A granulation model using diosgenin wastewater in an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor

Abstract

An enhanced start-up of an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor for diosgenin wastewater treatment was designed and experimentally tested. Granular sludge was formed on day 35 in the reactor with high concentrations of chloride (4000-7000 mg/L) and COD (5000-13000 mg/L) as substrate. A new model for the granulation was proposed which divides the formation of anaerobic granules into six consecutive stages; they include semi-embryonic granule formation, embryonic granule formation, single-nucleus granule formation, multi-nuclei granule formation, granule growth and granule maturation. A model of the granule structure was also proposed based on scanning electron microscope observation. The microspores occurring on the surface and further leading into the interior of the granules were considered as the channels and the passage of the materials and the products of the microorganisms’ metabolism inside the granules.

Keywords

diosgenin wastewater / granular sludge formation / UASB reactor / new model

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by National Key Technologies R&D Program (No.2006BAB04A14-2), the Hubei Provincial Science and Technology Department (No.2006AA305A05) and Wuhan Science and Technology Bureau (20066002101).

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg