UASB REACTOR AND PROCESS

Anaerobic pre-treatment of domestic sewage using uasb reactor systems offers a number of
advantages, e.g. System compactness, negligible or no energy consumption, stabilised excess
sludge production, potential for energy recovery, low-cost accessibility of sewage for
agricultural reuse purposes, etc..
The mentioned reduction in investment costs is attributed to the omission of electro-mechanical
units, such as aerators, as well as the reduced need for volumetric unit capacity, owing to the so-
called ‘shared functionality’ of the anaerobic treatment tank. In fact, a uasb reactor comprises 4
functional units
1) primary clarifier: removal/entrapment of (non)biodegradable suspended solids from the
influent.
2) biological reactors (secondary treatment): removal of biodegradable organic compounds by
converting them into methane.
3) secondary clarifier: clarifying the treated effluent in the settler zone at the top part of the uasb
reactor.
4) sludge digester: stabilisation (digestion) and improving the dewatering characteristics of the
retained influent primary sludge.

Basic process
The upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor is a single tank process in an anerobic centralised or
decentralised industrial waste water or black water treatment system achieving high removal of
organic pollutants. Wastewater enters the reactor from the bottom and flows upward. A
suspended sludge balnket filters and treats the wastewater as the wayer flows through it. Bacteria
living in the sludge bbreakdownorganic matter by anaerobic digestion transforming it into
biogas. Solids are also retained by a filteration by the blanket. The upflow regime and the motion
of the gas bubbles allow mixing without mechanical assistance. Baffles at tthetop of the reactor
allow gasses to escape and prevent an outflowof the sludge blanket. As all aerobic treatments ,
uasb require post treatment to remove pathogens, but due to a narrow removal of nutrients, the
effluent water as well as the stabilised sludge can be used in agriculture.
Advantages (compared to aerobic processes)
• substantial (reaching 90%) savings in operational costs as no energy is required for aeration.
• significant reductions in investment costs as less treatment units are required.
• the produced ch4 is of interest for energy recovery or electricity production.
• the technologies do not make use of high-tech equipment, except for main headwork pumps
and fine screens. The treatment system is less dependent on imported technologies.
• the process is robust and can handle periodic high hydraulic and organic loading rates.
• the system is compact with hydraulic retention times (hrts) of 6-9 h, and is, therefore, suitable
for application in urban areas, minimising conveyance costs.
• small scale applications allow decentralised treatment, making sewage treatment less dependent
on the extent of seweage networks.
• the sludge production is low, well stabilized and easily dewatered; consequently, it does not
require extensive post-treatment.
• the valuable nutrients (n and p) are conserved which give the treated wastewater a high
potential for crop ferti-irrigation.
• a well designed uasb filters effectively helminth’s eggs from the influent, allowing the treated
effluent for agricultural reuse.
Constraints
• anaerobic treatment, although converting most of influent cod into ch4, is a partial treatment,
requiring adequate post-treatment to meet the discharge or reuse criteria.
• the produced ch4 is partially dissolved in the effluent (depending on the influent cod
concentration). So far no measures are applied to prevent ch4 escaping to the atmosphere.
• the collected ch4 is often not utilised for energy generation and in some cases not even flared.
• there is little experience with full-scale application at moderate to low temperatures.
• reduced gases, like h2s, that are dissolved in the effluent may escape causing odour problems.
• high influent so42- concentrations may limit the applicability of anaerobic sewage treatment as
it results in the conversion of organic bod/cod to inorganic bod/cod.
Thorough screening and extended grit removal is indispensible for a long term operational
success of any compact wastewater treatment system. For a uasb reactor upfront pre-treatment is
in fact crucial. Application of step screens complimenting coarse screens is already indicated.
The importance of removing sand and grit from the sewage before it enters the uasb reactor
cannot be overemphasised. Given the high hydraulic loading rate typically applied to a uasb
reactor, the rate of grit accumulation in the uasb tank can be significant. Grit accumulation
reduces the available digestion volume of the uasb reactor, and it can potentially result in
blockages of the inlet pipes. Grit chambers, also referred to as sand traps, are generally installed
in order to reduce the accumulation of sand and grit inside the uasb reactors. Full-scale uasbs are
generally preceded by square or rectangular horizontal flow grit chambers, with a few making
use of an aerated grit chamber
Reactor size and shape
The design of a uasb reactor treating a low-strength wastewater such as municipal sewage is
governed by the hydraulic rather than the organic load.when the hydraulic loading is limiting, the
applied up-flow velocity in the digestion and sedimentation compartments, as well as in the
apertures between the gas hoods, are arguably the most critical design criteria:
excessivevelocities can result in biomass washout and thereby destabilizing the biological
treatment process. Uasb reactors can be constructed in two basic geometric shapes: circular or
rectangular. A circular shape offers a number of advantages including increased structural
stability and a smaller perimeter than a rectangle of the same surface area
Size
Most uasb stps are built using the modular design. The volume of individual uasb modules
generally varies between 1500 to 3000 m. However, from an operational perspective it is
advantageous to have more but smaller reactors over less but larger reactors, as this allows a
greater deal of flexibility in operation.
Basic shape
In general, uasb reactors have a square or rectangular design, both in the cross sectional area and
the superficial area
Influent distribution system
A balanced distribution of influent over the bottom surface of a municipal uasb reactor is
essential for optimum performance of the unit. A properly designed and constructed influent
distribution system helps to guarantee maximum contact between the influent organic material
and the sludge mass contained in the reactor. Furthermore, short circuiting between the influent
distribution and effluent collection system is minimised. In contrast to industrial uasb reactors,
where the influent is pumped through a bottom influent device, in a municipal uasb the influent
is typically gravity fed from the top of the reactor through pipes that enter the municipal uasb
reactor from above.

Final distribution box

For optimal performance of a municipal uasb it is essential that the fdb is correctly designed and
installed. Although the design of the fdb varies greatly in full-scale systems, ideally, the fdb
should be symmetrical in shape to ensure equal flow to all inlet pipes. An fdb serving a large
number of inlet pipes is easier to construct in a circular mode, which is frequently observed in
full-scale plants.
Gas-liquid-solid (gls) separator
The two main requirements for a well performing uasb reactor are: (1) to ensure good contact
between the incoming substrate and the anaerobic biomass, and (2) to maintain a large anaerobic
sludge mass in the system. A well designed influent distribution system guarantees the former,
while a well designed gls separator is essential for the latter. By definition, the gls separator
separates the three phases present in the uasb reactor, i.e. The biogas (g), the liquid (l) and the
suspended solids (s). Sewage is fed to the bottom of the reactor through the influent distribution
system. Following an upflow path, the sewage flows through the thick anaerobic sludge blanket.
It then passes through the gls separator and finally the treated effluent is withdrawn at the top of
the reactor. The gls separator performs two important functions in this process: (1) the biogas
formed in the sludge bed is prevented from entering into the settling compartment, but is instead
collected in the gas hood for subsequent usage; and (2) the solids that enter into the settling
compartment are allowed to settle in the quiescent environment that develops in the absence of
gas bubbles and can therefore be retained for a large part in the reactor, thereby increasing the
reactor sludge concentration while simultaneously improving the effluent quality considerably.
To prevent biogas bubbles from entering into the settler compartment an overlap is created
between the deflector and the gas hood. In the literature an overlap of at least 10 to 20 cm is
recommended, which is necessary because rising gas bubbles can otherwise be entrained with the
effluent into the settling compartment.
Effluent collection
Effluent should be collected as uniformly as possible from the top of the uasb reactor to ensure
optimum performance of the gls separator. The two main alternatives for the collection of
effluent from the top of the uasb reactor are effluent gutters fitted with v-notch overflow weirs
and submerged perforated pipes. Mostly, v-notch overflow weirs are preferred as they can be
controlled and cleaned easily, guaranteeing an even upflow in the settling compartment.
Sludge withdrawal.
One of the main conditions for a satisfactory treatment performance of a uasb stp is to maximize
the anaerobic sludge mass in the system, while simultaneously preventing sludge losses with the
effluent. Uasb reactors can retain a maximum sludge mass that is dependent on the size of the
digestion zone and the maximum sludge concentration, which in turn depends on the phase
separator efficiency in retaining suspended solids, the nature of the retained sludge, the degree of
digestibility, preferential liquid flow streams, sludge filtering capacity, etc. Once the maximum
storage capacity of the uasb reactor is reached, excess sludge will have to be discharged,
otherwise unintentional sludge wash-out will occur