Aerobic and Anaerobic

Wastewater Treatment
John Carlo H. Abala
Mark Adrian R. Amisco
Ahr-jay Bacsain
Angel M. Bacsain
Marnelli Kate Badong
BSCE-5A
 Biochemical Environment
 Aerobic Conditions: Oxygen is used as
electron acceptor
 Anoxic Conditions: Nitrate is the electron
acceptor
 Anaerobic Conditions: absence of oxygen and
nitrate and organic compounds are converted to
biomass, CO2, CH4 and H2S.
Organic matter + H2O
CH4 + CO2 + NH3 + H2S+ new cell
Anaerobic
Treatment
 Popularity of anaerobic processes
Energy crisis in 70 and 80’s- a renewed interest in anaerobic process

1200

1000
No. of plants

800

600

400

200

0
1978

1981

1984

1987

1990

1993

1996

1999
Anaerobic treatment plants for industrial applications (Source: Franklin, 2001)
 Anaerobic treatment of solids
Anaerobic treatment of high solids such as animal
manure, biological sludge, nightsoil, etc. is commonly
known as “anaerobic digestion” and is carried out in
airtight container known as an anaerobic digester (AD).
• AD is usually a continuous flow stirred tank reactor
(CFSTR) for which HRT ~ SRT
• Design based on volatile solids (VS) loading rate
• Anaerobic treatment of wastewaters requires a long
SRT to achieve better treatment efficiency
• The ratio of SRT/HRT ~ 10-100
• The high ratio allows the slow-growing methanogens to
remain in the reactor for a longer time
 Anaerobic Waste Treatment

Anaerobic treatment is a biological process carried out in the

absence of O2 for the stabilization of organic materials by
conversion to CH4 and inorganic end-products such as CO2
and NH3
Anaerobic microbes
Organic materials + Nutrients CH4 + CO2 +NH3 + Biomass

Anaerobic processes

Anaerobic fermentation Anaerobic respiration

 Anaerobic Fermentation
In anaerobic fermentation, there is no external electron acceptor.
The product generated during the process accepts the electrons
released during the breakdown of organic matter. Thus, organic
matter acts as both electron donor and acceptor. The process
releases less energy and the major portion of the energy is still
contained in the fermentative product such as ethanol.

Energy

Glucose Pyruvate Ethanol

Electron

Anaerobic fermentation of glucose to ethanol

 Anaerobic respiration
Anaerobic respiration on the other hand requires external electron
acceptor. The electron acceptors in this case could be SO42-, NO3-
or CO2. The energy released under such a condition is higher
than anaerobic fermentation.

Energy

Glucose Pyruvate CO2 + H2O

SO42- Electron H2S

CO2 CH4
NO3- N2

Anaerobic respiration of glucose, preference for electron acceptors

O2 > NO3- > SO42- > CO2

 Advantages of Anaerobic Treatment
Produced Methane can be used to produce energy
Produced amount of excess sludge is about 10 %
of aerobic treatment. Hence, reduction of waste
disposal cost
Low nutrient requirement (BOD/N/P is 100/5/1
for aerobic; 700/5/1 for anaerobic mo.s
No air supplementation, so lower operational cost
No off-gas air pollution
Biodegradation of aerobic non-biodegradable
Seasonal treatment is appropriate
 Disadvantages of Anaerobic Treatment
Alkalinity should be sufficient
Under mesophilic conditions, optimum
temperature is 35 ºC
Nitrification not possible
Low kinetic rates at low temperature
If COD < 1000 mg/L anaerobic treatment is not
practical economically
Effluent from anaerobic treatment is generally
not acceptable for direct discharge and aerobic
polishing step is needed.
wastewater

Waste ?

Aerobic
Bioreactor
Equilization
Anaerobic
basin Bioreactor
 Anaerobic Reactor Configuratios

Advantages:
• Simple and inexpensive

Disadvantages:
• System is not stable for shock loading and toxic
compounds
• Settling is problem
 Types of anaerobic reactors
Low-rate anaerobic reactors
Anaerobic pond
Septic tank
Imhoff tank
Standard rate
anaerobic digester
Slurry type bioreactor, temperature,
mixing, SRT or other environmental
conditions are not regulated.
Loading of 1-2 kg COD/m3-day
High-rate anaerobic reactors
Anaerobic contact process
Anaerobic filter (AF)
Upflow anaerobic sludge
blanket (UASB)
Fluidized bed reactor
Hybrid reactor: UASB/AF
Anaerobic sequencing batch
reactor (ASBR)
Able to retain very high concentration of
active biomass in the reactor. Thus
extremely high SRT could be maintained
irrespective of HRT. Load 5-20 kg COD/m3-d
COD removal efficiency : 80-90%
 Anaerobic contact process (ACP)
Anaerobic contact process is essentially an anaerobic activated
sludge process. It consists of a completely mixed reactor followed
by a settling tank. The settled biomass is recycled back to the
reactor. Hence ACP is able to maintain high concentration of
biomass in the reactor and thus high SRT irrespective of HRT.
Degasifier allows the removal of biogas bubbles (CO2, CH4)
attached to sludge which may otherwise float to the surface. .

Biogas Biogas
Settling tank

Influent Effluent
Degassifier
Completely mixed
reactor

Recycled sludge
Waste sludge
 …Anaerobic contact process (ACP)

ACP was initially developed for the treatment of dilute

wastewater such as meat packing plant which had tendency
to form a settleable flocs. ACP is suitable for the treatment
of wastewater containing suspended solids which render
the microorganisms to attach and form settleable flocs.

The biomass concentration in the reactor ranges from 4-6 g/L

with maximum concentration as high as 25-30 g/L depending
on settleability of sludge. The loading rate ranges from 0.5 –
10 kg COD/m3-day. The required SRT could be maintained by
controlling the recycle rate similar to activated sludge process.
 Anaerobic Filters
• In this type of reactor, waste enters in
the bottom and flows through the
rocks or plastic media used for
biomass immobilization.
• Recirculation is used to dilute any
toxic compound in the influent.
• The main limitations of reactor :
accumulation of solids in the packing
material (plugging). So, wastes
containing high amount of suspended
solids are not suitable for A.F
 Upflow Anaerobic Filter
Heater Biogas

Effluent
Perforated
Al plate Sampling
port

Water bath

Peristaltic pump
Media

Constant temperature Sludge wastage

Feeding recirculation line
tank at 4oC

Peristaltic pump
 Anaerobic Filter Packing

Originally, rocks were employed as packing medium in

anaerobic filter. But due to very low void volume (40-50%),
serious clogging problems were witnessed. Now, many
synthetic packing media are made up of plastics; ceramic tiles
of different configuration have been used in anaerobic filters.
The void volume in these media ranges from 85-95 %.
Moreover, these media provide high specific surface area,
typically 100 m2/m3, or above, which enhances biofilm growth.
 Anaerobic Filters
Since anaerobic filters are able to retain high biomass, a long
SRT can be maintained. Typically HRT varies from 0.5 – 4 days
and the loading rates vary from 5 - 15 kg COD/m3-day. Biomass
wastage is generally not needed and hydrodynamic conditions
play an important role in biomass retention within the void space.
Downflow anaerobic filter (DAF)
Downflow anaerobic filters are similar to a trickling filter in
operation. DAF is closer to fixed film reactor as loosely held
biomass/sludge within the void spaces is potentially washed
out of the reactor. The specific surface area of media is more
important in DAF than UAF.
There is less of a clogging problem and wastewater with some
SS concentration can be treated using DAF.
Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactor (UASB)
 UASB Reactor

Effluent

biogas

Influent
Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactor (UASB)

• This type of reactor was developed to avoid

the main problems of the anaerobic filter.
• Flow is in upward direction.
• Biomass settles in the bottom usually in the
forms of granule.
Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactor (UASB)

Advantages:
 High biomass concentrations. Hence high
organic loading rates can be applied.
 so excellent COD removals due to high
biomass concentrations.
 Compared to Anaerobic filter, wastewaters
with higher suspended solid concentrations
can be applied.
Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactor (UASB)

Disadvantages:
 Sludge granulation is complex and not
fully understood process
 Biomass escape at the effluent at
higher loading rates hybrit reactors are
used to avoid this problem)
 Table 2. Some treatability studies using UASB
% COD
Type of Influent OLR Temperat
HRT (h) removal
wastewater COD (kg/m3/d) ure C
Efficiency
Beer
1000-1500 4.5-7 20-24 5 75-80
industry
Agricultur
11 000 2-5 30 48 70-65
al waste
Slaughter
2000-3500 4 30 19 85
hause
Paper
1000 5 - 49 75
industry
Sugar 4000-
20-25 28-32 - 92-95
industry 60000
 Static granular bed reactor (SGBR)

• Developed at Iowa State University by Drs. Ellis and Kris Mach

• Just opposite to UASB; flow is from top to bottom and the bed
is static

• No need of three-phase separator or flow distributor

• Simple in operation with
fewer moving parts
Effluent
• Major issue: head loss due
to build-up of solids
• Expanded bed reactor is an attached growth Expanded bed
system with some suspended biomass.
reactor (EBR)
• The biomass gets attached on bio-carriers
such as sandman, pulverized polyvinyl chloride,
shredded tire beads.

• The bio-carriers are expanded by the upflow

velocity of influent wastewater and recirculated effluent.

• In the expanded bed reactor, sufficient upflow

velocity is maintained to expand the bed by 15-30%.

• The expanded bed reactor has less clogging

problems and better substrate diffusion within the
biofilm.
• The biocarriers are partly supported by fluid flow and
partly by contact with adjacent biocarriers, which retain
the same relative position within the bed.
 Fluidized and Expended Bed Reactors
In these systems microorganisms
gas grow on small inert particles such as
Effluent
fine sand or activated carbon
Recirculation
ORP, pH pump High Recycle ratios are used to keep
probes
the particles in suspension
Water-jacketed
glass reactor The rate of liquid flow and the
carrier resulting degree of expansion of the
bed (10-25%) determine whether the
reactor is a fluidized or an expanded
(less expansion) bed reactor
Glass
beads

wastewater limitation: high and uniform upflow

so high pumping cost
 Hybrid system: UASB/AF
Hybrid system incorporates both
granular sludge blanket (bottom)
and anaerobic filter (top). Such
approach prevents wash-out of
biomass from the reactor. Further
additional treatment at the top bed
due to the retention of sludge
granules that escaped from the
bottom sludge bed.
UASB reactor facing a chronic sludge
wash-out problem can be retrofitted
using this approach.
Hybrid system may be any combi-nation
of two types of reactor
 Anaerobic baffled reactor
In anaerobic baffled reactor, the wastewater passes over
and under the baffles. The biomass accumulates in
Between the baffles which may in fact form granules with
time. The baffles present the horizontal movement of
of biomass in the reactor. Hence a high concentration of
biomass can be maintained within the reactor.
Biogas

Sludge
 Anaerobic Sequential Bed Reactor
BIOGAS RECYCLE
BIOGAS

SUPERNATANT

DECANT
PORTS
SETTLED
BIOMASS

SETTLE DECANT FEED REACT

EFFLUENT FEED
 Organics Conversion in Anaerobic Systems
COMPLEX ORGANIC MATTER

Proteins Carbohydrates Lipids

hydrolysis
acidogenesis

Amino Acids, Sugars Fatty Acids, Alcohols

acetogenesis

INTERMEDIARY PRODUCTS
(C>2; Propionate, Butyrate etc)

Acetate
methanogenesis

Hydrogen, Carbon dioxide

72 28
Methane
Carbon dioxide
 Process Microbiology
The anaerobic degradation of complex organic matter is
carried out by a series of bacteria and archeae as indicated in
the figure (with numbers). There exists a coordinated
interaction among these microbes. The process may fail if a
certain of these organisms are inhibited.
Fermentative bacteria (1)
This group of bacteria is responsible for the first stage of anaerobic digestion -
The anaerobic species belonging to the family of
hydrolysis and acidogenesis. These bacteria are either facultative or strict
Streptococcaceae and anaerobes. Enterobacteriaceae and to the
genera of Bacteroides, Clostridium, Butyrivibrio,
Eubacterium, Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus are most
common.
Hydrogen producing acetogenic bacteria (2)

This group of bacteria metabolizes propionate and other

organic acids (>C-2), alcohols and certain aromatic
compounds (i.e. benzoate) into acetate and CO2
CH3CH2COO -  CH3COO - + CO2 + H2
Syntrophic association of acetogenic organisms with
methanogenic H2- consuming bacteria helps to lower the
concentration of H2 below inhibitory level so that propionate
degrading bacteria are not suppressed by excessive H2 level

H2 partial pressure 10-2 (100 ppm)

 Homoacetogenes (3)

Homoacetogenesis has gained much attention in recent

years in anaerobic processes due to its final product:
acetate, which is the important precursor to methane
generation.
The bacteria are, H2 and CO2 users. Clostridium aceticum
and Acetobacterium woodii are the two homoacetogenic
bacteria isolated from the sewage sludge.

Homoacetogenic bacteria have a high thermodynamic

efficiency; as a result there is no accumulation H2 and
COCO
2 during
+ H growthon multi-carbon
CH COOH + 2Hcompounds.
O
2 2 3 2
 Methanogens (4 and 5)
Methanogens are unique domain of microbes classified as
Archeae, distinguished from Bacteria by a number of
characteristics, including the possession of membrane lipids,
absence of the basic cellular characteristics (e. g. peptidoglycan)
and distinctive ribosomal RNA. Methanogens are obligate
anaerobes and considered as a rate-limiting species in anaerobic
treatment of wastewater. Moreover, methanogens co-exist or
compete with sulfate-reducing bacteria for the substrates in
anaerobic treatment of sulfate-laden wastewater.
Two classes of methanogens that metabolize acetate to methane are:

• Methanosaeta (old name Methanothrix): Rod shape, low Ks, high affinity
• Methanosarcina (also known as M. mazei): Spherical shape, high Ks,
low affinity
Best industrial wastewaters for anaerobic treatment

• Alcohol production
• Brewery and Winery
• Sugar processing
• Starch (barley, corn, potato, wheat, tapioca) and desizing
waste from textile industry.
• Food processing
• Bakery plant
• Pulp and paper
• Dairy
• Slaughterhouse
• Petrochemical waste
 Table.1. Some Studies on the treatment of industrial
wastewaters using A.F.

Organic
Type of Tempr. Loading Removal
HRT (h)
wastewater (°C) Rate efficiency
(kg/m3.d)
Sugar 35-37 - 12-36 55%
industry
Distillery 35 15 72 90
wastes
Chemical 37 12-15 22-30 80-90
process
leachate 37 0.2-0.7 30-40 d 90-96
 Aerobic Treatment Systems
 Activated sludge Process (CSTR with/wo
cell recycle)
 Contact Stabilization
 Oxidation Ditch
 Sequencing batch reactor (SBR)
 Extended Aeration
 Step feed
 Contact stabilization
wastewater
mixing

Contact Basin Secondary

clarifier

Sludge waste
Stabilization Tank
Air
 Fill SBR
 No settling tank, no sludge
pumping
React  Aerobic/anoxic/anaerobic
cycles for
nutrient removal
Settle
 process flexibility for bulking
sludge  Tolerant to shock loading
Draw  No washout

Idle
Oxidation Ditch

• Nitrification and denitrification is also possible

• Typically operate in an extended aeration
modes
Comparison Between Anaerobic and Aerobic Processes

Anaerobic Aerobic
Organic loading rate
High loading rates:10-40 kg COD/m3-day Low loading rates:0.5-1.5 kg COD/m3-day
(for high rate reactors, e.g. AF,UASB, E/FBR) (for activated sludge process)
Biomass yield
Low biomass yield:0.05-0.15 kg VSS/kg COD High biomass yield:0.35-0.45 kg VSS/kg COD
(biomass yield is not constant but depends (biomass yield is fairly constant irrespective
on types of substrates metabolized) of types of substrates metabolized)

Specific substrate utilization rate

High rate: 0.75-1.5 kg COD/kg VSS-day Low rate: 0.15-0.75 kg COD/kg VSS-day

Start-up time
Long start-up: 1-2 months for mesophilic Short start-up: 1-2 weeks
: 2-3 months for thermophilic
Comparison Between Anaerobic and Aerobic Processes

Anaerobic Aerobic
SRT
Longer SRT is essential to retain the slow SRT of 4-10 days is enough for the
growing methanogens within the reactor activated sludge process

Microbiology
Anaerobic processes involve multi-step
chemical conversions and a diverse
group of microorganisms degrade the
organic matter in a sequential order
Aerobic process is mainly a one-
species phenomenon, except for
nutrient-removal processes

Environmental factors
The process is highly susceptible to The process is more robust to
changes in environmental conditions changing environmental conditions