Cara Smith, Rafael Heryapriadi, and Jahin Aishee
Abstract:
For the past two years, the AguaClara Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Team, also known has UASB, has been in the works of designing and fabricating a pilot-scale Upflow Anaerboic Sludge Blanket reactor, a system which treats wastewater via anaerobic digestion, producing biogas in the process. UASB's design is completely gravity-powered and is a low cost solution to treating wastewater in rural communities that cannot afford typical wastewater treatment plants.
This semester, the UASB Team divided into the two sister teams of UASB Research (UASB-R) and UASB Design (UASB-D). UASB-R is focused on benchtop testing of a model UASB, researching ways to increase the reactor's efficiency, and test out designs in lab before being implemented by UASB Design.