A study of high rate anaerobic sequencing batch digesters being fed synthetic petrochemical waste

This project was to study the start-up techniques and proper operations of anaerobic digesters. Three types of digesters configuration were used: Upflow Anaerobic Digester (UASB), UASB-Anaerobic Filter (AF) in series and a UASB-AF in parallel.;A municipal anaerobic sewage sludge was adapted to a synthetic petrochemical feed containing acetic acid, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), methanol, phenol, p-cresol, and toluene. Adaptation starts by replacing 10 vol% glucose by corresponding volume of synthetic petrochemical feed. This was done on a weekly cycle until the reactors were exclusively fed with synthetic petrochemical waste which took 266 d. Reactors were fed daily in sequencing batch mode at hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 15 d, 7 d and 3 d.;The reactors were well adapted to acetic acid, methanol, toluene, and phenol, each having a reducing efficiency between 80-95%. MEK and p-cresol were poorly digested. Efficiency difference between the different reactors configuration was marginal, on average 5-10%.;The UASB and UASB-AF in series reactors were approaching steady state while UASB-AF in parallel reactor was still in transient conditions at the end of study period (436 d). (Abstract shortened by UMI.).