2010 2nd International Conforence on Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering (ICBEE 2010)
Variation of Alkalinity and Regulation of interior diversion expanded granular
sludge bed
Guang Li, Heli Wang*, Bing Han
China University of Geosciences (Beijing)
School of water resources & Environment
Beijing, China
liguang1908@163.com; wangheli@cugb.edu.cn
Jilin Provincial Architectural Design Co., Ltd
lijingI916@163.com
Abstract-The effect of substrate concentrations and alkalinity
on the COD removal efficiency of a synthetic wastewater
containing proportional was performed in the
diversion expanded granular sludge bed. The results showed
that the optimum COD/alkalinity value of different COD
concentration is different, when the influent
concentration in the range of 2130 to 12409mg/L, the optimum
COD/alkalinity value changes from 0.73 to 0.84 steadily, when
the influent COD concentration is larger than 17920 mg/L, the
optimum COD/alkalinity value increases to about 1.06-1.26.
Under different operating conditions, the pH value exhibits
decrease first and then increase along the direction of water
flow in the reactor, the alkalinity displayed the same change
trend with pH value, with the increase of the influent COD
concentration and reflux ratio, the location of the lowest
alkalinity gradually elevated. The reactor can motion stably
until the VFA concentration of effluent is above 338SmglL.
Keywords- COD removal efficiency; alkalinity; VFA;
I. INTRODUCTION
The expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactor is the
most widely and successfully used high rate anaerobic
system for wastewater treatment. In order to improve the
sludge-wastewater contact and use the entire reactor volume
efficiently a better influent distribution was required [J·3J . On
this basis, the interior diversion EGSB Reactor was put
forward [4J . In the interior diversion EGSB reactor, the lower
up-flow liquid velocity keeps the granular sludge bed in an
expanded condition.
The pH and alkalinity have important roles to play in the
aerobic biodegradation system [5,6J • The stable methanogenic
process has strict limit to the pH in anaerobic ecosystem,
when the pH is above 8.0 or below 6.0, the specific
methanogenic activity is obviously decreased. Adequate
alkalinity, or buffer capacity, is necessary to maintain a
stable pH in anaerobic digesters for optimal biological
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Xiangkui Han
Jilin Architectural and Civil Engineering Institute
School of Municipal & Environmental Engineering
Changchun, China
han.xiangkui@163.com
Jing Li
Fifth design
Changchun, China
activity. Souza [7J found that an alkalinity/COD ratio of 0.5
in the influent could decrease the pH to 6.6 which is
interior considered as the limit alkalinity in up-flow anaerobic sludge
bed (VASB) systems for methane production. This paper
describes the variation of alkalinity and the relationship
COD
between pH, COD and VFA during the reactor operation
period.
II. MATERIALS AND METHODS
A. Wastewater Characteristics
Simulated starch wastewater was used as feed to the
interior diversion EGSB, it strength was kept constant at
2000-22300mgIL , the COD in wastewater was provided by
starch ,whereas several nutrients and trace elements, such as
nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, calcium, iron and magnesium
were added, the ratios of COD:N:P were approximately
300:5:1. The pH was controlled at 7.0±0.2 by addition of
bicarbonate alkalinity.
B. Experimental procedure
The COD organic loading rate, which was proportional to
starch concentration in the wastewater, start at 2.0 gILd, the
HRT was kept constant at 24h throughout the study, the
reactor was operated at each loading rate for at least 7 days
to ensure reaching a steady state.
C. Description of the interior diversion EGSB reactor and
processes
The empty bed volume of the interior diversion EGSB
was 18L with an internal diameter of 100mm and a liquid
height of 185mm. Five diversion boards distributed evenly in
the reactor. The experimental set-up is shown in Figure 1.
The liquid up-flow velocity was 0.5-4.0mlh in all
experiments. The reactor was kept at a temperature of (35 ±
Ire.
367
 2010 2nd International Conference on Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering (ICBEE 2010)

D. Seed sludge
, ,
The seeding inoculum was the sludge taken from the
anaerobic digester of local sewage treatment plant, the �
;; ... a..u'h"'.
•
�

characteristics of seed sludge are summarized in Table I.The J ----T-- I 'I I

,'11 1,11,,, 1
�
, , .
lit..

: - - - - ." 01:1
methane
, "'!�.aI
"
�
:; � ---- � --
&
I
- -
-- - --
___ - -
�� "
3
I wet gas meter:
2 soda lime pellets: " I. ,-
; U , ....
3 NaOIl (10%) : - 6
In .f

4 recycling pump: 8
5 Lhe interior diversion U Figure 2. Variations of the optimum COD/alkalinity value during the
EGSB reactor: experiment. (a)1-90days, (b)100-140days.
6 de I ector:
7 in lluent pump:
8 eeding tank concentration, the optimum of influent alkalinity was
4 5 7 recorded. The influent alkalinity and influent COD
Figure I. Schematic diagram of interior diversion EGSB reactor and
concentration were plotted and shown in. The alkalinity and
process flow chart COD concentration of influent improves from 1592 to
29880mgIL, 2130 to 24227mglL.
As the Figure2 shows, when the influent COD
TABLE I. CHARACTERISTICS OF SEED SLUDGE concentration in the range of 2130 to 12409mg/L, the
optimum COD/alkalinity value changes from 0.73 to 0.84
Parameter Quality
steadily. When the influent COD concentration is larger than
MLSS(g/L) 30.8
17920 mg/L, the optimum COD/alkalinity value increases to
MLVSS(gIL) 23.9 about 1.06-1.26, this is consistent with the conclusions by
MLVSSI MLSS ratio 0.776 Dong Jun and Zhao Yong-sheng [8] .

Sludge volume index(mLlg) 45.2

B. The changes of COD, alkalinity and pH value along
reactor was seeded WIth 13.5L of seed sludge, after that the
the way under different organic loading rate
reactor was filled with the simulated starch wastewater.
When the wastewater entered the reactor from the bottom,
E. Methods ofanalysis the hydrolytic acidification reaction occurred, firstly. Under
Chemical analyses were conducted on both the feed the action of the acidification bacteria, the carbohydrate,
substrate and the effluent. The COD, alkalinity, pH were protein and fat acid hydrolysis into simple sugars, amino
determined according to standard methods. Volatile fatty acids, fatty acids, glycerol and carbon dioxide, hydrogen, etc.
acid (VFA) was analyzed by Phosphoric - Distillation - Then under the action of the hydrogen-producing acetogen
Titration bacteria, the products of the above were transformed into
acetic acid, carbon dioxide and hydrogen.
III. RESULT AND DISCUSSION Contrary to acid producing process, methanogenesis is
the process of alkalinity recovery. The recovery quantity of
A. Alkalinity control during the testing process alkalinity and the degradation amount of COD was positively
During the trial period with the influent COD correlated, that was, with the reduction of COD, alkalinity
concentration increased, the influent alkalinity should be would be gradually increased.
increased properly to avoid the problem of acidification in
TABLE II. CONTROL CONDITIONS OF DIFFERENT INFLUENT
the reactor, otherwise the COD removal efficiency of the CONCENTRATION
reactor would be effected. The alkalinity of the interior
diversion EGSB reactor was mainly contributed by Influent
carbonates during the experiments. Under different COD Influent COD alkalinity
Reflux ratio
Uloo
concentration(mg/L) concentration
09
( mglL)
OS 2223 1122 0
0.7 .;.....
." 7854 5203 15
0.' �--*-J'JWiIijy
o � -- CCIl 17920 14825 35
0
.+ E to. CCIYfn.mt.l
:-...:
OJ _ _ _ _ o:JJpJldiuiyi•
02
01
�---o
---�
�o +0 � 100

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 2010 2nd International Conference on Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering (ICBEE 2010)

As the Figure 3(a)shown, when there was no effluent

V.. .
...... �lIIJ ........ I ... 1 _p){\".iU\·
reflus, the organic in the raw water was degraded with the
)11. increased height, and there is a more gentle downward trend
in the concentration of the COD in the reactor. But as the
I foil'
� Figure 3(b) and Figure 3(c) shown, when there was effluent
'3 reflus, the concentration of wastewater at the reactor bottom
. 11111
H would reduce sharply, and then it would reduce placidly
." along the direction of water flow in the reactor. The changes
� a
of alkalinity and pH value in the three figures basically
hlan fJJUtTS.
equated with the previous theoretical conclusions. Under
different operating conditions, the alkalinity and pH value in
the three figures basically had the same change tendency,
mainly because there was no obviously difference in
alkalinity between the influent and effluent, so the changes
of alkalinity and pH value were independent of influent. It
can be found in the three figures that with the increase of the
influent COD concentration and reflux ratio, the location of
the lowest alkalinity gradually elevated, that's because when
the influent COD concentration increased, the gas production
of the reactor increased, the speed of up-flow velocity
increased, improved the sludge-wastewater contact effect in
"III, ,I 111.,111
the reactor. The reactor was transiting from pushing flow to
continuous stirred tank reactor.

C. Variation ofalkalinity and its relationship with the

:,.111 ,...-----, 11 COD removal efficiency
--+- � '.J) .
....... IA.ln
In order to further find out the effect of alkalinity to the
I",n"
1-11111
interior diversion EGSB reactor. The effect of influent
d I).. alkalinity on interior diversion EGSB reactor was
� E I""
� .:; investigated. The control parameters keep unchanged except
�9 <lUI
for the influent alkalinity. The hydraulic retention time (HRT)
c was 24h, COD of the influent was 14500mg/L, the initial
,III
alkalinity of influent was 12530 mg/L at first 5 days, the
)1'1
effluent quality was stable and the COD removal efficiency
htu:n n-,,,,,:n is more than 90%. Afterward, the alkalinity of influent was
gradually decreases, the COD removal efficiency and pH
Figure 3. Changes of the COD, alkalinity, pH along the direction of water
value of effluent was shown in Figure4.
flow in the reactor As the Figure 4 shows, the influent alkalinity decreases
from 12530 mg/L to 11801 mg/L, the COD removal
The mechanism of anaerobic digestion is: hydrolytic efficiency did hardly change during this period. When the
acidification and acid production reaction occur firstly, and influent alkalinity used is 9884 mg!L, the COD removal
then the methanogenic reaction occurs. However, in 100 • 7.
anaerobic reactor the acid and methane reaction ocurred at
the same time. As EGSB are plug-flow reactor, so the acid
production is dominant at the bottom of the reactor, and then
.f 00'. %-
followed by the degree increased the methanogenic reaction �
was the dominant process. So it can be deduced that i Sll'.
alkalinity and pH value in EGSB will appeared the trend
from decreasing to increasing.
�
To verifY the above conclusions and discuss the rules of
§ 70'.

anaerobic degradation of COD, tests were investigated the

influent and effluent of the EGSB and the changes of 'Ot. L-_____________--'
1 � 30 l lS01 9SS+ Sl30
COD, alkalinity and pH value along the way under different h4D»J.t.n .liui.l).""1.
organic loading rate(OLR) ,when the influent COD
Figure 4. Variations of effiuent pH value and COD removal efficiency
concentration was 2223mg/L, 7854 mg/L and 17920 mg/L.
with the influent alkalinity.
The operation control conditions is shown in Table 2. The
changes of COD, alkalinity and pH value along the way efficiency decreased evidently. The influent alkalinity
under different OLR is shown in Figure 3. reduced to 8530 mg/L result in a high output COD

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 2010 2nd International Conference on Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering (ICBEE 2010)

concentration. The experimental results shown that the
effluent pH value is more 6.5 is a necessary condition to
maintain the system stable operation.
D. COD removal variation of VFA, alkalinity and pH
VFA is one of the intermediate products in the anaerobic
digestion process, whether the VFA can be used timely by
methane bacteria is very important for the normal operation
of the reactor. If the VFA and alkalinity are off balance, it
will lead to a sharp decline in pH of the anaerobic reactor,
and the reactor will lead to the rancidity phenomenon at this
time. The diachronic changes of VFA alkalinity and pH
value of effluent is shown in Figure5. The concentration of
VFA concentration of effluent in the reactor grew slow at the
first 100 days, followed by a sharp increase in effluent VFA
concentration. When the run ended, the effluent VFA
concentration was 6836 mglL, and the reactor had been
acidified. The concentration of effluent VFA in the test was
less than 1000 mgIL at the first 70 days, but this did not
affect the removal of COD. At running 123 days the effluent
VFA concentration was 3385 mglL, and the removal rate of
COD remained at 80% at this time, which was inconsistent
with other literatures (When the VFA in water was above
800 mglL, it would face risk of acidification, more than 1000
mgIL or higher, the COD removal efficiency decreased
sharply [91) . The Figure5 also shows that during the
�000 .-------, 3 5
�1 ))000
�
� llooO
�� l ' -' 10000
.�
i 5000
� concentration of effluent was above 6836 mgIL the latter
o E:;I;"'==*=_.=IIc=*==:a�::::----l ,
1 0 10 1) so
er....1»"'lill,;(.\
running the pH of effluent remained at 6.6 to 7.4, and the
COD removal efficiency remained above 80%. After running
125 days, the effluent VFA concentration was increased to
4350 mgIL, and the COD removal efficiency began to fall.
The reason was that the high concentration of VFA inhibited
the activity of methanogenic bacteria, and made the methane
production rate decreased, and the COD concentration of
effluent was raised.
IV. CONCLUSIONS
1. Simulated starch wastewater was treated by interior
diversion EGSB reactor, he optimum COD/alkalinity value
of different COD concentration is different, when the
influent COD concentration in the range of 2130 to
12409mgIL, the optimum COD/alkalinity value changes
from 0.73 to 0.84 steadily, when the influent COD
concentration is larger than 17920 mg/L, the optimum
COD/alkalinity value increases to about 1.06-1.26.
2. Under different operating conditions, the pH value
exhibits decrease first and then increase along the direction
of water flow in the reactor, the alkalinity displayed the same
change trend with pH value, with the increase of the influent
COD concentration and reflux ratio, the location of the
lowest alkalinity gradually elevated.
3. The control parameters keep unchanged except for the
influent alkalinity. The hydraulic retention time (HRT) was
24h, COD of the influent was 14500mgIL, the influent
alkalinity decreases from 12530 mgIL to 11801 mgIL, the
COD removal efficiency did hardly change during this
period. When the influent alkalinity used is 9884 mgIL, the
COD removal efficiency decreased evidently. The influent
alkalinity reduced to 8530 mgIL result in a high output COD
concentration.
4. The reactor can motion stably until the VFA
concentration of effluent is above 3385mglL. If the VFA
reactor would be acidified.
!>\) 100 110 llO 130 1�
ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This research was supported by the Fundamental

Research Funds for the Central Universities (2-9-2010-19)
Figure 5. Variations ofVFA, alkalinity, pH during the experiment.
and the cooperation project in industry, education and
research of Guangdong province and Ministry of Education
lOot.
of China (2007A090302101); and the Beijing municipal
education commission school-enterprise cooperation project.
Sot.
�
.�
The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers
for useful suggestions.
,�.
��
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�
� +or.
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 2010 2nd International Conference on Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering (ICBEE 2010)

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