Whereas a myriad of possible factors have been reported which effect the formation of granules in a upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor and influence their properties, there is no study on the effect of vitamins on the granulation of UASB reactor sludge. The present study was undertaken to bridge this gap. It was seen that vitamins helped in better granule formation--as reflected by favorable size distribution, sludge volume index, and settling velocity--compared to controls. The vitamin-spiked reactors also achieved >85% COD removal efficiency in half the number of days the unspiked reactors took. The vitamin supplements were effective at concentrations ≤ 1 mg/l. Hence, their use in expediting granule formation as also in developing better-quality granules appears economically viable.

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