Use of the Upflow Sludge Blanket (USB) Reactor

Concept for Biological Wastewater Treatment,

Especially for Anaerobic Treatment

G. LETTINGA, A. F. M. VAN VELSEN, S. W. HOBMA, W. DE

ZEEUW, and A. KLAPWIJK, Department of Water Pollution
Control, Agricultural University, Wageningen, 6703 BC
Wageningen, l h e Netherlands

Summary
In recent years considerable effort has been made in the Netherlands toward the
development of a more sophisticated anaerobic treatment process, suitable for treat-
ing low strength wastes and for applications at liquid detention times of 3-4 hr. The
efforts have resulted in a new type of upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB)
process, which in recent 6 m3 pilot-plant experiments has shown to be capable of
handling organic space loads of 15-40 kg chemical oxygen demand (COD).m-Yday
at 3-8 hr liquid detention times. In the first 200 m3 full-scale plant of the UASB
concept, organic space loadings of up to 16 kg COD.~n-~/daycould be treated
satisfactorily at a detention time of 4 hr, using sugar beet waste as a feed. The main
results obtained with the process in the laboratory as well as in 6 m3 pilot plant and
200 m3 full-scale experiments are presented and evaluated in this paper. Special
attention is given to the main operating characteristics of the UASB reactor concept.
Moreover, some preliminary results are presented of laboratory experiments con-
cerning the use of the USB reactor concept for denitrification as well as for the acid
formation step in anaerobic treatment. For both purposes the process looks feasible
because very satisfactory results with respect to denitrification and acid formation
can be achieved at very high hydraulic loads (12 day-') and high organic loading
rates, i.e., 20 kg COD.~n-~/day in the denitrification and 60-80 kg C O D ~ r ~ / d ainy
the acid formation experiments.

INTRODUCTION

In recent years energy considerations and environmental con-

cerns have increased the interest in direct anaerobic treatment of
industrial wastes. The anaerobic method of waste treatment offers,
under the present circumstances, a number of significant advantages
with little serious o r insuperable drawbacks over other treatment
methods. Benefits and limitations of the process have been sum-
marized in Table I. In spite of its favorable prospects and its present

Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Vol. XXII, Pp. 699-734 (1980)

@ 1980 John Wiley ti Sons, Inc. 0006-3592/80/0022-0699$01.OO
700 LETTINGA ET AL.

TABLE I
Benefits and Limitations of Anaerobic Treatment of Wastewaters
Benefits Limitations
1) Low production of waste biological 1) Anaerobic digestion is a rather sen-
solids sitive process, e.g., the presence of
2) Waste biological sludge is a highly specific compounds, such as CHC13,
stabilized product that as a rule can CCI,, and CN-
be easily dewatered 2) Relatively long periods of time are
3) Low nutrient requirements required to start-up the process, as
4) N o energy requirement for aeration a result of the slow growth rate of
5) Production of methane, which is a anaerobic bacteria
useful end product 3) Anaerobic digestion is essentially a
6) Very high loading rates can be ap- pretreatment method; an adequate
plied under favorable conditions post-treatment is usually required
7) Active anaerobic sludge can be pre- before the effluent can be discharged
served unfed for many months8.*o into receiving waters
4) Little practical experience has been
gained with the application of the
process to the direct treatment of
wastewater

significance for the stabilization of sludge from municipal sewage

works, anaerobic digestion still is not a generally well-accepted
method of waste treatment, in particular not for the treatment of
low-strength wastes. The major obstacle to the application of the
process for this specific purpose is perhaps the difficulty of extend-
ing it to a stable and simple operational form. However, consider-
able progress has been recently made in the Netherlands in this
respect through the development of a more sophisticated form of
the upflow sludge blanket (USB) concept. Therefore an extensive
full-scale application of the process in the near future may now be
expected.
The main objective of this paper is to present and evaluate the
most relevant results of recent pilot-plant and full-scale experiments
with the USB process for anaerobic treatment in the light of earlier
results obtained with this process in the laboratory for anaerobic
for the separate stage of acid formation, and for den-
itrification. Detailed information on the pilot-plant and full-scale
experiments has been presented in separate reports .5-8

ANAEROBIC WASTE TREATMENT METHODS

The loading rates permissible in an anaerobic waste treatment

process are primarily dictated by the sludge retention in the anaer-
 USB REACTOR FOR WASTE TREATMENT 701

obic reactor. The maintenance of a high sludge retention time (SRT)

has been-at least until recently-the major problem in the practical
application of the process, especially for wastes with a chemical
oxygen demand (COD) below about 3000 mg/liter.
Obviously a waste treatment process for low-strength wastes is
an economical one if large volumes of waste can be forced through
the system in a relatively short time period. For this purpose pro-
cesses are required in which the biomass retention time can be
controlled independently of the wastewater flow rate. Conventional
anaerobic treatment processes of the flow-through type are there-
fore inadequate to .treat low-strength wastes. The solution for the
biomass retention problem resulted in the development of different
anaerobic treatment processes. These systems have been schemat-
ically presented in Figure 1.
The essential feature of the anaerobic contact process is that

v
Conwnticmal dgester

v 9 - m
~
intlucnt

Uptbw anoerobc sludge m e t p r m s

Fig. 1. Schematic diagrams of various anaerobic treatment processes.

702 LETTINGA ET AL.

the washout of the active anaerobic bacterial mass from the reactor
is controlled by a sludge separation-and-recycle system. The major
problem in the practical application of the contact process has
always been the separation (and concentration) of the sludge from
the effluent solution. For this purpose several methods have been
used or were recommended for use, e.g., plain sedimenta-
tion, 11-13,18--20 settling combined with chemical flocculation, with
vacuum d e g a s s i f i c a t i ~ n , ~ or
~ - even
~ ~ ~with
~ flotation,
and centrifugation. 13,17 A basic idea underlying the contact process
is that it is considered necessary to thoroughly mix the digester
contents, e.g., by gas recirculation, sludge recirculation, or contin-
uous or intermittent mechanical agitation.
A somewhat modified version of the contact process is based on
an upward movement of the liquid waste through a dense blanket
of anaerobic sludge. This system was first described by Coulter et
aLZ3In South Africa, extensive studies on the upflow contact proc-
ess have been made, and the process was successfully applied by
means of a reversed-flow modified DorrOliver Clarigester for the
treatment of glucose-starch,24~26 wine distillery ~ a s t e ,and
~ ~yeast
, ~ ~
wastewater.26
The reactor was equipped to allow an external recirculation of
sludge, e.g., via the central compartment of the clarifier, in order
to facilitate the return of settled sludge from the clarifier back to
the digester compartment. For the same reason a scraper has been
installed at the bottom of the clarifier. The raw feed was introduced
via adjustable inlets situated around the lower perimeter of the
digester compartment and via a rotating central-feed pipe with a
distributor at the lower part of the digester compartment. The max-
imum loading rate applied with wine distillery waste was 3.2 kg
COD~n;~/day at a 6.9 days detention time and at a temperature of
33C. The COD reduction attained under these circumstances was
97.3%. The primary limitation of the process with respect to the
loading rate was shown to be the loss of sludge in the clarified
effluent. Therefore the sludge retention was considered to be the
primary limitation of the process. The maximum loading rate per-
missible without undue loss of sludge was 3.2 kg COD*~n.-~/day at
an operating temperature of 30C. An average total solids (TS)
concentration of about 25 g/liter could be maintained in the reactor
under these circumstances.
A rather promising development is the anaerobic filter (AF) proc-
ess. This system simply consists of a vertical filter bed filled with
an inert support material such as gravel, rocks, coke, or some
 USB REACTOR FOR WASTE TREATMENT 703

plastic media. Laboratory and pilot-plant e x p e r i r n e n t ~ ~ ' - ~

have
~,~~,~~
shown that the AF process is suitable to treat various types of
chiefly dissolved wastes with a very satifactory treatment efficiency
at high hydraulic and organic loading rates. The SRT of the AF
process is very satisfactory, which may be attributed to the gradual
development of a highly settleable-more or less granular-sludge.
This sludge is effectively entrapped in the packing.
In our laboratory we have made similar observations on experi-
ments using methanol solutions,31 potato starch and so-
lutions of volatile fatty acids (VFA). The process was found partic-
ularly suitable for the treatment of wastewaters from potato starch
plants, i.e., the process wastewater (composed of diluted potato
sap) as well as the wash-and-tranport water. Small pilot-plant ex-
periments with 150 cm high and 14 cm diam coke-packed columns
using potato-sap solutions as feed indicated that the process was
feasible to handle organic loads up to 10 kg COD.~n,-~/dayat 30C
and could withstand hydraulic retention times as low as 10 hr.
Moreover, it was found that shock loads up to 17 kg COD.~n,-~/day
were also fairly well accommodated.
Despite the good results obtained with the AF process, the further
development of this concept has been abandoned in the Netherlands
in favor of the upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) process.
The remainder of this paper will be confined to a discussion of
the features and prospects of the USB concept for the purpose of
anaerobic treatment in particular. Results of small (laboratory
phase) and large pilot-plant studies as well as of the first full-scale
experiment will be considered.

USB CONCEPT
The USB process for anaerobic treatment resembles the USB
processes described in the l i t e r a t ~ r e , ~ except
~ - ~ ~ ,that:
~ ~ a) sludge
recirculation and/or mechanical agitation are kept at a minimum or
even completely omitted, and that-in particular-, b) the reactor
is equipped in the upper part with a proper system for gas-solids
separation. A schematic diagram of an UASB reactor is shown in
Figure 1.
The basic ideas underlying the process are
a) The anaerobic sludge obtains and maintains superior settling
characteristics if chemical and physical conditions favorable to
sludge flocculation and to the maintenance of a well flocculated
sludge are provided.
704 LETTINGA ET AL.

b) A sludge blanket (bed) may be considered as a separate-more

or less-fluid phase with its own specific characteristics. A well-
established sludge blanket frequently forms a rather stable phase,
capable of withstanding relatively high mixing forces. The redis-
persion of the sludge in the liquid phase therefore may require a
significant amount of mixing energy.
c) The washout of discrete sludge particles (flocs) released from
the sludge blanket can be minimized by creating a quiescent zone
within the reactor, enabling the sludge particles to flocculate, to
settle, and/or to be entrapped in a secondary sludge blanket (present
in the settler compartment).

Laboratory Experiments
The USB concept has been extensively investigated in the labo-
ratory with reactors varying in volume from 1 to 60 liter and in
height from 0.2 to 1 m. The potential feasibility of the USB concept
has been demonstrated for anaerobic treatment, for the separate
stage of acid formation, as well as for denitrification.

Anaerobic treatment
The USB concept has been investigated in our laboratory since
1971 for the one-step anaerobic treatment of a variety of indus-
trial wastes, including wastes in which the acid fermentation was
already complete or in a more or less progressed stage. The most
relevant results of these laboratory-phase experiments,lP4 are con-
tained in Table 11. Part of these experiments has already been
described in detail previously. The maximum organic space loadings
that could be achieved were between 10-14 kg COD-m-3/day cor-
responding to maximum sludge loads in the range of 1 kg COD/kg
VSS/day (VSS = volatile suspended solids).
Considerable emphasis has been given in the laboratory phase of
the study to the start-up of the process with digested sewage sludge
as seed. Evidence was obtained that the first start-up of the process
is predominantly important with respect to both the specific activity
and the settleability of the sludge that develops in the reactor.
Although the investigations are continuing in our laboratory,
some important directions for the procedure to be followed in the
first start-up should be mentioned here, viz.:
1) The initial sludge load should be below 0.1-0.2 kg COD/kg
total solids (TS)/day.
 TABLE I1
Results of Some Laboratory UASB Experiments with Various Types of Wastesa

Waste solution Maximum COD load applied

UASB
COD sludge reactor
load COD Sludge yield
total dissolvedb VFA space load (kg/kg HRT reduction factor Temp. volume height 2W
Origin (mg/liter) (%) (mglliter) ( k g . ~ ~ / d a y VSS/day)
) (hr) (5%) (kg/kg COD) ("C) (liter) (cm)
Sugar-beet sap, 5000- nil 4-5 (diss.) 0.5-0.8 48-24 95 0.15 30 61 105
unsoured 6000 95
Sugar-beet sap, 6000- 80-60 4000- 8-10 (diss.) 84-95 0.09-0.07 30 18 70
soured (closed 9500 5000 10-14 (total) 0.7-1.1 12-24 (diss.) (diss.) w
circuit)' 65-75 >O. 1 30 100 0
w
(tot.) (tot)
Sugar-beet sap, 6000- 95 5400- 8-9 0.8- 1.O
soured (two- 9000 8000 (2nd stage) (2nd stage) 24 90-97 0.04-0.03 30 18 70
stage)
Bean blanching 5200 90 500- 8-10 0.6-0.8 13-15 90-95 - 30 2.7 30
1500
Sauerkraut 10000- 97 400-
20000 I500 8-9 0.8-1.2 >24 88-93 0.05-0.07 30 2.7 30
Dairy (skimmed
milk) 1500 >75 nil 7-8 0.4-0.6 5 90 <O. 18d 30 18 70
a Values mentioned for the COD load concern the maximum values that could be applied in the specific experiment.
COD remaining after filtration over a filter SS 520 b.
' Experiments conducted in a closed simulated wastewater circuit; a known amount of sugar-beet sap solution is supplied continuously in
the circuit water.
Higher values are obtained in case of substrate precipitation (i.e., at a pH fall or in case of overloading).
706 LETTINGA ET AL.

2) The loading rate of the reactor should not be increased, unless

all volatile acids present or formed are effectively decomposed.
3) The environmental conditions for growth of the anaerobic
bacteria should be favorable.
In following these directions within 6- 12 weeks after the start-up,
sludge loads exceeding 0.5 kg COD/kg VSS/day can be handled
satisfactorily for most of the wastes investigated at temperatures of
about 30C. Moreover, also the development of a well-settling
sludge will be promoted in such circumstances. However, in ignor-
ing the directions mentioned above, a rather voluminous sludge may
result that is also relatively low in specific activity. Such a sludge
type was formed especially in the experiments with the unsoured
sugar-beet sap solutions. Together with the results of the experi-
ments with soured sugar-beet sap solutions, these results indicate
that the two-phase concept for anaerobic treatment, as proposed by
Gosh et al.36and Pohland and G h ~ s h , ~ may
be an attractive prop-
osition. Significant higher loading rates could be applied with soured
than with unsoured sugar-beet sap solutions. Hence, even in the
treatment of relatively simple wastes of the type investigated, the
introduction of a separate acid-forming reactor may be justified.
Evidently, this can be accomplished relatively easily by employing
a holding period prior to treatment.

Acid fermentation
The significance of the two-phase concept is reinforced by the
evidence obtained from some preliminary souring experiments
with sugar-beet sap solutions, in which an USB reactor has been
used for the acid fermentation step. From the results of these ex-
periments-contained in Table 111-it appears that an almost com-
plete souring is achieved at space loading rates up to 70 kg
COD-m-3/day and detention times as low as 3 hr. These loading
rates could be applied as the result of the high settleability (i.e.,
SVI: 15-20 ml/g) and-presumably-of the high specific activity of
the sludge formed. The main part of the sludge consisted of granules
of about 1-3 mm in size.
Comprehensive studies on the acid fermentation step are being
presently undertaken by Zoetemeyer and Cohen at the University
of Amsterdam.
Denitrification
The USB concept has been investigated in a number of experi-
ments in our laboratory for its feasibility for denitrification; acetate
 TABLE 111
Performance of a 2.8 liter USB Reactora for Acid Fermentation at 30C Using Sugar-Beet Sap Solutions as Substrate
Date (1975) 9/25 10/11 10/17 11/21 11/28 1214 1/3 1/7 119
Organic load (kg COD.m-Vday) 7 10.2 24.3 18.6 34.6 3 1.7 46.8 83.5 67.3
HRT (day) 0.79 0.5 0.2 1 0.3 0.2 0.23 0.18 0.12 0.13
COD,, (mg/liter) 5510 5090 5100 5580 6930 7300 8430 10040 9070
CODeffb,(mdliter) 5830 4480 - 4970 5770 6630 8850 7215
CODe~~cem(mg/liter) 4830 4090 - 4570 5440 6330 6220 6210 6800
CODVFA,(mg/liter) 4600 3960 3800 4720 4300 4200 6190 5720 6500
PHO 6.5 6.0 6.1 4.6 4.5 4.3 4.9 4.9 4.8
VFAm (mequivlliter) 44 32 30 36 40 46 64 63 71
HCOI alkalinity,, (mequivhter) 75 35 35 17 17 17 40 42 42

VFA composition effluent (% VFA-COD)

% c, 36 26 21 17 25 34 35 43 43
% c, 11 7 8 18 32 48 30 28 28
% i-C, I 0.6 0.3 0.8 1.3 0.9 0.7 0.8 1.4
% c, 30 37 34 34 28 13 31 25 20
%i-t5 1 0.6 0.3 0.6 - - - - 2
% c, 7 8 9 24 7 3 3 4 6 4
% c, 1.3 21 19 5 6 1 - - -
% c, - - - 3 - - - - -
a Experiments conducted over a period of four months of continuous operation. Amount of sludge in the reactor varied between 20-30 g

VSSiliter.
708 LETTINGA ET AL.

solutions as well as an alcoholic waste have been used as the carbon

source in these experiments. The most relevant results obtained in
the experiments will be mentioned here, because they are also
appropriate to the use of the USB process for anaerobic treatment,
such as to the question whether mechanical agitation is required or
not at high hydraulic loads and/or at low organic loads. The exper-
iments have been conducted in 24 and 41 liter reactors both ap-
proximately 1 m in height. The sludge bed compartment of the
reactor was equipped with a central axis, carrying three pitched-
blade turbines in the 24 liter reactor and three anchor-type impellers
in the 41 liter reactor. The main results of these experiments are
contained in Table IV. The performance of the process with respect
to nitrate and/or COD reduction was very satisfactory, even at the
extremely high organic and hydraulic loading rates applied. Again
this should mainly be attributed to the formation of a highly settle-
able (i.e., SVI values approaching 20 ml/g) and active sludge. With
the alcoholic waste a granular sludge (pellets of 1 to 3 mm in diam)
developed in the course of 6-8 weeks.
In order to ensure sufficient contact between sludge and feed
solution-and hence a satisfactory operation with respect to deni-
trification and/or COD-reduction-it appeared necessary to exercise
a moderate-intermittent or continuous-mechanical agitation in
the sludge bed, particularly at high hydraulic loading rates and at
low gas production rates. In this way the formation of cracks and
canals in the sludge bed could be effectively combatted.
A stable, although expanded, sludge bed could be maintained at
superficial velocities as high as 4 d h r . Moreover, in spite of the
mechanical mixing, the sludge retained its high settleability.
In the anaerobic experiments mechanical stirring was always kept
at a minimum, viz. never exceeding 1 min at 10-30 rpm every 10
min. Because of the rather fragile character of anaerobic sludge
flocs, as compared to denitrifying sludge, a more intensive mechan-
ical agitation was considered to be detrimental for the sludge reten-
tion in the reactor. Moreover, in view of the treatment efficiency
obtained and the loading rates applied at that time, there was no
serious need in these particular experiments for a more intensive
agitation than that brought about by the gas production.

Pilot-Plant and Full-scale Studies with the UASB Process

The first pilot-plant experiments have been carried out with sugar-
beet wastes (see Table V for the main characteristics) in close
cooperation with the CSM sugar-beet company. Initially a 6 m3
 TABLE IV
Results of Denitrification Experiments Using the USB Process
COD load Influent Amount of
COD NO,--N sludge in TS in
space load sludge load COD NO,--N HRT reduction reduction reactor sludge bed
(kg.m-Yday) (kgikglday) (mgiliter) (mgiliter) (hr) (%) (%) (g) (giliter)
I ) Experiments with acetate as C sourcea
5.0 0.3-0.33 288 68 1.5 98 100 380 -20
4.8 0.3-0.31 194 44 0.97 90 99 380 25-22
11.1 0.6-0.65 178 36 0.38 55 42 450 42-33

2 ) Experiments with alcoholic-wasteb as C sourceC

19.7 1.1 2600 858 3.2 98 89 700 60
18.8 1.1 1590 426 2.0 97 96 650 47
19.7 1.1 495 163 0.6 93 85 700 31
19.7 1.1 370 123 0.5 91 82 700 -
19.7 1.8 270 89 0.3 92 77 420 -
a USB reactor: 31.2 liter volume; d t = 19 cm, 110 cm height; stirring: 2 sec at 45 rpm every 1-2 min.
Composition of the undiluted waste: methanol: 380 g COD/liter; ethanol: 201 g CODiliter; propanol: 81 g COD/liter; butanol: 76 g COD/
liter.
USB reactor: 41 liter volume; d t = 19 cm; 140 cm height; stirring: 6 sec at 21 rpm every 30-45 sec.
 TABLE V
Main Characteristics of the Different Types of Wastes Used in the Pilot Plant and Full-Scale Experiments

COD CODVFA
Code Origin (mdliter) COD/BOD CODtot PH Total-N Total-P
Sugar-beet wastes (6 m3 pilot plant)
(a) Campaign wastea 1000-4500 .6-2. I 0.5-0.8 6.5-7.5 25- 100 3-30 r
(b) Stored campaign waste 1000-3000 .6-2. I 0.5-0.8 6.5-7.5 40 3
(c) Liquid sugar wasteb 6000- 18000 I .6 0.2 3.8-4.3 30-80 1-3 22
Q
Sugar-beet waste (200 m3 full-scale plant) 9
Campaign" 1000-5500 .6-2. I 0.5-0.85 6.5 30-1 10 5-20 rn
4
9
Potato-processing waste (6 m3 pilot plant) r
Campaignc 2000-5000 I .6 0.08-0.3 4.5 50-100 5-10
a Campaign waste contained varying amounts of suspended matter, viz. generally in the range 0.2- 1.5 g/liter, but occasionally-due to the
presence of clay-reaching values of 1.5-3 g/liter with peak values up to 30 dliter!
Diluted with tap water to 2000-6000 mg COD/liter and supplied with varying amounts of soda or bicarbonate before introducing it in the
reactor.
Supplied with 15-25 mequiv/liter of either bicarbonate (period 0-361) or lime (period 361-438) before it is introduced in the reactor.
 USB REACTOR FOR WASTE TREATMENT 71 1

reactor was used. Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of the re-

actor. In the second stage a 30 m3 reactor twice as high as the 6 m3
reactor (6 instead of 3 m) was tested, in order to obtain additional
data for the design of a full-scale plant. Based on the information
thus obtained, a 200 m3 full-scale plant (4.5 m high) was designed
and built. The full-scale plant (Fig. 3) was put in to operation at the
end of September 1977.
Once the experiments with sugar-beet waste had been completed,
the 6 m3 pilot plant was employed to investigate the anaerobic
treatment for potato processing waste (see Table V). These exper-
iments have been recently ~ o m p l e t e d . ~
In the Netherlands a number of pilot-plant studies are running
presently or will be started in the near future, e.g., with distillery
wastes, vegetable canning wastes, and sewage. Some of these stud-
ies (as was the case for the experiments with sugar-beet wastes)
were made possible through grants of the Ministry of Environmental
Protection. In the next sections the most relevant results obtained
with sugar-beet and potato-processing wastes will be discussed and
evaluated in the light of the experience gained during the laboratory
phase of the investigations.

Start-up
The 6 m3 pilot-plant experiments with both sugar-beet waste and
potato-processing wastes were started up with sludge obtained from
a municipal digester. In view of our laboratory experience much
attention was paid to the start-up procedure, viz. care was taken to
follow as strictly as possible the directions given above. In accord
with the laboratory experience the results indicated that with both
types of waste a well-adapted sludge could be obtained within a
period of 8-12 weeks. Then space loadings up to 10 kg C O D . I ~ - ~ /
day could be handled at 30C and hydraulic loads up to 3 m3-m-3/
day.
The 30 and 200 m3 reactors were seeded with well-adapted sludge
fostered during the former experiments, and no difficulties were
encountered to start the process. Conformably the 200 m3 reactor-
seeded with approximately 1800 kg sludge TS (84% VS)-could
already digest a COD load of 8.5 kg COD*~n-~/day after only 14
days of operation. The start-up after a feed interruption of even a
few weeks never gave any difficulty; the gas production always
remained at the desired level as measured a few hours after feeding
was resumed.
 spray water
I

,1 1.35

m
4
9
r
I
1
9
p q 8-
$18 f -- k
I
Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of the 6 m3 UASB pilot plant as employed in the experiments with sugar-beet and potato-processing wastes,
although the gas-solid separator was slightly different in construction in the latter case. (1) Digestion compartment (4.65 m3); (2) gas seal;
(3) gas bowl; (4) settler compartment (1.15 m3); (5) foam separator; (6) gas meter; (7) water seal; (8) influent buffer with heating and supply
of chemicals and-if desired-of dilution water. Height of the reactor: 3 m; 1.59 m i.d.
 USB REACTOR FOR WASTE TREATMENT 713

Fig. 3. First full-scale UASB plant (200 m3), installed and tested in 1978 at the
CSM sugar-beet factory in Halfweg.

Loading rates and treatment efficiency

As appears from the results presented in Table VI, exceptionally
high organic and hydraulic loading rates were possible in combi-
nation with satisfactory treatment efficiencies. Moreover and per-
haps the more interesting, this ability was observed for both soured
and almost unsoured wastes. The reason for the moderate treatment
efficiency corresponding to the sugar-beet campaign wastewater
probably was the presence of a not unsignificant quantity of finely
dispersed and poorly biodegradable matter in this waste, viz. rang-
ing in the order of 10-20% of the COD. Only 20-25% of this matter
was retained in the reactor.
The process accommodates fairly well to hydraulic and organic
shock loads, temperature fluctuations, and low influent pH values,
provided the digester pH remains well above pH 6.0 and that the
sludge load applied is below the maximum specific COD removal
rate of the sludge at the temperature prevailing in the digester.
From the results presented in Figure 4,which were obtained with
the liquid sugar waste, it appears that a low influent pH value did
not have any detectable harmful effect. The results in this figure do
reveal the adverse effect of a nutrient deficiency, i.e., phosphate in
 TABLE VI
Results Obtained in a 6 m3 Pilot-Plant and 200 m3 Full-scale Plant Experiments, After Adaptation
Maximum loading Treatment efficiency
Influent characteristics rates applied based on
UASB
reactor COD rangea soured organic hydraulic Temp. EcoD,,~ &OD,," -~oD,,,
Type of waste (m3) (mg/liter) (%) (kg COD.~n-~/day) (m-3.m-3/day) ("C) (%) (%) (%) r
Liquid sugar 6 4000-6000 15-25 20-25 4 28-32 92-95 93-98 -
I
3
Campaign waste 6 3500-4000 75 30-32 4-6 28-32 95-80 95-98 - Z
Campaign waste 200 4000-5200 70-90 14-16 3-4 30-34 87-95 - 90-95 Q
9
Potato processing 6 2000-5000 25 3-5 1.2 19 95(92)d - 94
m
(lime used as 6 2000-5000 30 10-15 3 26 95(89) - 98 H
neutralizing 6 2000-5000 12 15-18 4 30 95(89) - 97 9
agent) 6 4000- 16500 8 25-45 6-7 35 93(89) - 96 r
a COD values based on centrifugated samples.
EcoD,,,:based on centrifuged effluent samples and raw influent COD values.
ECODdlm:based on centrifuged influent COD values and effluent COD values determined after flocculation of the sample with 200 mg Fe3+/
liter.
Values in parentheses refer to effluent samples that have been allowed to settle for 30 min.
 USB REACTOR FOR WASTE TREATMENT 715

I n

260 284 308 332 d o y m

Fig. 4. Results of the 6 m3 pilot-plant experiments with liquid sugar waste as feed
(influent COD: 2500-5500 mgfliter). Nutrients were not supplied until day 271, but
beyond day 271 an amount of 6-7 mg P0,3--P/liter was supplied to the influent
solution. Low influent pH values @Hi)during various periods of the experiment
resulted from interruptions in the supply of NaHCO, (Na2C0,) to the feed solutions.

this case. The response of the process upon resuming the supply of
phosphorus was immediate.
Consistent with the laboratory experiments it has been found that
substrate degradation occurred for 80-90% in the lower part of the
reactor. Similar observations have been made with the anaerobic
filter.27,29*32*33
An important reason for this phenomenon is the pres-
ence of a high concentration of active anaerobic sludge in the lower
part of the reactor. A second main cause is the effective mixing
(due to the upward escape of the produced gas) of the incoming
waste flow with the partially purified liquor present in the upper
part of the reactor. The occurrence of colloidal particles and other
suspended solids in specific wastes, and the precipitation, sedimen-
716 LETTINGA ET AL.

tation, and/or entrapment of such undissolved matter are factors of

importance to an efficient substrate removal in the bottom part of
the reactor. These kinds of physical processes have been observed
in our laboratory and elsewhere with various wastes, i.e., potato
starch wastes, dairy wastes, sewage, etc. To what extent absorption
of dissolved compounds may contribute to the COD removal is
insufficiently known as yet.

Sludge characteristics
One of the principal features of the USB process certainly is its
quality to enhance the development of a sludge with a high specific
activity and superior settling properties. The feasibility of the USB
reactor concept for anaerobic treatment, as demonstrated in the
laboratory experiments, has not only been confirmed by the pilot-
plant and full-scale experiments, but in fact appreciable better re-
sults were obtained during this stage of the study. So it was found
that sludge loads could be applied ranging from 0.5-0.8 kg COD/kg
VSS/day for sugar-beet wastes to I .O- I .4 kg COD/kg VSS/day for
potato-processing wastes. Moreover, it was shown in the experi-
ments with potato-processing waste that such loading rates were
possible with almost unsoured wastes, viz. with 10% of the total
COD converted to VFA-COD at the maximum.
Conforming to the results obtained in the laboratory USB exper-
iments with denitrification and acid fermentation (acidogenesis), it
was now found that in due course a significant part of the anaerobic
sludge occurred in a granular form as well. This appeared to be the
case with both the sugar-beet and potato-processing wastes. The
settleability of the granular sludge was somewhat better in compar-
ison to the "flocculated" sludge, viz. SVI,,,, = 10-20 mlig and
SVIfl,, = 20-40 mlig. Accordingly the granular sludge occurred
mainly in the lower regions of the sludge bed. Some scanning elec-
tron micrographs (SEMs) of granular sludge are shown in Figure 5.
From experiments carried out and/or underway in the Nether-
lands with a variety of wastes, we obtained evidence that anaerobic
sludge as a rule exhibits fairly satisfactory flocculation character-
istics, provided the first start-up has been carefully made and that
there is no nutrient deficiency. Moreover, the flocculation ability of
the sludge was shown to depend on the occurrence of divalent
cations (e.g., Ca2+) and of finely dispersed, poorly flocculating,
matter in the waste. Calcium ions have an evident positive effect
on the flocculation ability of anaerobic sludge, presumably mainly
because they improve the mechanical strength of the flocs. The
 USB REACTOR FOR WASTE TREATMENT 717

Fig. 5. SEMs of the surface of an anaerobic sludge granule from the 6 m3 UASB
experiments with potato processing waste (3000 X ) (TFDL, electron microscopy,
Wageningen).

effect of calcium is clearly illustrated in Figure 6, which shows

some relevant results of the experiments with potato waste.'
The results in Figure 6 show that the system responded within a
few days after NaHCO, was substituted by Ca(OH), (7- 12 mequivl
liter) as supplied buffer to the wastewater, i.e., the SVI values of
the sludge decreased and at the same time a comparably sharp
increase of the sludge concentration occurred in the lower regions
of the reactor. An even more pronounced effect of calcium has been
found recently in experiments with a distillery waste, i.e., consisting
of an alcoholic solution in almost salt-free water; here a similar
substitution resulted in an increase of the sludge SVI from 100-150
to 30-40 ml/g within a few weeks.39
718 LETTINGA ET AL.

C O D - l o a d (kg/rn:/doy)
x x
S V I (rnl/g)
50- 25

40
20

20
space load+ -
,-- + 15
10-

0 . I 10

I
1
0 I

100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450

day no
Fig. 6. Results of experiments in the 6 m3 UASB pilot plant with potato pro-
cessing waste.' COD reduction vaned from 70-90% on the basis of raw effluent
samples, from 85-98% on the basis of centrifuged effluent samples, and from 85-
95% on the basis of settled (30 min) effluent samples (compare Table VI).

Some additional settling tests with digested sewage sludge have

been conducted in order to illustrate the effect of the presence of
different concentrations of Mg2+,Ca2+,and Ba2+salts in the sludge.
As an index for the flocculation ability of the sludge we have used
the amount of sludge remaining in the supernatant. The results in
Table VII clearly indicate the positive effect of these salts. As the
experiments were conducted at a pH of about 6.0, the effect should
be attributed mainly to the ionic forms of these elements and not to
a clarification brought about by the precipitation of CaCO, and
BaCO,. Likewise, the improvement of the sludge settleability in the
UASB experiments as a result of the presence of calcium in the
waste certainly should not be exclusively attributed to a possible
entrapment of precipitated CaCO, in the sludge; the ash content of
well-settling anaerobic sludge is striking low!
 USB REACTOR FOR WASTE TREATMENT 719

Finely dispersed, poorly flocculating, matter exerts an adverse

effect on the flocculation of the sludge, and therefore on the sludge
retention of the reactor. This has been particularly observed in the
laboratory experiments with a simulated closed sugar-beet waste-
water circuit.2 The suspended matter accumulating in the circuit,
which probably mainly consisted of acid-forming organisms, greatly
hampered the reflocculation of disintegrated sludge flocs especially
at concentrations exceeding approximately 1000 mg/liter. Similar
indications have been obtained in the 6 m3 pilot-plant experiments
with sugar-beet campaign waste. Here the dispersed organic matter
reached concentrations up to 1500 mg/liter at the end of the cam-
paign. Neither in the laboratory nor in the pilot-plant or full-scale
experiments was this organic matter retained in the reactor for more
than 20-25%. As a rule sugar-beet campaign waste also contains
varying quantities of dispersed inorganic matter (mainly clay); oc-
casionally concentrations exceeding I g/liter may occur. This matter
is retained to some extent in the reactor. The retention of inorganic
solids is clearly reflected in the trend of the volatile solids content
curve of the sludge as illustrated in Figure 7.
As shown in Figure 7 a sharp decrease in the fraction of volatile
matter of the sludge occurs beyond day 80. This was caused by the
exceptionally high quantity of inorganic sludge solids (SS) in the
1974 campaign wastewater, viz. 0.5-1.5 g/liter at the average with
peaks during some days occasionally reaching values up to 30 gi
liter.
In the 1975 campaign wastewater (period 436-524) the quantity

TABLE VII
Results of Settling Tests with an Anaerobic Sludge Conducted
in the Presence of Increasing Concentrations of Divalent
Cationsa
SS in supernatant solution
Cation Conc. 10 20 40 100
added cation added (mgiliter)
800-1000

Mgz+ 750 680 580 580

CaZ+ 480 365 140 120
BaZ+ 550 350 160 30
a The numerical values represent the sludge concentration (in

mg SS/liter) remaining in the supernatant after 45 min of settling

(sludge TS: 50-60 giliter).
720 LETTINGA ET AL.
type of waste
t" 'b" I ~ ' ; ;b', ' ' I i i i ! , ~ ~ ~ i I I J
IC
0
mm
O
CODlTS- rut^^ d the 51uq*
0
coops

'4 o o
0
O - 1 "

xo

Y
-x- -x-
rsludgenreactm
skidge in effluent
-%< -x & L x /

of ash content of the sludge remains a t about the same level. The
results obtained thus far in the various experiments indicate that
the accumulation of clay in the sludge will be limited, as long as the
sludge mainly consists of granular material and the quantity of clay
in the wastewater is below 0.25 g/liter.

Dynamic behavior of the sludge blanket (bed)

The presence of the different types of sludge is reflected in TS
profiles determined over the height of the reactor. Some profiles
are shown in Figure 8. The specific shape of a profile, which is no
more than an instantaneous shot, depends strongly on the pattern
of hydraulic and organic loading during a longer or shorter period
preceding the sampling moment. Many hours or even days may
pass before a steady profile is reestablished once the loading rates
and/or other factors affecting the state of the sludge bed have been
altered. Although the sludge bed may be composed of two or more
distinct parts, the blanket as a whole should be considered as a
coherent dynamic unity, even if it extends within the settler com-
partment.
At low loading rates the sludge appears to be already markedly
expanded, mainly as a result of occluded gas. As was observed,
 USB REACTOR FOR WASTE TREATMENT 72 1

particularly in the small pilot-plant experiments conducted in the

laboratory, the occluded gas occasionally causes smaller or larger
parts of the bed to move upwards, inducing a more or less pulse-
like liberation of the entrapped gas and a local turnover of the
sludge bed (vertical mixing of the sludge). At increasing gas pro-
duction the gas eruptions succeed each other more rapidly, giving
the surface of the sludge blanket somewhat of the appearance of a
boiling fluid, ejecting gas bubbles and sludge particleshlocs. The
half-freed particles eventually become liberated from the blanket
through the tearing forces of fast upward moving separate gas bub-
bles. They are kept dispersed in the liquid bulk above the sludge
blanket as a result of the agitation caused by the gas bubbles. When
the concentration increases here the reflocculation to larger-more
easily settling-flocs may gradually improve, ultimately leading to
a balance between sludge ejection from and entrapment in the sludge
blanket. The gas-solids separator has an important function in the
reflocculation of the sludge. This point will be discussed below.

Sludge retention in an UASB reactor

The sludge retention of an UASB reactor primarily depends on
the sludge settleability. In turn, the sludge settleability is closely

height (rn)
&y 411 day 424

HRT = 6

1.0
Mt=128
0
0 2 0 4 0 6 0 0 2 0 4 0 6 0
day 430

2.0 HRT = 3.9

1.0
M t= 149 Mt = 205
0
0 xf 40 60 0 20 40 60
sludge T.SA kg/rn3)

Fig. 8. Some T S profdes as measured in the 6 m3 pilot-plant experiments with

potato-processing waste^.^ (0) Organic space load applied (kg COD.m-Yday); HRT
= hydraulic retention time (hr).
122 LETTINGA ET AL.

connected to the waste characteristics (i.e., Ca2+ concentration,

nature of pollutants, and presence of dispersed poorly flocculating
matter), the start-up procedure followed, and the time past since
start-up. For a given situation (reactor, waste, and sludge) the
sludge retention is essentially determined by operational factors
such as the hydraulic and organic loading rates.
The effect of the hydraulic loading rate on the sludge retention
is closely related to the agitation intensity in the sludge bed. In the
absence of mechanical mixing or mixing through gas evolution, the
wastewater may find its way through the bed predominantly via
canals and cracks formed in the bed, leaving the thickened character
of the main part of the sludge unaffected. This has been demon-
strated in the laboratory USB reactor for denitrification as well as
in adsorption experiments in a fluidized bed of flocculated activated
carbon.40In both cases mechanical agitation was required to ensure
a sufficient liquid-solids contact. If mechanical agitation is applied,
the sludge bed expansion will increase appreciably with an increas-
ing hydraulic load, and consequently the quantity of sludge that can
be retained in the reactor will decrease.
In view of what has been discussed in the preceding paragraphs
the organic loading rate (gas production) is a rather crucial factor
for the sludge retention of the reactor. Already at low loading rates
a marked expansion of the sludge bed always occurs. There is little
doubt that at increasing organic load (and gas production), a con-
traction of the bed will soon take place, although it is uncertain at
present to what extent and at what load. The improved agitation
brought about by the increased gas production will result in a de-
crease of the hold-up of entrapped gas and-even more important-
will improve the thickening of the sludge. Moreover, also certainly
the formation as well as the erosion of granular sludge will be
affected by the gas production rate. At present the effect of the gas
production on either of these factors is insufficiently known. The
results obtained up to now-especially those obtained with potato
wastewater-do not indicate that the sludge retention is adversely
affected by the gas production. As a matter of fact the contrary has
been found. This is illustrated by the results of the potato waste-
water experiments, as summarized in Table VIII. In all situations
considered in Table VIII, the sludge bed was expanded (compare
Fig. 8) over almost the entire reactor height. Despite the exception-
ally high loading rates applied, the data in Table VIII indicate that
there is an evident increase in the amount of sludge retained in the
reactor. Attempts to incorporate the effect of the hydraulic and
 C
vl
TABLE VIII W
Effect of a Stepwise Increase of the Organic Load (and Gas Production Rate) on the Sludge Retention in the 6 m3 UASB Reactor as Found ga
m
in the Experiments with Potato Wastewatera
Sludge
Ael
Loading rates Gas productionb Weight characteristics B
of sludge ~
- vl
organic hydraulic retained 0
ga
Day No. (kg~m-~/day) (~n~.m-~/day) ( m3/day) ( m3.m-V hr) (kg) %VS SVI E
41 1 I5 3.7 36 3.0 I14 81
16 ?i
424 17 4 41 3.4 I28 82.5 16 rn
430 30 6.2 73 6.0 149 83 16 4
ga
43 8 40 7 97 8. I 205 83 16 m
a Compare Figure 8 for sludge profiles over the height of the reactor. %
Gas surface load in the gas collector. E?
5

4
W
N
724 LETTINGA ET AL

organic loading rates in a dynamic model are being made at the

Delft Technical University by Heertjes and van der M e e ~ . ~ l

Sludge washout
Sludge washout is closely connected to the amount of finely
dispersed sludge present in the reactor, and therefore to the factors
that are important in this respect.
Some relevant data concerning the washout of sludge from the
200 m5 reactor in the treatment of sugar-beet campaign wastewater
have been summarized in Table IX.
Concerning the washout of sludge three situations should be dis-
tinguished:
a) The top of the sludge blanket remains well below the effluent
weir of the reactor. Under such circumstances sludge washout is
considerably less than sludge accretion from growth. This is even
more true because the sludge lost with the effluent generally will
not consist completely of bioactive matter. A considerable part of
the effluent suspended solids may originate from suspended solids
supplied with the influent solution; this has been particularly ob-
served for sugar-beet campaign waste. Moreover, strong indications
have been obtained that a majority of the bioactive sludge can be
recovered from the effluent by plain sedimentation.
b) The sludge blanket reaches the effluent weir under steady
loading conditions. In this situation the washout of sludge and the
accretion of sludge by growth will range over a similar order of
magnitude per unit of time.
c) An excessive expansion of the sludge blanket may occur as a
result of a shock loading or due to suddenly deteriorating conditions
(i.e., nutrient deficiency, high concentrations of finely dispersed
poorly flocculating matter, etc.). Under such circumstances a tem-
porary drastic washout of the sludge may occur and last until a new
steady bed has been established.

Gas-solids separator
Apart from some technical imperfections the performance of the
gas-solids separator originally employed in the 6 m3 reactor (see
Fig. 2 ) was fairly satisfactory. Nevertheless, considerable effort
was made to develop a more sophisticated device. However, as, in
fact, none of the alternative means proved to be more effective nor
were simpler in construction, they will not be discussed here. It
should be emphasized that no additional measures are required to
 TABLE IX
Suspended Solids Washout as Found in 6 m3 Pilot-Plant and Full-Scale Experiments with the UASB Process
SS washout
Total amount of sludge in reactor
COD space after 30 min
Period of load HRT total settling
experiment (kg.m?/day) (hr) (mg SS-COWg CODinfla) (kg TS) (kg vol TS)
I ) Potato waste (6 m3 pilot plant)b
408-4 13 10-13 6.3 70- 120 40-80 110-120 89-97
423-427 15-17 6.0 70-90 - 125-130 110-114
429-434 22-30 3.9 60-90 30-50 145-155 127-136
436-440 33-43 3.5 40-1 10 30-50 200-2 10 174-183
SS washout Total amount of sludge in reactor
COD space load HRT (mg SS-CODa/g
Day (kg.w3/day) (hr) COD,"fl) (kg TS) (kg vol TS)
2) Sugar-beer waste (200 m3 full-scale plant)c
54 11.2 6.7 100 6500 2280
61 13.9 7.6 60 6650 2530
68d 12.9 7.5 200 6650 2530
75 14.0 8 74 6500 -
a SS COD-content in potato wastes varied between 100-150 mg CODig CODinn,and in the sugar beet waste between 70-150 mg COD/g
CODlnnduring the experimental periods considered.
Sludge growth: 0.18-0.20 g sludge-COD/g CODlnn(30C); 0.26-0.30 g sludge-CODig CODinfl(20C).
Sludge growth: 0.08-0.16 sludge-CODig CODim.
Only 20% of COD was present as VFA-COD, whereas this was 80-85% during the other days.
726 LETTINGA ET AL.

enhance the return of the sludge from the settler back into the
digester compartment, provided that a number of conditions are
fulfilled, viz.:
a) The inclined wall of the settler should be at an angle of ap-
proximately 50".
b) The surface load of the settler should be kept below about 0.7
m/hr, and the average flow through the aperture between the gas
collectors below about 2 m/hr.
c) The development and maintenance of a well settling sludge
should be enhanced by adequate measures.
d) The sludge present at the liquid-gas interface in the gas col-
lector should be kept well immersed.
e) Excessive foaming in the gas collector should be prevented.
The first two conditions can be readily met by selecting a proper
depth-area ratio for the reactor. For low-strength wastes this factor
is primarily dictated by the restrictions placed on the surface load.
For medium- and high-strength wastes the volume of gas released
per unit of cross-sectional area may become the threshold criterion
at extreme high loading rates. However, in view of the results
obtained until now, little if any difficulties are expected provided
that loading rates exceeding 20 kg.~n-~/day are avoided and that the
height of the reactor remains below about 10 m. In order to meet
the third condition an appropriate insight into the factors controlling
the settleability of the sludge is required. As will be discussed in
more detail below, the best guarantee for the formation and main-
tenance of a good settling sludge is to keep the conditions for
flocculation as favorable as possible. The performance of the gas-
solids separator is closely connected to the conditions for floccu-
lation prevailing within the system, because its operation is based
on a combined process of sedimentation, flocculation, and-if pres-
ent-sludge blanket filtration. As a matter of fact the flocculation,
sedimentation, and filtration processes already start in or even
below the aperture between the gas collector and reactor wall.
In order to prevent any difficulty with buoying sludge the gas-
liquid interface in the gas collector should be kept well stirred. The
surface area of the interface should be dimensioned so that en-
trapped gas can readily escape. If not, buoying sludge will be pushed
through the aperture into the settling compartment, which may
result in a poor sedimentation performance of this device and little
return of sludge. It must be emphasized that an effective separation
of entrapped or attached gas from the sludge flocs, before the sludge
enters the settling compartment, is a primary condition for good
 USB REACTOR FOR WASTE TREATMENT 727

operation of the gas-solids separator. At high organic loading rates

the agitation caused by gas evolution will usually be sufficient to
prevent an excessive buoying of sludge. However, at low organic
loading rates-depending upon the design of the gas-solids sepa-
rator (i.e., liquid surface area) and the type of waste treated-some
form of mechanical agitation of the gas-liquid interface in the gas
collector may be required. This applies in particular to wastes that
can readily form a scum layer, i.e., dairy wastes' and raw sewage.
Excessive foaming has only been observed in the event of rela-
tively poor treatment efficiencies-due to overloading or a nutrient
deficiency-and at very high gas production rates. However, with
both the sugar-beet and potato-processing wastes foaming could
always be effectively repressed by adding a small quantity of anti-
foaming agent to the feed solution. According to our laboratory
results more difficulties may be expected in this respect if the wastes
treated are relatively rich in proteins, such as potato starch waste-
water.

DISCUSSION

The results obtained so far clearly demonstrate the feasibility of

the USB reactor concept for anaerobic treatment. This certainly
also applies to acid fermentation and denitrification. The UASB
process matches its simplicity in construction and operation with
its ability to tolerate extremely high organic and hydraulic loading
rates, viz. exceeding 30 kg COD-m-3/day and 8 m3/m3/day,respec-
tively. Obviously for practical reasons such excessive loading rates
should not be pursued. From an economic viewpoint there is hardly
any argument to justify such excessive claims. Moreover, to a
certain extent, overcapacity is always desirable for the sake of
process stability but also with a view to a possible future expanding
production.
In terms of construction the UASB process is very simple indeed.
As was shown in the experiments with sugar-beet and potato-pro-
cessing wastes the reactor requires no specific mechanical parts.
However, in other situations provisions for mechanical agitation at
the gas-liquid interface or in the digester compartment may be
useful or even necessary. This is certainly the case if wastes com-
posed of mainly undissolved solids must be treated. Either an in-
termittent or a continuous agitation mode should be applied, in
order to prevent an accumulation of biodegradable waste solids in
the lower part of the reactor and/or to ensure a good contact be-
728 LETTINGA ET AL.

tween bacteria and substrate (i.e., at low gas production rates or

high hydraulic loading rates). At present no decisive answer can be
given on the best way of mixing; tentatively, gas recirculation seems
to be the most suitable method.
However, provided that the reactor is equipped with any appro-
priate system to cause the degree of turbulence required, the UASB
process proves to be a suitable method to treat wastes with a high
concentration of undissolved solids.42Obviously in this respect the
behavior of the AF is different, although it appears, according to
McCarty and to personal observations of the authors, that a small
amount of biodegradable suspended solids can be accepted by an
AF. Colloidal suspensions can be handled' by the AF if coagulation
remains insignificant. Taking into consideration the lack of an ef-
fective mixing of the solids in the AF process, it is obvious that this
process is more sensitive to low influent pH values, to the presence
of toxic compounds, and to shock loadings than the UASB process.
Moreover, as a result of the less efficient contact between active
sludge and substrate (i.e., blocking of canals, etc.), loading rates as
high as in the UASB process are impossible with the AF process,
even if the loss of actual volume by filter media is accounted for.
As has been already mentioned no additional equipment (i.e., the
installation of a scraper system) is necessary to ensure the return
of settled sludge from the settler to the digester compartment. In
fact, the upward liquid flow through the aperture between the gas
collectors fluctuates considerably, depending on the local gas erup-
tions in the sludge bed. Occasionally (everywhere in the passage)
a temporary downward flow may even occur, thus facilitating (ini-
tiating) the backsliding of agglomerate sludge particles into the
digester compartment. Simple solutions for the construction of a
large-scale UASB plant are shown in Figure 9.
Undoubtedly one of the main features of the USB process is the
development of a highly settleable sludge, more especially the for-
mation of the granular sludge. The results obtained so far with the
UASB process indicate that the pellet formation (size enlargement)
proceeds fairly slowly with anaerobic sludge; viz. in the order of
months. As has been shown in the laboratory this process proceeds
considerably faster for denitrification and acid fermentation. The
mechanism underlying the size enlargement process is not yet suf-
ficiently understood and will therefore be subjected to further study
in our laboratory. However, a number of factors have been recog-
nized to play an important role in this process, namely:
1) The presence of sufficient nutrients and other requirements for
 USB REACTOR FOR WASTE TREATMENT 729

Fig. 9. Schematic diagrams of a large-scale UASB plant. (a) Rectangular reactor;

(b) cylindrical reactor. (1) Sludge bed; (2) bulk of liquid with suspended sludge; (3)
gas bowl (collector);(4) gas seal; (5) feed inlet; (6) settler compartment; (7) launderer;
(8) gas collector with gas outlet pipe to (3); (9) water seal.

bacterial growth and for the formation of the bonding agents re-
sponsible for the solid links between the bacterial cells (compare
the SEMs of granular sludge as shown in Fig. 5).
2) The continuous removal (washout) of non- or poorly floccu-
lating finely dispersed matter from the system, present in or formed
from the feed.
3) The creation and maintenance of conditions favorable to the
flocculation process in order to improve the development of gran-
ular sludge, i.e., presence of Ca2+ions, and absence of high con-
centrations of finely dispersed poorly flocculating matter.
4) The homogeneous and gentle agitation brought about by the
gas production. Being mixed in this way rather effectively in the
vertical direction, the sludge is exposed to varying forces of gravity
compression (thickening).
Except through the action of bacterial growth in and on the sludge
flocs, the formation of granular sludge is presumably mainly driven
by gravity compression forces. Sludge thickening is stimulated by
increasing the height of the sludge blanket and-within certain lim-
130 LETTINGA ET AL.

its-also by increasing the stirring intensity. These two factors may

at least partly explain the significant improvement in sludge reten-
tion observed upon scaling up the reactor (from 0.3- 1 .O m labora-
tory scale to 3 m pilot-plant scale), and upon increasing gas pro-
duction (see Fig. 6). Contrary to earlier pre~urnptions,~,~ the
presence of clay or other inorganic particles seems to be harmful to
the formation of granular sludge. As was shown in the experiments
with liquid sugar and potato wastes, granular sludge is fairly well
formed in the absence of dispersed inorganic matter. The granular
sludge then has a very high volatile solids content; SEMs indicate
that probably a significant part of the organic matter consists of
bacteria. This observation is supported by the fact that the nitrogen
content of the volatile moiety of the granular sludge is in the range
of 11- 12.5%, whereas it was about 5-7% in the seed sludge.
It should be recognized that besides the formation of sludge
granules, erosion also takes place in the sludge bed under the influ-
ence of friction forces to which the sludge flocs are exposed; in
particular, at high mixing intensities. As was already mentioned, a
better insight into the factors determining the mechanical strength
of the sludge particles should be gained. Once more emphasis is
laid on the significance of the first start-up to the quality of the
sludge obtained. Sludge of a superior quality develops if the process
is started up cautiously according to the directions outlined in the
previous section.
What remains to be briefly discussed are the prospects of the
two-phase concept for the anaerobic treatment of more complex
wastewaters, viz. consisting of almost unsoured dissolved and/or
undissolved solids. The results obtained in the pilot-plant experi-
ments with either liquid-sugar or potato-processing wastes are cer-
tainly disclosing and rather unexpected as far as the utility of the
two-phase concept is concerned. In spite of the underlying philos-
ophy, the two-phase ~ o n c e p t ~and
~ * more
~' or less contrary to the
experience obtained from the laboratory experiments with sugar
sap solution^,^^^ the necessity of separating the stages of acid and
methane fermentation has been rejected by the pilot-plant experi-
ments for both types of wastes considered. Apparently in a well-
adapted system with almost unsoured wastes acidogenesis and
methanogenesis can proceed simultaneously fairly well. In the ex-
periments with potato-processing waste (see Table V) it even ap-
peared that the rapid growth of the unsoured fraction at the sharply
increased organic loads did not affect to any noticeable extent the
performance efficiency of the process.
 USB REACTOR FOR WASTE TREATMENT 73 1

How far these findings may apply to other types of waste is

uncertain at present, but undoubtedly there are wastes for which a
phase-separation may be very useful. We recently obtained ev-
idence that such might be the case for methanolic waste^.^' The
same may hold for wastes with a high fraction of undissolved matter.
However, more research is required before decisive judgments can
be made. Special attention should be given in this respect to the
significance of optimum start-up and to the development of a gran-
ular type of sludge.

CONCLUSIONS

1) The USB reactor concept has been found to be very promising

for anaerobic treatment of low-strength wastes. Full-scale and pilot-
plant experiments using sugar-beet and potato-processing wastes
revealed that exceptionally high organic and hydraulic loading rates
(up to 25 kg COD.m-3/day and 5 m3.m-3/day at 30C, respectively)
can be satisfactorily handled in an USB reactor, once the sludge
has been adapted to the waste.
Results of small pilot-plant-scale experiments conducted in the
laboratory indicate that the USB reactor concept is also feasible for
denitrification and acid fermentation.
2) The use of an USB reactor promotes the development of a
sludge of superior quality with respect to settling characteristics
and specific activity. Presumably this is the result of a combination
of factors, i.e.:
The sludge is exposed to varying forces of gravity compression
(dependent on the height of the sludge bed, sludge concentration,
and place of the sludge in the reactor).
Growth will take place in and on the sludge flocs/particles present.
Disintegration (erosion) of sludge flocs/particles is kept at a min-
imum by allowing only a gentle and homogeneous agitation mode,
e.g., as resulting from the escape of produced gas.
An important additional factor in the development of sludge of
desired quality is the creation and maintenance of favorable con-
ditions for flocculation within the system, i.e., the presence of Ca2+
ions, adequate mixing, and the absence of a high concentration of
poorly flocculating suspended matter in the wastewater. Moreover,
sufficient nutrients should be present and available to ensure bac-
terial growth.
3) In terms of construction the USB process is very simple.
732 LETTINGA E T AL.

Except if applied at low organic loads (2-4 kg COD.m-3/day), at

high hydraulic loads (3-4 m3.md3/day)and in treating wastes con-
taining a significant amount of undissolved solids, there will be no
need for any form of mechanical mixing.
Concerning the construction of the gas-solids separator, it should
be looked after a ready liberation of adherent/entrapped gas in
bouying sludge (i.e., a well-mixed liquid-gas interface in the gas
collector of sufficient area). Moreover, the inclined walls of the
settler should be at an angle of approximately 50, in order to
facilitate the return of the collected sludge back into the digester
compartment.
4) The results obtained with unsoured or slightly soured sugar-
beet and potato-processing wastes indicate that there does not exist
any real need to separate the acid and methane fermentation phases,
provided the sludge is well adapted.

References
1 . G. Lettinga and A. F. M.van Velsen, H 2 0 ,7, 281 (1974).
2. G. Lettinga, J. van der Ben, and J . van der Sar, H@, 9, 38 (1976).
3. P. J. Schellekens, Feasibility of anaerobic treatment for wastes of the food
industry, Agricultural University of Wageningen, Internal report no. 7 6 5 , 1976 [in
Dutch].
4. G. Lettinga, A. G. N. Jansen, and P. Terpstra, H@, 8, 530 (1975).
5. G. Lettinga, K. Ch. Pette, R. d e Wetter, and E. Wind, HZO,10, 526 (1977).
6. G. Lettinga, K. Ch. Pette, R. de Wetter, and E. Wind, Anaerobic treatment
of sugar beet waste water at pilot plant scale, final report, September, 1977 [in
Dutch].
7. A. J. Versprille, Anaerobic treatment of potato processing wastes, report
216, 1978 IBVL, Box 18, 6700 AA Wageningen [in Dutch].
8. K. Ch. Pette, Anaerobic treatment of sugar beet waste in 200 m3 full scale
plant, report in preparation [in Dutch].
9. G. Lettinga and J. Stellema, H@, 7, 129 (1974).
10. G. Lettinga, Feasibility of anaerobic digestion for the purification of indus-
trial waste water, in 4th European Sewage and Refuse Symposium (EAS, Munich,
1978).
1 I . R. R. Dague, R. E . McKinney, and Y. T. Pfeffer, J . Water Pollut. Control
Fed., 38, 221 (1966); 42, R29 (1970).
12. D. Newton, H. Keinath, and L. S. Hillis, Pilot plant studies for the evaluation
of methods of treating brewery wastes, in Proceedings of the 16th Industrial Waste
Conference (Purdue U. P., Lafayette, IN, 1962), p. 332.
13. M. B. Rands and D. E. Cooper, Development and operation of a low cost
anaerobic plant for meat waste, in Proceedings of the 2lst Industrial Waste Con-
ference (Purdue U. P., Lafayette, IN,1966), p. 613.
14. A. J . Steffen and M. Bedker, Operation of full-scale anaerobic contact
 USB REACTOR FOR WASTE TREATMENT 733

treatment plant for meat packing wastes, in Proceedings of the 16th Industrial
Waste Conference (Purdue U. P., Lafayette, IN, 1962) p. 423.
15. J. T. Ling, Pilot investigation of starch-glutek waste treatment, in Pro-
ceedings of the 16th Industrial Waste Conference (Purdue U. p., Lafayette, IN,
1966), p. 217.
16. C. A. Cowie, Industrial waste treatment and disposal in New Zealand, in
15th Industrial Waste Conference (Purdue U. P., Lafayette, IN, 1965). p. 1%.
17. G. J . Schroepfer and N. R. Ziemke, Sewage Ind. Wastes, 31, 164,697 (1959).
18. R. Kohler, Wasser Lufl Betr., 17, 10, 342 (1973); Branntweinwirtschaft, 12,
264 (1974).
19. L. van den Berg and C. P. Lentz, Food processing waste treatment by
anaerobic digestion, in Proceedings of the 32nd Industrial Waste Conference (Pur-
due U. P., Lafayette, IN, 1977).
20. S . Schlegel, Wasser Lufr Betr., 19, 447 (1975).
21. M. G. Black, J. M. Brown, and E. Kaye, Water Pollut. Control Fed., 73(5),
532 (1974).
22. A. V. Babayants, Ya. A. Khanukaere, A. V. Korchinskii, L. N. Kondova,
and A. A. Petrenko, Appl. Biochem. Microbiol., 7 (l), 35 (1973).
23. J. B. Coulter and M. B. Ettinger, Sew. Ind. Wastes, 29, 468 (1957);J . Water
Pollut. Control Fed., 33, 1045 (1961).
24. J. Hemens, P. G. J. Meiring, and G. J. Stander, Water Waste Treatment, 9,
16 (1962).
25. G. J . Stander, G. C. Cillie, W. R. Ross, and R. D. Baillie, Treatment of wine
distillery wastes by gnaerobic digestion, in Proceedings of the 22nd Industrial
Waste Conference (Purdue U. P., Lafayette, IN, 1%7), p. 892.
26. G. C. Cillie, M. R. Henzen, G. J. Stander, and R. D. Baillie, Water Res., 3,
623 (1969).
27. J. C. Young and P. L. McCarty, The anaerobic filter for waste treatment,
in Ref. 25, J. Water Pollut. Control Fed., 41, R 160 (1969).
28. C. R. Lovan and E. G. Force, The anaerobic filter for the treatment of
brewery press liquor waste, in Proceedings of the 26th Industrial Waste Conference
(Purdue U. P., Lafayette, IN, 1971), p. 1074.
29. G. Lettinga, P. G. Fohr, and G. G. W. Janssen, H a 5 (22), 510 (1972).
30. A. T. El-Shafe and D. E. Bloodgood, J. Water Pollut. Control Fed., 45, 2345
(1973).
31. G. Lettinga, A. Th. van der Geest, J. van der Laan, and S. Hobma, Anaer-
obic treatment of methanolic wastes, Water Res., 13, 725 (1979).
32. Th. van Bellegem and G. Lettinga, Anaerobic treatment of wastes of fenpeat-
colonial industries, report 1976, Proefstation van Aardappelverwerking, Groningen
[in Dutch].
33. A. H. Plummer and J. F. Malina, Stabilization of a low solids carbohydrate
waste by an anaerobic submerged fdter, in Proceedings of the 23rd Industrial
Waste Conference (Purdue U. P., Lafayette, IN, 1968), p. 462.
34. W. A. Pretoruis, Water Res., 5 , 681 (1971).
35. D. E. Simpson, Water Res., 5 , 523 (1971).
36. S. Ghosh, J . R. Conrad, and D. L . Klass, J. Water Pollut. Control Fed., 47,
30 (1975).
37. F. G. Pohland and S. Ghosh, Environ. Lett., 1(4), 255 (1971).
38. A. Cohen, R. J . Zoetemeyer, and J . G. v.Andel, H a , 10, 2% (1977).
734 LETTINGA ET AL.

39. A. J. van der Vlugt, Zuidnederlandse spiritusfabriek, Bergen op Zoom, private

communication.
40. G . Lettinga, W. A. Beverloo, and W. C. van Lier, Prog. WaferZechnol., 10,
(1/2), 537 (1978).
41. P. M. Heertjes and R. R. van der Meer, Biofechnol.Bioeng., 20, 1577 (1978).
42. A . F. M. van Velsen, E. van het Oever, and G. Lettinga, H @ , 12, 59 (1979).

Accepted for Publication May 31, 1979