Date of Award

5-2004

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.S.

Degree Program

Environmental Engineering

Department

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Major Professor

Kura, Bhaskar;

Second Advisor

La Motta, Enrique

Third Advisor

McCorquodale, John

Abstract

Implementation of combined anaerobic/aerobic processes for wastewater treatment has been shown feasible, especially for industrial wastewaters with high concentration of organics. However, the utilization of this type of technology for treating wastewaters with low content of organic matter, such as domestic sewage is quite recent, and very limited information is available regarding the topic. Recent investigations have demonstrated that it is feasible to utilize a combined technology composed of anaerobic pretreatment followed by an aerobic post-treatment to efficiently treat municipal wastewater. This research is a continuation of previous investigations about the feasibility of using an anaerobic fluidized bed reactor-aerated solids contact process to treat domestic wastewater. In the proposed system the excess sludge produced in the aerobic stage is recycled to the anaerobic unit. The proposed configuration is very attractive because the anaerobic fluidized bed reactor serves as pretreatment unit and a sludge digester at the same time. The main objective of this research is to quantify the SS removal and accumulation rates in the AFBR, and determine the degree of stabilization of solids in the unit. All this to demonstrate the feasibility of avoiding separate sludge stabilization units.

Rights

The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.

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