anaerobic sludge bed
where the microorganisms contact with wastewater substrates. The sludge bed is composed
of microorganisms that naturally form granules (pellets) of 0.5 to 2 mm in diameter that have
a high sedimentation velocity and thus resist wash-out from the system even at high
hydraulic loads. Upward flow speed is controlled under 10 m/d with recirculated effluent
and inflow wastewater. The upward motion of released gas bubbles causes hydraulic
turbulence that provides reactor mixing without any mechanical agitation. At the top of the
reactor, the water phase is separated from sludge solids and gas in a three-phase separator.
2003 Environmental Technology Business Forum
Purified water is discharged in the effluent while biogas is collected at the top of the reactor
and sludge solids settle back down to the reactor. A schematic diagram of the modified
UASB reactor is shown above.
Process Description
The key parts in designing the modified UASB reactor are a three-phase separator on
the top of reactor and inflow distributors on the bottom of reactor. ITRI has acquired two
patents for the three-phase separator and inflow distributor. To separate gas/liquid/solids
successfully, several factors, including air-lift, fluid turbulent, inertia force, and specific
gravity difference must work properly. The patented three-phase separator installed several
parallel plates and inclined tubes to enhance gas/liquid/solids separation efficiency. The
structure of the separator is simple and can be installed as a module. Thus, the cost is lower
than other separators. The modified inflow distributor improves uneven inflow distribution
and reduces clogging problems. In addition to the modified UASB reactor, there are also
improvements in the treatability assessment, sludge granules seeding, system startup, and
operation strategy for this technology. The whole package of the technology offers a
complete solution to wastewater treatment by the UASB process. The key parts in designing
the modified UASB reactor are summarized in Table 1.
Item Descriptions
Reactor design 1. Reactor volume, height, and configuration
2. Three-phase separator
3. Inflow distributor
Operation and control 1. Reactor seeding and start-up
2. Anaerobic sludge acclimation and growth
3. pH (alkalinity) control
4. Loading control
5. Control of inhibitor in wastewater
Table 2 lists the COD loading rate and removal percentage for various anaerobic
processes. Compared to the other anaerobic treatment processes, UASB has a higher COD
loading rate and COD removal percentage.
The main UASB technology licensors in the world are Gist Brocades, Paques, Biotim,
and ITRI. The history of developing UASB in ITRI is shorter than Gist Brocades, but longer
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than Paques and Biotim. Currently, ITRI has the capability to design the UASBs with single
reactor volume of 3,500 m3. The basic theory of UASBs are the same, However, ITRI offers
more economic choice than other competitors based on higher efficient design.
Full-scale engineering practices showed that ITRI’s modified UASB reactor is highly
efficient and reliable in long time operation. It is also cost competitive in construction and
operation. The features of the modified UASB reactor can be summarized as follows:
1. High volumetric loading, VLR>5 kg COD/m3-day
2. Small footprints, low land cost.
3. Low sludge yield, sludge production rate < 0.1 kg SS/kg COD
4. No oxygen supply equipment required, more energy efficient
5. Can afford higher rage of organic loading.
6. Stable in changes of hydraulic loading.
Industrial Applications
UASB technology was commonly applied to industrial wastewater of the breweries and
beverage industry, distilleries and fermentation industry, food industry, and pulp and paper
industry. Together, these four industrial sectors account for 87% of the UASB applications in
the world for the last two decades. ITRI successfully applied the modified UASB technology
to textile and petrochemical industry wastewater treatment, especially with polyester, nylon,
and polyvinyl alcohol as major wastewater components. ITRI has installed 11 modified
UASB systems for petrochemical and textile wastewater treatment in Taiwan since 1988.
The largest unit installed so far was a 3500 m3 UASB reactor treating 4,000 m3/day of textile
wastewater. A photograph of the modified UASB reactor design by ITRI is shown in Figure
2. Table 3 lists the full-scale modified UASB applications installed by ITRI since 1988.
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The following plant retrofit projects were examples of modified UASB technology
applied to distillation, petrochemical and textile wastewater treatment.
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ITRI is one of the four UASB licensors in the world (they are Gist Brocades, Paques,
Biotim, and ITRI)that can license and transfer UASB technology to other companies. ITRI
has well developed know–how in UASB process and equipment design for different kinds of
industrial wastewater. With 17 years of technology development experience and over 25
successful plant retrofit projects, ITRI illustrates its superior in technical consulting and
engineering design in industrial wastewater treatment. Consulting service including
wastewater treatability evaluation, sludge granules seeding, UASB system start-up,
microorganism inhibition prevention and mitigation are provided under customer requisition.
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References
Horng R.-Y., Wu H.-S., Tzou W.-Y. and Perng M.-J. (2001), A Reduction of Biosolids: A
Case Study of Integrated Anaerobic Process, 9th World Congress on Anaerobic
Digestion, Antwerpen, Belgium, 169-171.
Horng R.-Y., Shao H., You H.-S., Liu Y.-C., Tzou W.-Y., Chen C.-H., Wu H.-S. and Cheng
S.-S. (1998), An Integrated Process to Abate Sludge yield and Promote Sludge
Granular in An Anaerobic Process, 8th International Conference on Anaerobic
Digestion, 216-223.
Horng R.-Y. Shao H., You H.-S., Liu Y.-C., Tzou W.-Y., Chen C.-H., Wu H.-S. and Perng
M.-J.(1996), A Case Study of A brewery Factory Wastewater Treatment by Anaerobic
/Aerobic and Fenton Process, WEFTEC ’96, 69th Annual Conference & Exposition ,
Dallas, Texas, USA, 531-538.