Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB)

The Fall 2015 Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) group has continued the previous work of the AguaClara anaerobic wastewater groups. Challenges addressed during this and next semester include testing reactor leakage and creating an airtight design, combining a UASB unit with a GSBR unit in an attempt to improve overall treatment capacity, and oxygen stress testing to determine the robustness of the reactor. The beginning of the semester was spent cleaning and removing biomass from reactors, testing for leaks using a bubble solution, and performing a single-day pressure test in an attempt to approximately quantify the volumetric leakage rate. Two UASB reactors were inoculated and began producing biogas within the first week of operation. COD analysis and gas chromatography were performed to characterize the efficiency of COD treatment and methane production within the reactors. UASBs are part of AguaClara's wastewater program, which is working to expand wastewater treatment programs in rural areas in Honduras and future AguaClara work sites.

Email Team

	Challenges	Tasks	Symposium	Final Presentation	Final Report
Fall '15	Can GSBRs be used effectively to further treat wastewater after a UASB process? (links with Aerobic GSBR team) How effective are designs at capturing methane generated in UASB (minimizing losses in effluent and through leaks) How robust are UASBs at handling rapid fluctuations in the strength of wastewater? How well do the UASBs treat Nitrogen, phosphorus and, possibly, fecal indicator bacteria (harmless E.coli)? How many households should be treated by a single UASB (ie. what is the ideal scale for the reactors - whole towns, small enclaves of ~10 homes, individual homes?) How much energy can be produced per household reactor and how does this compare with cooking needs (cookstoves can use biogas directly)? Methane co-generation (heat and electricity; will require generator) How sensitive are cultures to Oxygen stress and/or acid stress?

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