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Updated: May 19, 2026

Evaluation of Integrated Anaerobic Digestion and Hydrothermal Carbonization for Bioenergy Production
Published on: June 15, 2014
Comparative performance of UASB and anaerobic hybrid reactors for the treatment of complex phenolic wastewater
Anushuya Ramakrishnan1, Rao Y Surampalli
1Research Associate, UT-School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, Houston, TX, USA. anushuyar@gmail.com
Abstract:
The performance of an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor and an anaerobic hybrid reactor (AHR) was investigated for the treatment of simulated coal wastewater containing toxic phenolics at different hydraulic retention times (0.75-0.33d). Fast start-up and granulation of biomass could be achieved in an AHR (45d) than UASB (58d) reactor. Reduction of HRT from 1.5 to 0.33d resulted in a decline in phenolics removal efficiency from 99% to 77% in AHR and 95% to 68% in UASB reactor respectively. AHR could withstand 2.5 times the selected phenolics loading compared to UASB reactor that could not withstand even 1.2 times the selected phenolics loading. Residence time distribution (RTD) study revealed a plug flow regime in the AHR and completely mixed regime in UASB reactor respectively. Energy economics of the reactors revealed that 12,159MJd(-1) more energy can be generated using AHR than UASB reactor.
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