Bandhayya & al./ Appl. J. Envir. Eng. Sci.

6 N°4(2020) 356-362

Effect of hydraulic loading rate and sludge occupancy on the

performance of uasb reactor treating lowstrength wastewater

Smt.Bandhavya G B(a), Dr. S. Prashanth(b)

(a)
Department of Civil Engineering, NAVKIS College of Engineering, Hassan-Karnataka, India
(b)
Department of Civil Engineering, Government College of Engineering, Hassan-Karnataka, India

Corresponding author. E-mail : bandhavya.gowda11@gmail.com

Received 01 Nov 2020, Revised 30 Nov 2020, Accepted 20 Dec 2020

Abstract
Performance of UASB rectors at different levels of sludge occupancy/sludge loading rate (SLR) when
fed with low strength wastewater experiments showed the average influent CODT & CODS fed to
reactor with standard deviations were 244 ± 45 mg L-1 and 162 ± 43 mg L-1 respectively. The
percentage of CH4 was found to be approximately 68%.CH4 loss along with the effluent was 0.6 L d-
1
. The TSS and VSS concentrations in the sludge were 46.1 and 28.5 g L-1. The total and soluble COD
removal efficiencies during PSS were 81.7%, and 84.7%. The OLR applied was around 1 kg COD m-3
d-1. At SLR of 0.13. The CODS removal was 88.6% & the gas production was 0.229 m3 m-3 reactor
volume d-1 and it was not much affected by increasing the SLR up to 0.41. The process was upset on
further increasing SLR to 0.51. The COD removal was around 81% & gas production was decreased
to 0.206 m3 m-3 d-1. The volume of the sludge was reduced to 5% & COD removal dropped to 79% &
gas production was also reduced considerably to 0.157 m3 m-3 d-1. The reduced efficiency may be due
to heavy washout of sludge particles.

Keywords: UASB rectors; COD; OLR; SLR; CH4; TSS; VSS

1. Introduction
The sewage is the wastewater originated in a neigh borhood. More than 90% of the sewage in the
developing / underdeveloped countries is discharged without treatment as a result of “Improper
wastewater collection and treatment facilities and the amount and characteristics of wastewater
originated are governed by the number and economic status of the population” [1] Anaerobic
treatment methods, apart from the basic nature of low sludge production, enjoy a covetable energy
budget. When aerobic methods demand a power requirement of 20-30 W, there is a useful energy
production potential of 35 W in anaerobic process for an organic load of 1 kg COD d-1[2]. These gain
of anaerobic treatment result in a minimization of the operational costs as compare to usual domestic
wastewater treatment. One of the major features of UASB reactors is the development of the granular
sludge with good settling properties and low sludge volume index. “The UASB technology is
expressed as a proven treatment process for a wide variety of wastewateer especially for developing

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countries. So far, enough research has been done on suitability of the UASB process for different
industrial and municipal wastewaters” [3].
India has taken a lead in adopting this technology in the field. The tropical climatic conditions
of Indian subcontinent favour the widespread use of anaerobic technology for treatment of wastewater.
However, studies have shown some disagreement regarding the performance of UASB reactors
initiated in various sewage treatment plants (STPs) in India. The effluents coming from these UASB
reactors do not follow the required inflexible disposal standards” [3]. The poor treatment performance
of UASB reactors was mainly due to variations in influent strength, improper excess sludge removal
and poor operations [3].
Domestic wastewater is a low strength, complex type of wastewater, characterized by: (i) lower COD
strength (ii) variable fraction of suspended solids (SS) and (iii) strong variations in hydraulic and
organic loading rates. These parameters are of particular importance to the functioning of an anaerobic
treatment unit, as they generally have a negative shock on the process performance. [4]. The SS
concentration and characteristics of a wastewater can (i) reduce the performance of UASB reactor due
to adsorption and entrapment of poorly or non-biodegradable SS in the sludge bed, (ii) affects
formation of granules and sudden washout of sludge bed.
The particulate COD in the UASB reactor increases many folds due to entrapment of
particulates present in the influent. Not much research has been done on the influence of SS on granule
formation and growth. Small amounts of SS have been reported to enhance the process of granulation.
The other operational controls which affect the performance of a UASB reactor are organic loading
rate (OLR), sludge loading rate (SLR), sludge occupancy (a ratio of sludge bed volume, v to reactor
volume, V) or height of the sludge bed. Sludge occupancy in these reactors is expected to control the
sludge loading parameters. Keeping this in view, research was carried out to understand the

Performance of UASB rectors at different levels of sludge occupancy/sludge loading rate

(SLR) when fed with low strength wastewater.

2. Materials and Methods

Laboratory bench scale experiments were conducted using reactor to study the performance of
UASB rector at different levels of sludge occupancy /sludge loading rate (SLR) when fed with low
strength wastewater.
Sewage is a low strength complex wastewater. It contains particulate COD ranging from 30%
to 70% of total COD. Particulate COD and BOD can be transformed to methane provided it is
solubilized [5]. With this background, the experimental work was planned and is presented herewith.

2.1. Working Plan

Investigations were conducted to evaluate performance of UASB reactor treating low strength
synthetic wastewater under different levels of sludge occupancy. UASB reactor was fed with synthetic
low strength wastewater containing particulate COD.

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2.2. uasb Process Experimental Set-Up

Experiments were conducted in 17.2 litre capacity UASB reactor made of perspex and kept in
a thermostat chamber maintained at 30  2C. A schematic presentation of the treatment operation of
UASB reactors was shown in Fig below. The wastewaters were pumped into the reactors using
Miclins, India peristaltic pump (Model PP 20).

2.3. Wastewater
The UASB reactor was fed with low strength wastewater which contained total
theoretical COD of 250 mg L-1. Amount of cellulose was calculated to contribute suspended COD of
100 mg L-1, while amounts of sucrose and peptone were calculated to add  125 mg L-1 and  25
mg L-1 of soluble COD. It was decided to maintain theoretical particulate to soluble COD ratio of
40:60. The observed values of influent total COD to UASB reactor ranged from 189 mg L-1 to 269
mg L-1 with soluble COD ranging from 121 to 201 mg L-1 (20 - 72% of total COD).

2.4. Operational Procedures And Schedule Of Analysis Of Uasb Reactor

The UASB reactor was filled with 5.7 litters (i.e. 1/3 of reactor volume) seed sludge
obtained from KMF, Hassan treatment plant and fed with low strength wastewater at 6 h HRT. The
initial value of OLR and SLR were 0.93 kg COD m-3 d-1 and 0.13 kg COD kg -1VSS d-1
respectively. The UASB reactor was operated continuously during the study period. The operation
continued till pseudo steady-state (PSS) conditions were obtained.

2.5.Schedule Of Analysis
The UASB reactor operating at 6 h HRT fed with 68.8 L of wastewater per day. During
storage in order to avoid deterioration of feed in the feed tank the feed was prepared twice in a day.
The effluent samples were also collected in the same manner, preserved over a day, composited and
analysed to determine the effluent characteristics.
The reactor temperature, pH and gas production, influent and effluent total and soluble COD
were determined on alternate days. Effluent TSS and VSS were determined once a week.
Influent and effluent BOD3 at 27ºC were analysed during pseudo steady-state condition. The
TSS and VSS of the sludge samples were analysed at the time of desludging.

3. Results and discussion

The results of the treatment of low strength wastewater in UASB reactor under different sludge bed
height have been compiled and discussed below

3.1. Performance of UASB Reactor

The UASB reactor with 17.2 L working volume was inoculated with digested sewage sludge and was
fed with wastewater containing CODP (approximately 40-50 % of CODT). In the startup period of the
study sufficient amount of active anaerobic sludge in UASB was developed by feeding cellulose based
complex wastewater. The HRT of 6 h was maintained in the reactor. The reactor was operated

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continuously till it attained pseudo steady-state (PSS) condition with respect to biogas production and
COD removal
Phase 1: Operation of the Reactors during Start up
For the phase-1 the average influent total COD and soluble COD to reactor with standard
deviations were 244 ± 45 mg L-1 and 162 ± 43 mg L-1 respectively. The OLR and SLR maintained in
reactor were 0.95 kg COD m-3 d-1 and 0.13-0.15. The data obtained is presented in Table-1
Appendix-A.
Within 4 days of operation the total (based on total influent COD and total effluent COD) and
soluble COD (based on total influent COD and soluble effluent COD) removal in the reactor increased
from 57.6% to 72.7% and 76.2 to 80.3% respectively. Afterwards, the total and soluble COD removal
efficiencies were observed in the range of 73-81 and 78-87%. The biogas in gas phase at the end of
the phase-1 (118days) was 3.8 L d-1 (0.220 m3 m-3 d-1). In 118 days, the reactor attained steady state
and startup phase studies were completed and performances were recorded at PSS.
Phase-2: Performance of UASB reactor at Different Levels of Sludge Occupancy
The performance of reactor has been evaluated at different levels of sludge occupancy (ratio of volume
of sludge bed, v to the volume of reactor, V) in the range of 7-26 % or bed height equal to 7.5- 27.1
cm. The wastewater COD was approximately maintained at 241±19 mg L-1 and corresponding OLR
ranged between 0.8-1.0 kg COD m-3 d-1. The variation was due to changes in feed composition. The
reactors were operated at each SLR till pseudo steady-state conditions were attained with respect to
gas production and COD removal efficiency. After attaining PSS conditions, the reactor was
desludged and another level of sludge occupancy or bed height was maintained. The reactor was
operated for a period of 232 days after start-up phase of the operation.

3.2. Reactor Performance

Table-1 shows the observations for reactor performance at different levels of sludge
occupancy.
The performance of UASB reactor different levels of sludge occupancies (24.5 20.4, 17.1, 15.1, 12.3,
10, 8, 7%). The OLR applied was around 1 kg COD m-3 d-1. The reactor took 10-20 days to attain
pseudo steady-state at each sludge occupancy. The calculus of COD removal efficiency has been
worked as total COD removal [(CODT (influent) – CODT (effluent)) CODT (influent)], soluble COD
removal [(CODT (influent) – CODS (effluent))/ CODT (influent)] and removal of soluble fraction
[(CODS (influent) – CODS (effluent))/ CODS (influent)].
At SLR of 0.13 (sludge occupancy 23%) the CODS removal was 88.6% and the gas production was
0.229 m3 m-3 reactor volume d-1 (0.231 m3 kg-1 COD removed). The CODS removal efficiency and
gas production was not much affected by increasing the SLR up to 0.41 (sludge occupancy of 10%).
The process was upset on further increasing SLR to 0.51 or reducing sludge occupancy to 8 %. The
COD removal was around 81% and gas production was decreased to 0.206 m3 m-3 d-1 (0.214 m3 kg-
1 COD removed). The sludge began to float and collected in the settling chamber

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Table 1 Operational Controls/ Performance of UASB Reactor at Pseudo Steady-State

Days HRT Sludge Sludge bed Influent COD Effluent COD

(hrs) Occupancy height (cm) OLR(2) SLR(3)
v / V (1) Ti Si Te Se
pH pH
(%) mgL-1 mgL-1 mg L-1 mg L-1
120-148 6 24.5 - 26.6 25 - 27.1 0.93 0.13 242±12 137±14 7.33±0.08 45±3 33±3 6.86±0.07
150-172 6 20.4 - 22.4 20.8 - 22.8 0.92 0.19 226±8 143±16 7.35±0.01 35±3 26±03 6.83±0.01
174-202 6 17.1 -19.8 17.4 - 20.2 0.91 0.20 229±8 154±2 7.39±0.02 40±02 32±02 7.12±0.06
204-234 6 15.1 - 17.4 15.4 - 17.8 0.86 0.25 216±29 149±18 7.29±0.08 40±05 32±02 7.12±0.06
236-268 6 12.3 - 14.1 12.6 - 14.4 1.10 0.3 252±11 140±10 7.43±0.01 45±03 36±02 7.14±0.10
270-304 6 9.9 - 12.4 10.1 - 12.7 0.92 0.42 231±7 146±10 7.43±0.09 44±03 37±04 7.17±0.10
306-330 6 7.8 - 9.6 8 - 9.8 1.01 0.51 243±13 152±10 7.39±0.10 53±08 45±05 7.21±0.10
332-350 6 7.0 - 5.3 7.2 - 5.4 1.01 0.71 246±12 148±18 7.54±2.23 67±03 51±07 7.19±0.01
(1) v=volume of the sludge bed, V= volume of UASB reactor
(2) OLR= organic loading rate (kg COD m-3 d-1)
(3) SLR=sludge loading rate (kg CH4-COD kg-1 VSS d-1)
Ti= Total influent COD (mg L-1)
Te= Total effluent COD (mg L-1) Si= Soluble influent COD (mg L-1) Se=
Soluble efffluent COD (mg L-1)

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Table 1 Contd…

Sludge Sludge
COD removal (%) Sludge solids
occupancy bed
Days Biogas(1) Biogas(1) %
v/V height
(Ti-Te)/Ti (Si-Se)/Si (Ti-Se)/Ti CH4 TSS VSS
(%) cm
g L-1 g L-1

120-148 24.5-26.6 25-27.1 81.1±4.1 75.5±4.0 86.3±3.1 0.231±0.04 0.217±0.04 60-65 45.7 27.6

150-172 20.4-22.4 20.8-22.8 84.5±0.8 81.6±0.4 88.4±0.7 0.251±0.04 0.246±0.04 61.63 46.2 28.9

174-202 17.1-19.8 17.4-20.2 82.2±1.0 79.4±2.0 84.2±0.05 0.289±0.02 0.277±0.07 62-67 46.2 31.2

204-234 15.1-17.4 15.4-17.8 81.1±0.7 77.3±6.1 84.5±3.0 0.296±0.09 0.284±0.05 67-70 45.6 30.2

236-268 12.3-14.1 12.6-14.4 81.6±2.3 74.0±1.8 85.5±1.7 0.272±0.02 0.259±0.01 64.67 45.4 33.2

270-304 9.9-12.4 10.1--12.7 80.8±1.3 75.8±3.0 83.2±1.7 0.281±0.01 0.271±0.01 62-66 41.2 31.5

306-330 8.0-9.63 8-9.8 78.3.8±2.2 70.1±1.1 81.8±1.1 0.214±0.01 0.206±0..05 64-67 38.6 28.25

332-350 7.07-5.3 7.2-5.4 72.6±1.8 65.2±3.0 79.0±3.1 0.170±0.01 0.157±0.05 62-66 32.2 27.2
(1) m-3 kg-1 COD (tot) removed (2) m3
kg-1 COD (S) removed

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Results indicate that with dilute wastewater, it is not possible to utilize maximum potentials of the
sludge to generate CH4, whereas, with high strength wastewater SLR, as high as 1.5 did not impair reactor
performance [6]. Here in this research the performance of UASB begins to deteriorate on increasing SLR
beyond 0.42.

4. Conclusion
Even though the UASB is a widely accepted technology for the treatment of sewage, there is always a scope
for the improvement. The findings are as under:
1) The reactors were seeded with the sludge from a digester. The start-up phase for was 118 days
respectively. During the start-up phase sludge bed increased from 35 to 37 cm.
2) Flocculent sludge was developed in the reactor and granulation could not be found.
3) Sludge bed height is one of the factors, which influences short circuiting flow through the bed. The
sludge was lifted at 7 % sludge occupancy. At sludge occupancy 10%, CODS removal ranged from
81.8 - 88.4%.
4) At low loading of 0.9-1.0 kg COD m-3 d-1, the reactor performance has been found to be sensitive to
bed height. The biogas (m3 m-3 d-1) collected increases linearly with increase in bed height.

Acknowledgement
The success and final outcome of this research required a lot of guidance and assistance from many people and I am
extremely privileged to have got this all along the completion of our project.
I express my deep sense of gratitude to my supervisor Dr. S. Prashanth., Professor, Head of Department, Department of
Civil Engineering, for his invaluable guidance, help and motivation throughout the my research work
I am thankful to Dr. M.G. Venkateshmurthy, Director, NDRK Institute of Technology, Hassan for his help and
motivation at various stages of my research work.
I extend my cordial thanks to staff of Department of Civil Engineering, Govt. Engineering College, Hassan or their
sincere cooperation during the work.
Last, but not the least, I express our deepest sense of gratitude for the inspiration and help given by Sandeep,K. my
husband, Cherith S. my son and parents and friends.

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