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Performance evaluation and kinetic modeling of the start-up of a UASB reactor treating municipal wastewater at low temperature

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Abstract

A kinetic modeling-based study was carried out to evaluate the start-up performance of a 10-L up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor treating municipal wastewater under different organic and hydraulic loading conditions. The reactor was operated for 105 days (around 4 months) below 20 °C and with three different hydraulic retention times of 24, 12 and 5 h. Imposed volumetric organic loading rates (OLR) ranged from 0.57 (±0.05) to 11.78 (±0.85) kg TCOD/m3-day. Although relatively high incoming volumetric OLR values were employed to the system, the UASB reactor demonstrated a favorable performance on the anaerobic treatability of municipal wastewater, and no process failure was recorded in the start-up stage. On the basis of experimental results, the modified Stover–Kincannon model was successfully applied to define the start-up kinetics with a very high value of the correlation coefficient (R = 0.9729). Maximum substrate utilization rate constant and saturation constant of the modified Stover–Kincannon model were determined as U max = 1.996 g/L-day and K B = 1.536 g/L-day, respectively.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) (Project Number: 107G252) Ankara, Turkey.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Yildiz Technical University, 34220, Davutpasa, Esenler, Istanbul, Turkey

    F. Ilter Turkdogan-Aydinol, Kaan Yetilmezsoy, Sezen Comez & Hurrem Bayhan

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  1. F. Ilter Turkdogan-Aydinol
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  2. Kaan Yetilmezsoy
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  3. Sezen Comez
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  4. Hurrem Bayhan
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Correspondence to F. Ilter Turkdogan-Aydinol.

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Turkdogan-Aydinol, F.I., Yetilmezsoy, K., Comez, S. et al. Performance evaluation and kinetic modeling of the start-up of a UASB reactor treating municipal wastewater at low temperature. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 34, 153–162 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-010-0456-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-010-0456-0

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