Energy consumption of super-high-rate anaerobic bioreactor

The characteristics of energy consumption of the super-high-rate anaerobic bioreactor were investigated by using anaerobic granular sludge and simulated gas produced in the laboratory. Energy consumption models for the separation unit, reaction unit, water distribution unit and the whole reactor were established. The predictions from these models agreed well with the experimental data, and therefore the models can be used to optimize the energy consumption of the same kind of reactor. The maximum energy consumption in the whole reactor was 110.56 × 10-4 W, in which energy consumption of the reaction unit accounted for 83.0%, that of the water distribution unit accounted for 17.0%, and that of the separation unit was negligible. The energy consumption of the reaction unit of gas-fluid-solid three-phase was more than that of fluid-solid two-phase. As for the whole reactor, the energy consumption of the reaction unit was more than that of the water distribution unit at a low superficial liquid velocity. On the contrary, the energy consumption of the water distribution unit was more than that of the reaction unit at a high superficial liquid velocity. From parametric sensitivity analyses, the energy consumption of the whole reactor was significantly influenced by φp, ul, Vp, ug and dp. © All Rights Reserved.