DESIGN OF AN EGSB AS A BIOLOGICAL TREATMENT

FOR A SLAUGHTERHOUSE’S WWTP

Meat products are all those that are part of the chain productive of animal origin for human
consumption. This sector is constituted by the industries that focus their activities on
slaughterhouses (Secretaría Distrital de Ambiente, 2015). The meat industry also is
considered worldwide as one of the most polluting industries of the food sector; by the type
of products that manipulates and the processes this activity can give place to a high degree
of pollution (Arteaga, 2013).

To carry out the work processes of a slaughterhouse, as well as to maintain hygienic

conditions, high water consumption is necessary. The washing of the product and the
cleaning of facilities and equipment represent the greatest consumption (Aguas Industriales,
2014). Most of the water used in slaughterhouses eventually ends up as wastewater stream.

In general, these effluents contain: blood, manure, hairs, feathers, fats, bones, proteins and
other soluble contaminants (Aguas Industriales, 2014). However, the composition of the
wastewater varies according to the type and number of animals slaughtered and the water
requirements of the process (Bustillo et al., 2016).

Slaughterhouse wastewater needs significant treatment for a sustainable and safe discharge
to the environment due to the high content of organics and nutrients. Therefore, the
treatment and final disposal of slaughterhouse wastewater are a public health necessity
(Bustillo & Mehrvar, 2017).

Wastewater treatment at secondary level, is revealed as a promising field available to

engineers and researchers, mainly for the low-cost implantation systems, in order to
compete with the serious panorama of the pollution of receiving water. As for anaerobic
treatment, a great interest has been reawakened, with an increasing number of investigation
works, including other substrates such as urban solid waste, agro-pastoral, and industrial
wastewater (Mansur, 2010).

Since the earlier anaerobic treatment systems, the design concepts were improved from
classic reactors like septic tanks and anaerobic ponds, to modern high rate reactor
configurations like anaerobic filters, UASB, EGSB, fixed film fluidized bed and expanded bed
reactors, and others (Van et al., 2006).

However, aspects related to bacterial quality and the presence of parasites in the effluent
must also be investigated in each case (Mansur, 2010). Proper design and operation can
result in a high capacity and efficiency of organic matter removal using single anaerobic
reactors. Performance comparison of anaerobic treatment systems is presented based
mostly on a single but practical parameter, the hydraulic retention time (Van et al., 2006).

In this paper, it will be shown the design an EGSB (Expanded Granular Sludge Bed) for the
for the slaughterhouse due to the deficiencies that it has in the removal of COD and to that
lower volume of sludge is generated, being that the cost of the disposition of the same is
diminished.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY REFERENCES

Aguas Industriales (2014). Origen y composición de las aguas residuales en mataderos.

Retrieved from http://aguasindustriales.es/origen-y-composicion-de-las-aguas-residuales-en-
mataderos/

Arteaga, M. (2013). The Socio-Environmental Impact of Meat Companies in Valles del Tuy:
Community Perceptions. Redalyc, 364-371.

Bustillo, C.; Mehrvar, M. and Quiñones, E. (2016). Slaughterhouse Wastewater

Characterization and Treatment: An Economic and Public Health Necessity of the Meat
Processing Industry in Ontario, Canada. Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
4, 175-186.

Bustillo, C. and Mehrvar, M. (2017). Slaughterhouse Wastewater: Treatment, Management

and Resource Recovery. In Farooq, R. and Ahmad, Z., Physico-Chemical Wastewater
Treatment and Resource Recovery. INTEC.

Mansur, M. (2010). Tratamiento de aguas residuales en reactores anaeróbicos, de flujo

ascendente, en manto de lodos. Organización Panamericana de la Salud. Retrieved from
http://www.bvsde.paho.org/eswww/proyecto/repidisc/publica/hdt/hdt27/hdt027.html

Secretaría Distrital de Ambiente (2015). Manejo y control de los vertimientos generados por
el sector cárnico de la ciudad de Bogotá. Bogotá D.C.

Van Haandel, A., Kato, M.T., Cavalcanti, P.F.F. et al. (2006). Anaerobic reactor design
concepts for the treatment of domestic wastewater. Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol 5: 21.
Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/s11157-005-4888-y

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