A new phenomenon helped in sludge wasting reduction from the novel bioreactor

Previous experimental works revealed a new phenomenon that helped in sludge-wasting reduction. This phenomenon emerged due to the new configuration of the proposed bioreactor (Integrated Anaerobic-Aerobic SBR (IAASBR)) assigned for treating high strength wastewater. This article has focused on addressing this phenomenon by simulating the IAASBR and measuring the difference in sludge level between the simulated bioreactor and conventional SBR at different mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentrations. The laboratory comparison tests displayed that simulated IAASBR configuration has enhanced the sludge settle-ability by 23% - 37% more than the conventional SBR through an emerging phenomenon called "Water Inflation Phenomenon (WIPh)". Although the sludge has low settling potential (fatty consistency), sludge washout was non-noticeable from IAASBR whenever the MLSS concentration did not exceed 6000 mg/L because of WIPh. The phenomenon is still in the primary stage of discovery, and it needs more research contemplation.