Experience on anaerobic treatment of distillery effluent with the UASB process

Abstract

Since the development of the UASB process in the 1970s this process has been widely applied for the treatment of industrial effluents. Effluents from alcohol producing industries are mostly highly polluted and therefore in principle very suitable for anaerobic treatment. Distilleries use different kinds of raw materials such as sugar cane juice, sugar cane molasses, sugar beet molasses, wine or corn for the production of alcohol. The use of different materials and the different processes applied, result in a wide variety of effluents produced. The process conditions under which good results of the anaerobic process are obtained depend heavily on the type of distillery effluent being treated. The choice of the right set of process parameters for every type of distillery effluent has shown to be of crucial importance for the anaerobic process. Experience of anaerobic treatment on effluents from different alcohol-producing industries over a long term period are discussed. Special attention is given to the treatment of effluents from sugar cane based distilleries with very high COD concentration of 60 000 to 160 000 mg COD 1−1. Despite expected toxicity problems arising from the high concentrations of COD, sulfide and salts, anaerobic treatment with the UASB process proved to be successful in treating distillery effluent.

Post-treatment of Distillery Wastewater after UASB using Aerobic Techniques

“…These values were found to be similar to those previously reported by Wolmarans and De Villiers (2002), Moosbrugger et al (1993) and Driessen et al (1994). The large fluctuations in the characteristics of wine distillery wastewater can be attributed to the type of product generated, the type of feedstock used and the distillery-specific integrated waste management practices adopted.…”

Removal of Biological Organic Matter and Suspended Solid from Textile Wastewater Using Anaerobic-Aerobic Process: A Review of an Industrial Implementation

“…Significant amount of nitrification was reported in their experiment which reduced the organic matter [8]. Driessen was reduced 80-85% of BOD 5 of waste water in the lab scale combined treatment system in Germany [17].…”

Leachate Treatment Using Up-Flow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket System

“…On day-9 and further, still increase although the rate are quite constant. COD removal efficiencies in the range of 60-95% can be achieved depending on the process conditions [4], proven that UASB can remove COD, beside the zeolite also can help in process of removal. Therefore, this experiment succeed in removing average 74% COD where the raw concentration is 14 640 mg/L until day-30 decrease to 2,330 mg/L.…”