The efficiency of a sistem of anaerobic reactors treating swine wastewater

The efficiency of a sistem of anaerobic reactors treating swine wastewater. Great attention has been given by environmental agencies concerning swine raising, due to the high pollutant potential of this type of activity. The challenge of Brazilian farmers is to produce, in an intensive form, high quality meat that is environmentally sustainable at the same time. Therefore, anaerobic treatment systems, such as those surveyed in this work, have gained attention in large-scale production. In this research, the installed units were: static screen (SS), equalization acidification tank (EAT), anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR), an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor (UASB), and a sedimentation tank. The treatment system showed the following values of efficiency: 91.50, 85.24, 80.46, 81.34, 79.15, 23.20 and 70.28% in the removal of BOD5, CODtotal, total solids, fixed solids, volatile solids, total phosphorus, and oil & greases, respectively. The RAC and UASB reactors worked with a HRT of 15.4 and 9.7 hours, respectively. The hydraulic loading rate (HLR) was 1.57 m(3) m(-3)day(-1) for the ABR, and 2.5 m(3) m(-3) day(-1) for the UASB reactor; volumetric loading rate (VLOR) of 4.46 m(3) m(-3) day(-1) for the ABR, and 1.77 m(3) m(-3)day(-1) for the UASB reactor. The average biogas production of the UASB reactor, measured through a gasmeter, was 437.08 L day(-1).