Performance of an upflow anaerobic reactor combining a sludge blanket and a filter treating sugar waste

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Abstract
A new hybrid reactor, the upflow blanket filter (UBF), which combined on open volume in the bottom two‐thirds of the reactor for a sludge blanket and submerged plastic rings (Flexiring, Koch Inc., 235 m2/m3) in the upper one‐third of the reactor volume, was studied. This UBF reactor was operated at 27°C at loading rates varying from 5 to 51 g chemical oxygen demand (COD)/L d with soluble sugar wastewater (2500 mg COD/L). Maximum removal rates of 34 g COD/L d and CH4 production rates of 7 vol/vol d [standard temperature and pressure (STP)] were obtained. The biomass activity was about 1.2 g COD/g volatile suspended solids per day. Conversion (based on effluent soluble COD) was over 93% with loading rates up to 26 g COD/L d. At higher loading rates conversion decreased rapidly. The packing was very efficient in retaining biomass.