Development and evaluation of a radial anaerobic/aerobic reactor treating organic matter and nitrogen in sewage

The design and performance of a radial anaerobic/aerobic immobilized biomass (RAAIB) reactor operating to remove organic matter, solids and nitrogen from sewage are discussed. The bench-scale RAAIB was divided into five concentric chambers. The second and fourth chambers were packed with polyurethane foam matrices. The performance of the reactor in removing organic matter and producing nitrified effluent was good, and its configuration favored the transfer of oxygen to the liquid mass due to its characteristics and the fixed polyurethane foam bed arrangement in concentric chambers. Partial denitrification of the liquid also took place in the RAAIB. The reactor achieved an organic matter removal efficiency of 84%, expressed as chemical oxygen demand (COD), and a total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) removal efficiency of 96%. Average COD, nitrite and nitrate values for the final effluent were 54 mg.L-1, 0.3 mg.L-1 and 22.1 mg.L-1, respectively.