Andrew Kim, Yang Chen, Evan Greenberg
Abstract
To lower the amount of wastewater discharged into natural bodiesof water, low-cost, energy-efficient treatment technologies are needed indeveloping countries. The AguaClara team has developed lab-scale UASBreactors to evaluate the degree of treatment and energy recovery from”black water” (concentrated wastewater from toilets). Specifically, theobjectives this semester were to improve the current laboratory set-upand equipment, adjust the wastewater stock recipe to prevent cloggingin influent lines, and determine the residence time and maximum organicloading rate for the reactors. Ultimately the set-up changes were effectiveand a sufficient wastewater stock recipe was developed. Tracer tests foundthe residence time of each reactor to be approximately three hours, butthe maximum organic loading rate has yet to be characterized.
