Modified fractional-order model for biomass degradation in an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor at Zenein Wastewater Treatment Plant

This paper presents a modified fractional-order model (FOM) for microorganism stimulation in an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor treating low-strength wastewater. This study aimed to examine the famine period of methanogens due to biomass accumulation in the UASB reactor over long time periods at a constant organic loading rate (OLR). This modified model can investigate the substrate biodegradation in a UASB reactor while considering substrate diffusion into biological granules during the feast and famine periods of methanogens. The Grünwald-Letnikov numerical technique was used to indicate the effect of biomass degradation on the biogas production rate and substrate biodegradation in a UASB reactor installed at Zenein Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in Giza, Egypt. Several fractional orders were applied in the dynamic model at biomass concentrations of 20 and 4 kg/ m3 in the reactor bed and blanket zones, respectively. An OLR of 0.9 kgCOD/ m3/ day using the calibrated kinetic parameters at 11 ?C was applied to comply with the experimental outcomes. The simulation results indicate that the removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand (COD) was maintained at approximately 55 – 65 % , whereas the biogas production rate declined from 0.35 to 0.05 m3CH4/ kgCODr in the reactor bed zone due to a decline in food to microorganism (F/M) ratio from 0.04 to 0.018 d- 1 during the sludge retention time (SRT) in the UASB reactor. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

Modified kinetic-hydraulic UASB reactor model for treatment of wastewater containing biodegradable organic substrates

This paper addresses a modified kinetic-hydraulic model for up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor aimed to treat wastewater of biodegradable organic substrates as acetic acid based on Van der Meer model incorporated with biological granules inclusion. This dynamic model illustrates the biomass kinetic reaction rate for both direct and indirect growth of microorganisms coupled with the amount of biogas produced by methanogenic bacteria in bed and blanket zones of reactor. Moreover, the pH value required for substrate degradation at the peak specific growth rate of bacteria is discussed for Andrews’ kinetics. The sensitivity analyses of biomass concentration with respect to fraction of volume of reactor occupied by granules and up-flow velocity are also demonstrated. Furthermore, the modified mass balance equations of reactor are applied during steady state using Newton Raphson technique to obtain a suitable degree of freedom for the modified model matching with the measured results of UASB Sanhour wastewater treatment plant in Fayoum, Egypt. © IWA Publishing 2016.