Renewable Energy 143 (2019) 1406e1415

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Renewable Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/renene

Design, installation, operation and experimentation of septic tank e

UASB wastewater treatment system
J.R. Adhikari*, S.P. Lohani
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kathmandu University, Nepal

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The project intends to design, fabricate and test a highrate anaerobic reactor that can treat the domestic
Received 23 August 2018 wastewater and produce biogas as a byproduct. The biogas is a combustible mixture of methane, carbon
Received in revised form monoxide, hydrogen gases etc. and can be used in the table burner. The target of the biogas reactor is to
15 March 2019
treat the wastewater generate from domestic wastewater at Kathmandu University. The major outcome
Accepted 13 April 2019
of this project is to be a working design of the biogas digester which can be fabricated and can be coupled
Available online 11 May 2019
with domestic septic for the domestic wastewater treatment. The septic tank uses as a primary treatment
of the wastewater whereas UASB is taken as a secondary treatment. We design pilot scale UASB
Keywords:
High rate anaerobic digester
wastewater treatment system and test know the proper operation of the reactor. The septic tank-UASB
Wastewater combine system has TSS and CODt removal efficiency of 83% and 88% respectively. This system is one of
Biogas the appropriate systems for onsite wastewater treatment in the developing country.
Septic tank © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
UASB
COD

1. Introduction
Septic tank is most commonly used for pre-treatment of do-
mestic wastewater in on-site applications. The basic function of the
septic tank is to separate sludge, effluent and scum layer of the
domestic water. It removes a portion of settleable solids by reten-
tion and organic matter by partial AD from the WW. Septic tanks
remove 60e80% of nonsoluble material in domestic wastewater [1].
The BOD removal is in the order of 30e50% in the retention time of
48 h (taken from lab analysis). The actual performance of the tank
depends on the ambient condition, retention time inhabitance in
the influent. The bacteria partially digest the solid and scum layer.
The produced CH4 and CO2 by partial anaerobic digestion vent from
the tank.
In domestic wastewater contain black water coming from the
toilet having high concentration material, nutrients and pathogens
and grey water coming from bath and kitchen having less con-
centration of these materials. In Nepal septic tank has been used for
the treatment of black water for a long time. Most of the septic
tanks found in Nepal, have two compartments [2]. The first
compartment is larger and allows sufficient time for sludge to settle
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: jhalakad@gmail.com (J.R. Adhikari).
at the bottom and scum layer to float on the surface, whereas the
second one is designed to settle a small amount of solid. Baffles are
used to separate the two compartments which have an opening at
the center from which water passes from the first compartment to
the second.
Based on measurements made in both single and double com-
partments, the benefit of a two-compartment tank appears to
depend more on the design of the tank [3]. Fig. 1 shows the sche-
matic diagram of a conventional septic tank.
HRAD especially UASB become popular in the latest decades for
the treatment of wastewater coming from the household and in-
dustry. UASB consist of the high concentration sludge at the bottom
and admitted the solid, liquid and gas separation at the top. The
wastewater flow in the upward direction from the bottom of the
reactor where activated and highly settleable granules sludge is
collected. The anaerobic treatment takes place by entrapment of
the solid and conversation of organic matter into biogas and sludge.
The biogas thus produced automatically raise carrying water and
solid from bottom to top of the reactor and hence in the gas liquid
separator. The solid is returned to the bottom of the reactor and gas
is captured inverted cone lie at the top of the reactor. The biogas is
used for heating and lighting purpose and sludge, thus produced
can be used as a fertilizer in the land.
UASB-septic tank reactor is a novel idea to decentralize and
diluted domestic wastewater treatment. Similar UASB reactor

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2019.04.059
0960-1481/© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 J.R. Adhikari, S.P. Lohani / Renewable Energy 143 (2019) 1406e1415 1407

List of acronyms

ABR Anaerobic baffle reactor

AD Anaerobic digester
BOD Biological oxygen demand
EGSB Expanded granular sludge bed
HRAD High rate anaerobic digester
HRT Hydraulic retention time
L Liter
MLD Million of liter per day
OLR Organic loading rate
VFA Volatile fatty acid
SRT Sludge retention time
TSS Total suspended solid
UASB Upflow anaerobic sludge blanket
WW Waste water

septic tank also works as an upflow velocity method where upflow

velocity is very low, ranging from 0.01 m/h to 0.2 m/h [4]. A central
stirrer can be used for slight movement of sludge bed. Fig. 2 shows a
general type of UASB reactor. The main feature of the UASB is the
ability to generate the granule type of anaerobic sludge [5].
Compare to other reactor UASB reactor has advantages such as
simple in construction, low space requirement low operational cost
and high organic removal efficiency [6]. Septic tank-UASB is one of
the sustainable solutions for wastewater treatment in the devel-
oping country like Nepal.
The most popular anaerobic reactors are the septic tank and
Imhoff tank in the world. UASB and an anaerobic baffle reactor
(ABR) are used as a HRAD for sewage treatment in the warm
climate [7]. Wastewater generation only in the Kathmandu valley is
about 51.6 million liters per day (MLD) in 2011. As we take ABR has a
removal efficiency of 55%, then the total biogas production poten-
tial is about 13,346.59 m3/day, only from the Kathmandu valley [7].
It has been calculated that about 17.3 million USD per year can be
revenue if we will install anaerobic digestion [8].
There are several scientific research conducted in the area.
Rebac et al. [9] studied in the highrate anaerobic reactor in psy-
chrophilic (10e12
C) conditions. In this treatment system, COD
removal efficiency is exceed 90% at the given temperature. The
applied HRT was 2.5 to 1.6 h and upflow velocity was 10 m/h. The
study revealed that potential EGSB reactor as a highrate treatment
system for low strength wastewater under psychrophilic
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of conventional Septic tank [2].
Fig. 2. A General type of UASB reactor.
conditions. They also found that the abrasion of the granules has
led to an increase of dispersed sludge, which is washed out from the
reactor. The results reveal a decrease in the granule diameter after
seeding probably caused by erosion. Lier et al. [10] studied on the
effect of temperature anaerobic thermophilic conversation volatile
fatty acid by dispersed and granular sludge through both batch and
continuous flow experiment. The thermophilic treatment of a VFA-
mixture in a UASB reactor appeared to be only slightly affected by
temperature when moderately low loading rates were applied, i.e.
20 kg COD. m3. d. The results revealed a high thermostability of the
thermophilic wastewater treatment process in the range 45e0
C if
“high-rate” reactors with a granular sludge bed are used. Elmit-
walli1 et al. [11] studied on the treatment of domestic sewage at a
low temperature of 13
C in a two-step system consisting of an
anaerobic filter (AF) and an anaerobic hybrid (AH) reactor operated
at different HRTs. They found optimized HRTs for removal of sus-
pended COD and dissolved COD are 4 and 4 h for AF and AH system.
The achieved total COD removal was as high as 71%. The AF reactor,
investigated in the study, represents an efficient pre-treatment
process for domestic sewage at 13
C. The major part of the
excess sludge produced in the AF reactor. Its stability was good and
post stability is also necessary. Pol et al. [12] review on the anaer-
obic sludge granulation in the UASB- reactor. They found that the
initial formation of the anaerobic granulation follows the same
principles as biofilm formation of bacteria on solid surfaces. They
also got strong evidence that inert carriers play an important pos-
itive role in granulation. Bacteria do not have a sharp surface
boundary, simple geometry or uniform molecular surface compo-
sition. Mahmoud et al. [13] studied on the mechanisms and pa-
rameters affecting particles separation from wastewater in mainly
upflow anaerobic reactors. In this study, the various parameters
that might affect the solid-liquid separation process by filtration
through the sludge bed of a UASB have been elaborated. They stated
that domestic sewage contains hydrophilic and hydrophobic par-
ticles. Roughly speaking, these particles consist of hydrophilic
organic and hydrophobic inorganic colloids. The sludge solids are
also negatively charged, which might partly justify the limitations
of colloidal particles removal in a UASB system. Halalsheh et al. [14]
investigated on a 96 m3 UASB reactor was operated for 2.5 years
under different conditions to assess the feasibility of treating strong
1408 J.R. Adhikari, S.P. Lohani / Renewable Energy 143 (2019) 1406e1415

sewage (CODt ¼ 1531 mg/L) at ambient temperatures with averages

of 18 and 25
C for winter and summer respectively. The results
showed average removals of 51% and 60% for CODt and CODs.res-
pectively without a significant effect of temperature. During the
last three months of research, sludge was discharged regularly from
the single-stage UASB reactor. The results showed no significant
improvement in the performance in terms of CODt. Based on the
results of the experiment, a single-stage UASB reactor operated at
relatively long HRT is preferred above the two-stage system at the
Jordanian conditions. The temperature affected the degree of sta-
bilization of sludge in the first stage of the two-stage UASB system.
Barbosa et al. [15] studied on the treatment of raw domestic sewage
at ambient temperatures in an UASB reactor with a volume of 1201
and a height of 1.92 m. The sewage temperature ranged from 18 to
28
C during the experimental period. Removal efficiencies of
BOD5 ¼ 78%, COD ¼ 74% and TSS ¼ 72% were obtained. A typical gas
production factor of 801 kg- ~ COD added was observed and the
CH4 content of the biogas was 69%. They got that it was possible to
start up the UASB reactor without using inoculum and reaching
satisfactory performance after 4 months of operation, with a hy-
draulic retention time of 4 h at given ambient temperature.
In this research, we designed the highrate anaerobic digester,
fabricated and analyzed system according to its COD and TSS
removal efficiency. We also calculated the theoretical biogas pro-
duction from the reactor according to the COD removal rate. The
reactor analyzed for two different hydraulic retention time and Fig. 3. Diagrammatic representation of the overall plan.
plotted the result. First of all, the reactor seeded with the anaerobic
granular from the domestic conventional biogas plant. Old concept
but did not use, an Imhoff tank, we used for the solid liquid gas
separator in the top of the reactor. This system can be a suitable
solution for decentralize domestic or industrial wastewater treat-
ment in the community.

2. Material and method

2.1. Over view of the project

Both grey and black water is collected from the staff quarter and
girls' hostel into a septic tank which is then fed into the HRAD. The
biogas thus produced can be sent for moisture removal to get dry
biogas and the effluent could send for post-treatment in the
cyclone. Fig. 3 shows the proposed diagrammatic representation of Fig. 4. Sectional view of septic tank.
the overall plan.

2.3. High rate anaerobic digester

2.2. Design of septic tank
The capacity of the septic tank is 10,000 L which consists of two
baffles to force and flow WW under and over the baffles from one
compartment to the other.
There are total 165 members in the girl's hostel and 42 families
in the staff quarter. On an average, there are 3 members per family
in the staff quarter. Thus the total human resource for this septic
tank is 306 persons on average. The per-capita WW production is
50 L/d, which aggregate to a total production of 15300 L per day.
The volumetric ratio of black-water and grey water is 1: 5
(Assumption). The volume of the Septic tank is 10,000 L (length
4 m, breadth 1.25 m and height 2 m). Fig. 4 is the sectional view of
the septic tank.
We know,
HRT ¼V/Q
Where, V ¼ total volume of the septic tank, Q ¼ Flow rate
HRT ¼ 10,000/15,300
¼ 0.654 d
¼ 16 h (approx)
The pilot scale, high rate AD was designed with a plastic tank of
250 L total volume. The diameter of the tank is 56 cm and the height
is 91 cm. The tank is filled with screened wastewater from the
septic tank through the inlet. Almost 100 L of the inoculums
inserted inside the digester taken from the conventional biogas
plant. A hanging Imhoff tank is fitted into the middle section of the
reactor to settle the solid particle as shown in Fig. 5. The working
volume of the reactor is 200 L. There are three test points Test I, Test
II and Test III at the height of 20 cm, 40 cm and 70 from the bottom
respectively in the reactor as shown in Fig. 5. The tank is colored
with black paint that helps to insulate the temperature of the
digester. A net is used at the end of the pipe to prevent the solid and
sludge from entering in the digester tank. Fig. 6 shows overall
design of the digester tank.
There are two such pilot scale reactors in this project differen-
tiated on the basis of inflow. One of the reactors is fed continuously
by gravity flow while the other one is fed from a pump at a
controlled velocity.
 J.R. Adhikari, S.P. Lohani / Renewable Energy 143 (2019) 1406e1415 1409

digestion compartment. One of the bottom slopes extends at least

six inches below the slot. This forms a barrier to prevent gas and
digesting sludge particles in the lower section from entering into
the waste stream in the upper section which is instead diverted to
the gas vent and scum section reducing in the TSS amount in the
effluent. Periodically reversing the flow will result in an even
accumulation of sludge across the bottom of the tank. Because of
these configuration two different treatments: sedimentation (a
physical process) and digestion (biological process) occurs. The
design Imhoff tank is shown in Fig. 7 and its frame is shown in
Fig. 8.

2.3.2. Inlet
The inlet pipe is connected with a funnel (inclined at an angle of
4
) at one end as shown in Fig. 9 which is inserted at a height of
25 cm from the bottom of the tank. The funnel is used to decrease
the velocity of the inlet water and stabilize the sludge. Fig. 10 shows
an inlet cone with the cap.
For the calculation of velocity:
Inlet ¼ 7 L in 20 s.
Flow ¼ 0.35 L/sec
¼ 0.35  10 3 m3/s
Diameter of the pipe (D1) ¼ ½ inch
¼ 0.5  2.54 cm
¼ 1.27 cm
¼ 0.0127 m
Now, cross-sectional Area (A1) ¼ pd2/4
¼ p (0.0127)2/4
¼ 0.000126,616 m2
Fig. 5. Digester tank with three tests. We have continuity equation as:
Q ¼ AV
Where, V is the velocity of water and Q is the volume of water.
∴ V ¼ Q/A1
¼ 0.00035/0.00012661265
¼ 2.76 m/s
We have,

Fig. 6. Designed digester tank.

HRAD consists of following parts:

1. Imhoff Tank
2. Inlet
3. Outlet

2.3.1. Imhoff tank

It consists of the liquid surface at the top, settling compartment
and slot at the bottom with two sliding surfaces. The frame of the
tank is made up of the mild steel which is wrapped with plastic. The
outlet pipe is dipped in a downward direction which fills the pipe
completely with water all the time to prevent gas leakage.
In operation, solid settle in the settling compartment, slides
down in the inclines surface and passes through the slot into the Fig. 7. Imhoff tank.
1410 J.R. Adhikari, S.P. Lohani / Renewable Energy 143 (2019) 1406e1415

2.4. Outlet

The outlet pipe removes the treated water from the tank which
is at the height 75 cm from the bottom of the tank so that the 200 L
of inoculum remain inside the digester. The gas is taken out from
the top of the tank. The lid of the tank is clamped with a clamp ring
to prevent the leakage of gas. A pressure gauge is fitted at the gas
outlet to measure the pressure of the gas inside the tank. The
installed plant is shown in Fig. 11.

2.5. Granulation

Granules are used to increase the turbulence and the contact

surface area of the inoculums. Here, mixture of 800 gm of tea grain of
size 0.5e1 mm is boiled in water and uniformly spread on the bottom
of the tank. We can use total of 1 kg mixture, also by adding 200 gm of
sand of size 1 mm. Fig. 12 shows the granule of the UASB system.
According to Stokes law, the settling velocity is given by the
Fig. 8. Frame for Imhoff tank. formula:

g d2 ð r s  r Þ
V¼
18 m

Where v ¼ settling velocity

g ¼ Acceleration due to gravity

rs ¼ Density of particle
r ¼ density of water (1000 kg/m3)
m ¼ kinematic viscosity

The orthographic projection of the pilot scale reactor is shown in

Fig. 13. And Fig. 14 shows the overall representation of the Septic
tank e UASB system.
The dimensions of the digester are given below and all di-
mensions are in cm.

Fig. 9. Inlet assembly. 2.6. Auxiliary equipments

The pilot scale HRAD study aims to investigate the microbio-

logical performance of the HRAD when fed with domestic waste

Fig. 10. Cone with CAP.

Diameter of funnel (D2) ¼ 10 cm

∴ Area ¼ p (D2)2/4
¼ 0.00785 m
Again from the continuity equation
A1V1 ¼ A2V2
V2 ¼ 0.0035/0.00785
¼ 0.04458 m/s
Thus, Velocity of inlet water is reduced to 0.04458 m/s
Fig. 11. Installed plant showing outlet.
 J.R. Adhikari, S.P. Lohani / Renewable Energy 143 (2019) 1406e1415 1411

Fig. 14. Overall representation of the Septic tank e UASB system.

2.7. More calculations

SRT ¼ Total sludge present in reactor (kg)

Sludge withdrawn per day (kg/d)
¼ 30e50 days.
Another parameter is HRT which is given by:
HRT¼ Reactor volume (m3) Flow rate (m3/h)
¼ 2e24 h
This is done by solving for HRT from SRT equation assuming (i)
Fig. 12. Granular effect on up flow velocity.
depth of reactor (ii) the effective depth of the sludge blanket, and
(iii) the average concentration of sludge in the blanket (70 kg/m3)
water under controlled feeding conditions. All the equipments The reactor Size is 1 m and hydraulic retention time varies from
installed along with HRAD are for controlled feeding and data 24 h to 2 h.
storage. These include Up flow velocity m/h ¼ Reactor height (h)
HRT
 A Pump to deliver waste water to pilot-scale HRAD. The maximum up flow velocity ¼ 1/2
 Timer control to control the flow of waste water. ¼ 0.5 m/h
 A programmed timer. Minimum up flow velocity ¼ 1/24

Fig. 13. Orthographic Projection of pilot scale HRAD.

1412 J.R. Adhikari, S.P. Lohani / Renewable Energy 143 (2019) 1406e1415
¼ 0.042 m/h
Thus the up flow velocity is within permissible limit
The pilot-scale HRAD is operated for a year during which sam-
pling of wastewater (both inlet and outlet) was done at an interval
of 9e10days and the results were analyzed and interpreted.
2.8. HRAD inlet and outlet samples
The inlet is obtained from the inlet pipe by using a ball valve and
outlet sample is taken from the valve installed at the outlet pipe.
The objective of this scheme was to analyze the influence of HRT
and SRT on the performance of the reactor (by measuring COD,
BOD, TSS and other parameters), inflow and outflow characteristics
and volume and composition of gas produced. The sample is
collected in the 1000 ml plastic bottle and delivered to the labo-
ratory with precaution.
2.9. Working of the digester till date
The pilot-scale HRAD was installed in September 2012. The
details of the operation date, pulse and volume are listed on Table 1.
The first phase, started from September 4 to November 25. In this
phase only the grey water was used for treatment. 50% of the tank
(100 L) was inoculated with the sludge from a conventional biogas
plant. During the first phase, HRT was set to 10 days by adjusting
the timer. There were 3 pulses per day at an interval of 8 h with
6.66 L per pulse.
Nearly after three months the HRAD was shifted to a new
location where both grey and black water was available. This is the
second phase. At this phase, we reduced the HRT from 10 days to 4
days. The number of pulses was constant and amount per pulse is
17 L, i.e. nearly 50 L per day. Similar way we vary the HRT and
analyze the influent and effluent characteristics.
3. Result and discussion
. In this section we discuss about the point that should be
considered during the design of the HRAD. In this project, we
analyzed the highrate anaerobic reactor. The rectors fed with batch
type and continuous type. The batch type reactor fed by the
pumping and continuous reactor fed by gravity from septic tank.
First of all the reactor seeded with granular sludge from conven-
tional biogas plant. Initially, the HRT of the reactor was high and
then as the granular activated the retention time of the reactor
decreased progressively to attain the highrate reactor. In the
starting phase, the HRAD was in an unstable mode after some day
we attended the stable mode. The anaerobic treatment of low
strength wastewater with low temp may cause several problems.
The volume of the reactor is generally determined by the hydraulic
retention time. Rebac et al. [9] stated that treatment of the low
strength wastewater at the maximum organic loading rate with
respect of the maximum COD conversion capacity might cause
severe hydraulic washout. The upflow velocity of the liquid can be
increased by expanding the reactor size and by increasing reactor
Table 1
Details of the operation date, pulse and volume.
Date Pulse Volume per day Remarks
Starting Sept 4 1 100 L Starting
10 Sept to Nov 25 3 20 L
New starting 26 Nov 1 17 L New location
Nov 27 to Nov 30 3 50 L
Dec 1 Sludge up to test I, flow out
Dec 2 to Dec 10 3 50 L
height. They also find that high upflow velocity might cause high
erosion of the granules aggregates in the early stages of the startup
reactor.
Pol et al. [12] reported that the granule size increased to a
certain size after this, the new granule formed and so on. The
granulation process is shown in Fig. 15. Generally, the settling ve-
locity of the granular is 60 m/h. They also stated that solid retention
time is generally 200 days and hydraulic retention is generally
consider as 6 h. Luostarinen et al. [16] experienced that the lighter
sludge particle suspended and increased upflow velocity and would
be washout and the heavier component is retained in the lower
part of the reactor. Pol et al. [12] found that the wastewater having a
high fraction finely dispersed suspended solids with the attach-
ment of bacteria lead to the washout of the viable bacteria. Schmidt
et al. [17] stated that the formation and stability of the granule is
necessary for the successful operation of the reactor. The sludge
granulation time, which is the almost 10% of granules greater than
2 mm, which takes 92 days without the addition of the inert ma-
terial at the start of the reactor. Pol et al. [12] found that by the
addition of inert materials such as the powdered activated carbon
during the startup reactor which enhanced the granulation process
and the sludge granulation reduced to the 25 days. Mahmoud et al.
[13] said that the domestic wastewater contained the generally
organic hydrophilic and inorganic hydrophobic component. During
upflow hydrophilic component absorb by the granule and digested.
On the decreasing the temperature, there is increasing the viscosity
which results decreasing hydraulic shearing on the particles. That
causes more energy needed for mixing. They suggested that
increased wastewater temperature increased turbulence and hence
increased mixing. They experienced that increasing temperature
was also showed that increasing gas production and more turbu-
lence in the reactor. In the no force mixing the upflow velocity also
enhance mixing. The low HRT causes high upflow velocity which
result washout. They found that higher the solid loading rate which
imposed low SRT which would change sludge bed composition and
caused accumulation of floating substrate like protein and lipids.
The upflow velocity is one of the major factors for the solid removal
of the HRAD. By increasing the upflow velocity increase the colli-
sion between the suspend particle and sludge and enhance the
removal efficiency [18]. The high upflow velocity facilitates to
disturb the gas pocket gathered in the sludge bed and separate the
gas from surface of biomass. On the other hand, they got that high
upflow velocity resulted exceed the settling velocity and detach-
ment of the captured solid and decelerate the removal efficiency.
Therefore the upflow velocity should be optimum.
Arbor suggested that during the start up the reactor suitable
COD loading rate is 6 g/l/d, HRT is about 12 h and upflow velocity is
0.7 m/h. The test should be done time to time during the start of the
Fig. 15. Formation of granule [6].
 J.R. Adhikari, S.P. Lohani / Renewable Energy 143 (2019) 1406e1415 1413

reactor. He also suggested that the upflow velocity increased to

1 m/h to avoid the trap of biogas in the sludge blanket at higher
COD loading rate. Rebac et al. [9] said that It is hard to achieve a
satisfactory result of HRAD with low strength wastewater below
the temperature 18
C. At low temperature the COD removal effi-
ciency is low thus longer HRT is needed for the reaction.

CH4 þ 2O2 /CO2 þ 2H2 O (1)

From Equation (1), that can be shown 22.4 m3 of CH4 (STP)
require 2 mol of O 2 (COD) which is equal to 64 Kg of COD. Lier et al.
[19] stated that it is theoretically estimated that 1 kg COD could be
converted into 0.35 m3 CH4 and hence gave 0.5 m3 biogas (as 70%
CH4).
Singh et al. [20] stated that after the certain period almost
(2e8 Month), which is depend on characteristics of wastewater,
operating condition and seed sludge, a very dense sludge bed is Fig. 17. Influent and effluent CODt concentrations and removal efficiencies for reactor
developed. Lier et al. suggested that almost half of the reactor at 4d HRT [25].

volume is filled with sludge bed [19]. Plas [21] stated that at start up
period a strong washout of fine dispersed sludge is an essential part
UASB reactor are longer start up time (2e8 month) and need higher
of the granulation process as a new growth should be concentrated
solid retention time. By coupling UASB and septic tank we can solve
as attached growth rather than the growth of dispersed biomass
both of the problems. The sludge accumulates in the septic tank.
(new nuclei). Wang et al. [22] found that the pulse feed may cause
Only the WW is pump or supply into the reactor which increase the
washout due to higher instantaneous loading. They observed that
SRT. Also, septic tank acts as a primary treatment which reduces
the pH value in the range of 7e8 no significant impact in the reactor
start up time of the UASB. Thus Septic tank- UASB can be a suitable
performance. Lier et al. [15] found that higher the solid contained in
solution for the decentralized wastewater treatment system in the
the wastewater is important for speedup the reactor self inocula-
developing country.
tion phase. Incubation with a high concentration of well settling
The reactor performance is assessed on the basis of COD, total
granular sludge contributes to successful and fast startup the
suspended solid (TSS) and theoretical biogas production. These
reactor. On the other hand Karadag et al. [6] said that poor settling
reactor performance parameters measured on the basis of the
characteristics of the sludge result easily washout of microor-
characteristics of influent and effluent wastewater samples which
ganism, poor organic removal and poor biogas production. They
are taken from the inlet and outlet valve from the reactor. Fig. 16
stated that for the success of the reactor stepwise increase of OLR
shows that the influent and effluent TSS concentrations and
needed. They got that very high OLR negatively effect on COD
removal efficiencies for the reactor at 4d HRT. The average per-
removal efficiency both in both mesophilic and thermophilic
centage TSS removal efficiency of the reactor found to be 65%.
temperatures. High OLR also cause washout of the sludge and
Similarly, Fig. 17 shows that the influent and effluent CODt con-
deterioration of the efficiency of the reactor. Luostarinen et al. [16]
centrations and removal efficiencies for the reactor at 4d HRT. The
state that first of all the particulate are initially retained in the
average CODt removal efficiency noted and which is 49%.
sludge and latter washout occur as a biogas when started in the
Again the influent and effluent TSS concentrations and removal
warm climate. They found that higher washout might cause
efficiencies for the reactor at 1d HRT is shown in Fig. 18. The average
instability of the reactor. They proved that pressure exerted in the
TSS removal efficiency found that 56%. The influent and effluent
granular by produced biogas may cause disintegration of the
CODt concentrations and removal efficiencies for the reactor at 1d
granule and followed by washout. Yan et al. [23] suggested that the
HRT is shown in Fig. 19. Then the average removal efficiency found
selective bioparticles washout is also favorable for the granulation
to be 54% (see Fig. 20).
process. Plas [21] said that increasing OLR by decreasing HRT is
The theoretical biogas production calculated for the 1 L of
more effective than increasing COD concentration.
Vlyssides et al. [24] stated that the main disadvantages of the

Fig. 16. Influent and effluent TSS concentrations and removal efficiencies for reactor at
4d HRT [25]. Influent and effluent CODt concentrations and removal efficiencies for the Fig. 18. Influent and effluent TSS concentrations and removal efficiencies for reactor at
reactor at 4d HRT. 1d HRT [25].
1414 J.R. Adhikari, S.P. Lohani / Renewable Energy 143 (2019) 1406e1415
Fig. 19. Influent and effluent CODt concentrations and removal efficiencies for the
reactor at 1d HRT [25].
wastewater treatment from equation (1). The total biogas produc-
tion of the reactor calculated by multiplication of total volume of
the digestor i.e. 200 L to the theoretical biogas production from 1 L
of wastewater which calculated by the amount of removal of CODt
of the reactor. The theoretical average biogas production from the
reactor found to be 21 L from the total 200 L digester at 4 D HRT.
This means 21 L of biogas produced in four days as shown in Fig. 21.
Likewise, the total theoretical average biogas production from the
200 L digester is 20 L at 1 day HRT which shown in Fig. 21. This
means per day 20 L theoretical biogas can produce.
In the same way, we also tested the TSS and CODt removal ef-
ficiency of the septic tank UASB combined system these are on an
average 83 and 88% for 4 days HRT [25]. Similarly, we found that
87% and 80% TSS and CODt removal efficiency for 1 day HRT. As we
know that the main disadvantages of the UASB reactor are longer
startup time (2e8 month) [24] and need higher solid retention
time. By coupling UASB and septic tank we can solve both of the
problems. The sludge accumulates in the septic tank. Only the WW
is pumped or supply into the reactor which increases the SRT. Also,
septic tank acts as a primary treatment which reduces start up time
of the UASB. Thus Septic tank- UASB can be a suitable solution for
the onsite wastewater treatment system in the developing country.
4. Conclusion
The hydraulic retention time of the septic tank is found to be
16 h. The maximum upflow velocity is calculated to be 0.5 m/h. The
Fig. 20. Theoretical biogas production from the total volume of the reactor at 4 day
HRT.
Fig. 21. Theoretical biogas production from the total volume of the reactor at 1 day
HRT.
high upflow velocity during the startup period may cause high
erosion of the granule. The finely dispersed particle suspended
solid in the wastewater may cause washed out of viable bacteria. On
increasing the temperature of the reactor increase turbulence and
hence increases mixing. The up flow velocity should be optimum.
At the startup period the washout is necessary for new growth by
attachment rather the growth by new nuclei. The average TSS and
CODt removal efficiency of the reactor found to be 65% and 49% at 4
days HRT. The average TSS and CODt removal efficiency found that
56% and 54% respectively. The theoretical average biogas produc-
tion from the 200 L digester is about 20 L at one HRT. And we also
found that TSS and CODt removal efficiency of the septic tank UASB
combined system these are on an average 83 and 88% for 4 days
HRT. Septic tank- UASB can be suitable for onsite wastewater sys-
tem in the developing country.
Acknowledgements
We heartily acknowledged to the Renewable Nepal for the
financial support of the project RENP-PID-924.
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