Abstract

JOJOA UNIGARRO, Germán Dimitriv; RODRIGUEZ ZAMBRANO, Hilda Lizeth  and  CARDONA GALLO, Santiago. CHARACTERIZATION AND MODELING OF THE HYDRAULIC BEHAVIOR OF A UASB REACTOR. Rev.EIA.Esc.Ing.Antioq [online]. 2014, n.22, pp.67-75. ISSN 1794-1237.

The conversion rate of organic matter in a bioreactor depends on two main factors: the reactor's biological and hydraulic activity (Peña-Varón, Mara & Avella-Rodríguez, 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.

Keywords : Hydraulic Activity; UASB Reactor; Flow Behavior; Rhodamine WT; Tanks in Series Model; Dispersion Model.

        · abstract in Spanish | Portuguese     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )