Implementation of the IWA ADM1 model for the modeling and simulation of the anaerobic treatment of industrial effluents of slaughterhouse in a UASB reactor

Juan José Sossa; René Alvarez

Abstract

The main purpose of this research is to model and simulate the anaerobic treatment of industrial effluents from the Municipal Slaughterhouse of La Paz (MMLP) in an anaerobic up flow reactor (UASB). First, a 7.5 L UASB reactor was installed and worked at a constant temperature of 35 ° C, with an average feed concentration of 2000 mg COD l^-1. During the experimental work the hydraulic retention time (HRT) was varied and the average organic matter reduction was 85% for HRT=16h, 69% for HRT=12h and 58% for HRT=8h. The pH remained practically constant. In parallel, a phenomenological model has been proposed to represent the anaerobic digestion process in the reactor and the reaction mechanism used is ADM1 (Anaerobic Digestion Model No. 1). The hydrodynamic behavior of the reactor was analyzed based on information found in the specialized scientific literature and was used to model the reactor from the connection of 3 tank reactors with continuous stirring (CSTR) in series. The experimental results were used to calibrate and validate the mathematical model that simulates pH behavior, organic matter reduction and biogas production. The mathematical model has a correlation coefficient (R) of 0.9394 and simulated the treatment of the industrial effluents of the Municipal Slaughterhouse of La Paz in the real conditions of the discharge, under different conditions of operation, constituting in a valuable contribution to the design End of the Treatment Plant.