Biological sulphate reduction with primary sewage sludge in an upflow anaerobic sludge bed reactor- Part 6: Development of a kinetic model for BSR

摘要

A 2-phase (aqueous-gas) kinetic model for biological sulphate reduction (BSR) using primary sewage sludge (PSS) as carbon source is presented. The methanogenic anaerobic digestion (AD) model of S6temann et al. (2005) is extended by adding the biological, chemical and physical processes associated with BSR, i.e. propionic acid degrading sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB), acetoclastic SRB and hydrogenotrophic SRB, the aqueous weak acid/base chemistry processes of the sulphate and sulphide systems and an aqueous-gas sulphide exchange process. The model is validated with experimental data from 2 upflow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) reactors fed various PSS COD/SO_4~2 ratios under constant flow and load conditions at 35℃ and 20℃. The kinetic model results, including the reactor pH (within 0.1 pH unit) compare well with the experimental results and with those calculated from a steady-state BSR model. The kinetic model confirms that: (1) at ambient temperature (20℃), the hydrolysis rate is significantly reduced compared with that at 35°C, which requires a longer sludge age (larger bed volume) in the UASB reactor; (2) the hydrolysis rate of the PSS biodegradable paniculate organics (BPO) is the same under methanogenic and sulphidogenic conditions; (3) the PSS BPO are carbon deficient for BSR in that more electrons are donated than carbon supplied for the required alkalinity increase, with the result that the sulphide system supplies the alkalinity deficit; and (4) due to (3) there is zero CO_2 gas generation and in effect the sulphide system establishes the reactor pH. This observation allows the carbon content of the utilised organics to be determined from the H_2CO_3* alkalinity increase in the reactor, which can be simply measured by titration methods.%Water Research Group, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa;Water Research Group, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa;