Granular sludge growth under different reactor liquid surface tensions in lab-scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors treating wastewater from sugar-beet processing

The formation of anaerobic granular sludge on wastewater from sugar-beet processing was examined in upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors. Two strategies were investigated: addition of high-energy substrate, i.e. sugars, and varying the reactor liquid surface tension. When there were insufficient amounts of sugars i.e. less than 7% of the chemical O2 demand of the influent, no granulation was observed, moreover lowering the reactor liquid surface tension below 48 mN/m was found to increase biomass wash-out. On the other hand, when there were sufficient sugars, granular sludge growth occurred; moreover operating the reactor at a low reactor liquid surface tension reduced biomass wash-out and increased granular yield.