2003 Environmental Technology Business Forum

Modified Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Bed（UASB）Technology

Pollution Abatement Technology Department

Center for Environmental, Safety and Health Technology Development
Industrial Technology Research Institute
Hsinchu, Taiwan

Introduction

The modified Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Bed (UASB) technique developed by

Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) has been applied to industrial wastewater
treatment in Taiwan for more than 17 years. Twenty five full scale treatment plants and more
than fifty modified UASB reactors have been installed for industrial wastewater purification
including food processing, brewery, distillery, pulp and paper, textile, chemical and
petrochemical industries.

Biogas
Sludge Blanket Zone
Gas/ Liquid/ Solid Separator

Effluent
Overflow
Weir

Sludge Bed
Zone

Distributor

Influent

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the modified UASB reactor

UASB process is the most widely used process in anaerobic wastewater treatment.
High concentration wastewater is introduced into the button of modified UASB reactor
through the inflow distributor. The wastewater passes upwards through anaerobic sludge bed
where the microorganisms contact with wastewater substrates. The sludge bed is composed
of microorganisms that naturally form granules (pellets) of 0.5 to 2 mm in diameter that have
a high sedimentation velocity and thus resist wash-out from the system even at high
hydraulic loads. Upward flow speed is controlled under 10 m/d with recirculated effluent
and inflow wastewater. The upward motion of released gas bubbles causes hydraulic
turbulence that provides reactor mixing without any mechanical agitation. At the top of the
reactor, the water phase is separated from sludge solids and gas in a three-phase separator.
2003 Environmental Technology Business Forum

Purified water is discharged in the effluent while biogas is collected at the top of the reactor
and sludge solids settle back down to the reactor. A schematic diagram of the modified
UASB reactor is shown above.

Process Description

The key parts in designing the modified UASB reactor are a three-phase separator on
the top of reactor and inflow distributors on the bottom of reactor. ITRI has acquired two
patents for the three-phase separator and inflow distributor. To separate gas/liquid/solids
successfully, several factors, including air-lift, fluid turbulent, inertia force, and specific
gravity difference must work properly. The patented three-phase separator installed several
parallel plates and inclined tubes to enhance gas/liquid/solids separation efficiency. The
structure of the separator is simple and can be installed as a module. Thus, the cost is lower
than other separators. The modified inflow distributor improves uneven inflow distribution
and reduces clogging problems. In addition to the modified UASB reactor, there are also
improvements in the treatability assessment, sludge granules seeding, system startup, and
operation strategy for this technology. The whole package of the technology offers a
complete solution to wastewater treatment by the UASB process. The key parts in designing
the modified UASB reactor are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1. Key parts in designing the modified UASB reactor

Item Descriptions
Reactor design 1. Reactor volume, height, and configuration
2. Three-phase separator
3. Inflow distributor
Operation and control 1. Reactor seeding and start-up
2. Anaerobic sludge acclimation and growth
3. pH (alkalinity) control
4. Loading control
5. Control of inhibitor in wastewater

Table 2 lists the COD loading rate and removal percentage for various anaerobic
processes. Compared to the other anaerobic treatment processes, UASB has a higher COD
loading rate and COD removal percentage.

Table 2. Comparison of various types of anaerobic treatment technologies

Reactor Types COD loading COD removal percentage (%)

(kg/m3-d)
Anaerobic contact digester 1-6 80-95
Upflow anaerobic filter 1-10 80-95
Downflow anaerobic filter 5-15 80-87
Anaerobic fluidized bed 1-20 75-88
UASB 5-30 85-95

The main UASB technology licensors in the world are Gist Brocades, Paques, Biotim,
and ITRI. The history of developing UASB in ITRI is shorter than Gist Brocades, but longer

2
2003 Environmental Technology Business Forum

than Paques and Biotim. Currently, ITRI has the capability to design the UASBs with single
reactor volume of 3,500 m3. The basic theory of UASBs are the same, However, ITRI offers
more economic choice than other competitors based on higher efficient design.

Full-scale engineering practices showed that ITRI’s modified UASB reactor is highly
efficient and reliable in long time operation. It is also cost competitive in construction and
operation. The features of the modified UASB reactor can be summarized as follows:
1. High volumetric loading, VLR>5 kg COD/m3-day
2. Small footprints, low land cost.
3. Low sludge yield, sludge production rate < 0.1 kg SS/kg COD
4. No oxygen supply equipment required, more energy efficient
5. Can afford higher rage of organic loading.
6. Stable in changes of hydraulic loading.

Industrial Applications

UASB technology was commonly applied to industrial wastewater of the breweries and
beverage industry, distilleries and fermentation industry, food industry, and pulp and paper
industry. Together, these four industrial sectors account for 87% of the UASB applications in
the world for the last two decades. ITRI successfully applied the modified UASB technology
to textile and petrochemical industry wastewater treatment, especially with polyester, nylon,
and polyvinyl alcohol as major wastewater components. ITRI has installed 11 modified
UASB systems for petrochemical and textile wastewater treatment in Taiwan since 1988.
The largest unit installed so far was a 3500 m3 UASB reactor treating 4,000 m3/day of textile
wastewater. A photograph of the modified UASB reactor design by ITRI is shown in Figure
2. Table 3 lists the full-scale modified UASB applications installed by ITRI since 1988.

Figure 2. Photograph of the modified UASB reactor of ITRI

3
2003 Environmental Technology Business Forum

Table 3. Modified UASB applications installed by ITRI

Date of Reactor Qw.w. COD-in CODr

Factory name Type of Wastewater
installation Size (m3) (CMD) (mg/l) (%)
Asia Chemical Co. 1988 1,000 Chemical processing 400 9,000 98
Kwang Cheng Co. 1991 80 Chemical processing 80 8,000 95
Fermentation and
6 Wine plants 1992 2,200 60-1,000 4,000-30,000 90
distillation process
Hualon Co./Toufen
1992 450×2 Textile industry 800 5,000 90
head plant
Hualon Co. / Toufen
1993 500×2 Textile industry 1,000 5,000 90
Ⅱ plant
Chang Chun
Petrochemical
1993 1,350×2 Petrochemical industry 3,500 4,200 ≧70
Co./Miaoli plant Unit
I
Yilan Wine plant, Fermentation and
1994 600+240 200 30,000 90
( total 7 plants) distillation process
Hualon Co. / Toufen
1994 600×2 Textile industry 1,200 5,000 90
Ⅲ plant
Far Eastern Textile
1994 3,300 Textile industry 4,000 2,500 ≧65
Co.
TransAsia airways 1995 135 Food processing 250 2,000 ≧70
Hualien distillery 1995 1,300 Distillation process 1,300 10,000 90
Hualon Malaysia
1995 600×2 Textile industry 1,200 5,000 90
Co. Unit I
Hualon Malaysia
1996 600×2 Textile industry 1,200 5,000 90
Co. Unit II
Dahin Co./Chuan
1996 500 Chemical processing 200 8,000 ≧70
Hsing plant
President Enterprises
Co. / Hsinshih plant 1997 1,680 Food processing 4,000 2,500 90
Unit I
Taiwan
1999 800 Chemical processing 124 12,000 80
petrochemical Co
Dahin Co./Hsiensie
1999 900 Chemical processing 400 8,000 80
plant
President Enterprises
Co. / Hsinshih plant 2002 900 x 2 Food processing 4,000 2,500 90
Unit II
Der-Yien Paper
2002 900 x2 Pulp and paper 3,600 7,000 80
Industry
Chang Chun
Petrochemical
2003 1,350×2 Petrochemical industry 2,000 3,000 ≧70
Co./Miaoli plant Unit
II
Kinmon distillery 2003 1,000 Distillation process 650 6,000 90

Toppoly 2004 1760 TFT-LCD 1400 8000 70

ChiMei 2005 400 TFT-LCD 650 1600 70

F&NCC (Malaysia) 2006 405 Food processing 550 5000 80

SafViet (Vietnam) 2006 2850 Yeast production 960 14000 70

The following plant retrofit projects were examples of modified UASB technology
applied to distillation, petrochemical and textile wastewater treatment.

4
2003 Environmental Technology Business Forum

Table 4. Examples of ITRI’s modified UASB technology applied to distillery, petrochemical

and textile industry.

Technical aspect Economical benefits

Hualien • Combined modified UASB
distillery with fixed film aerobic
treatment and Fenton
chemical oxidation in
treatment process.
• Wastewater with COD over
10,000 mg/l was treated to
under 100 mg/l.
Chang Chun • Achieve 75% of COD
Petrochemical removal rate under 4.5 kg
Co./Miaoli plant 3
COD/m -day of organic
Unit I loading and 24 hours of
hydraulic retention time.
• Design and construct two
UASB reactors with 12 meter
(in diameter) by 12 meter
(height) and a total volume of
1350 cubic meter.
Hualon Texitle • Achieve over 90% of COD Compare to conventional activated
Co. / Toufen Ⅲ removal efficiency under
plant organic loading of 5 kg
COD/m3.day.
• Treat textile wastewater with • Save over 10 million NT of
ethylene glycol and aldehydes
average loading 6000 kg per
day.
z Compare to existing aerobic
treatment process:
• Small footprints, over 1,500m2
land requirement are saved.
• Save 50% of capital cost in reactor
construction. A total 100 million
NT of construction cost was
saved.
• Save operation cost in power
requirement and waste sludge
processing by 10 million NT per
year.
Compare to conventional activated
sludge process:
• Save land requirement by 600 m2
• Reduce 35 million NT of reactor
construction cost.
• Save over 10 million NT of
operation cost annually in
electricity and sludge processing
sludge process:
• Reduce 30% of construction cost.
Save 30 million NT in capital cost.
operation cost annually in
electricity and sludge processing.
• Reduce land requirement by 50%.

ITRI is one of the four UASB licensors in the world （they are Gist Brocades, Paques,
Biotim, and ITRI）that can license and transfer UASB technology to other companies. ITRI
has well developed know–how in UASB process and equipment design for different kinds of
industrial wastewater. With 17 years of technology development experience and over 25
successful plant retrofit projects, ITRI illustrates its superior in technical consulting and
engineering design in industrial wastewater treatment. Consulting service including
wastewater treatability evaluation, sludge granules seeding, UASB system start-up,
microorganism inhibition prevention and mitigation are provided under customer requisition.

5
2003 Environmental Technology Business Forum

References
Horng R.-Y., Wu H.-S., Tzou W.-Y. and Perng M.-J. (2001), A Reduction of Biosolids: A
Case Study of Integrated Anaerobic Process, 9th World Congress on Anaerobic
Digestion, Antwerpen, Belgium, 169-171.
Horng R.-Y., Shao H., You H.-S., Liu Y.-C., Tzou W.-Y., Chen C.-H., Wu H.-S. and Cheng
S.-S. (1998), An Integrated Process to Abate Sludge yield and Promote Sludge
Granular in An Anaerobic Process, 8th International Conference on Anaerobic
Digestion, 216-223.
Horng R.-Y. Shao H., You H.-S., Liu Y.-C., Tzou W.-Y., Chen C.-H., Wu H.-S. and Perng
M.-J.(1996), A Case Study of A brewery Factory Wastewater Treatment by Anaerobic
/Aerobic and Fenton Process, WEFTEC ’96, 69th Annual Conference & Exposition ,
Dallas, Texas, USA, 531-538.