The Behaviour of an Anaerobic Baffled Reactor (abr) as the First Stage in the Biological Treatment of Hog Farming Effluents

This present paper reports a study of the efficiency of an anaerobic Baffled Reactor (ABR) composed of three chambers working as the first stage of a biological treatment system for swine wastewater, over a period of 116 days. The average value of the volumetric organic loading rate (VOLR) was 17.8 kgCODtotal m d, the biological organic loading rates (BOLR) based on total and filtered COD influents of 14381 mg L and 3610 mg L, respectively, were: 1.3 kgCODtotal kgTVS d and 0.98 kgCODfiltered kgTVS d, respectively, and the hydraulic loading rate (HLR) was about 1.4 m m d. The average removal efficiency for total COD was 80% at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of about 18 hours. The average alkalinity in the effluent was 3801 mgCaCO3 L. The average removal efficiencies for oil and grease and total soluble solids were 41% and 78%, respectively. The sludge granulation and biogas production in the ABR were quite different between the first and third compartment, showing a distinct microbial consortium in each chamber. Through this research it was confirmed that this type of reactor can be employed as the first stage in a system treating swine wastewater.