Hydraulics of laboratory and full-scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors.
Laboratory-scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors are often used as test platforms to evaluate full-scale applications. However, for a given volume specific hydraulic loading rate and geometry, the gas and liquid flows increase proportionally with the cube root of volume. In this communication, we demonstrate that a laboratory-scale reactor had plug-flow hydraulics, while a full-scale reactor had mixed flow hydraulics. The laboratory-scale reactor could be modeled using an existing biochemical model, and parameters identified, but because of computational speed with plug-flow hydraulics, mixed systems are instead recommended for parameter identification studies. Because of the scaling issues identified, operational data should not be directly projected from laboratory-scale results to the full-scale design.
Batstone
D J
DJ
Environment and Resources, Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Byg 113, Bygningstorvet, Lyngby 2800DK, Denmark. djb@er.dtu.dk
Hernandez
J L A
JL
Schmidt
J E
JE
D000693:Anaerobiosis; D019149:Bioreactors; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012212:Rheology; D012722:Sewage
D012722:Sewage