CHARACTERIZATION AND MODELING OF THE HYDRAULIC BEHAVIOR OF A UASB REACTOR CHARACTERIZATION AND MODELING OF THE HYDRAULIC BEHAVIOR OF A UASB REACTOR

Abstract

The conversion rate of organic matter in a bioreactor depends on two main factors: the reactor’s biological and hydraulic activity (Peña, Mara, & Avella, 2006). It is therefore necessary to understand treatment systems’ hydraulic behavior by using tracer substances in order to determine flow behavior: piston, complete mix, dispersion; the existence of dead zones, short circuits, advective flows, and real hydraulic retention time. The goal of this article is to model the hydraulic behavior of a UASB (Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket) system through a tracer test using rhodamine WT and the stimulus-response technique. The non-ideal flow models used were the tanks in series model and the dispersion model. We thereby determined that the UASB system being studied showed the behavior of a completely mixed reactor with short circuits and dead zones.