Granulation of Sludge in Anaerobic Baffled Reactor with Inert Carrier under Room Temperature

This study assessed the influence of inert carrier addition on granule formation and treatment effect of Anaerobic Baffled Reactors (ABR). Two lab-scale ABR were used in this experiment to culture granular sludge under room temperature (21°C-25°C), and one of them (called reactor B) was put in inert carriers together with anaerobic seeding sludge, as the other one (called reactor A) was just put in anaerobic sludge acting as a control reactor. On day 162, granular sludge was obtained in each compartment of reactor B, but only in the initial compartment in reactor A. The content of particle size greater than 0.5mm in reactor B was 72.7%, 67.9%, 67.1% and 57.6% in compartment 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively, much greater than reactor A . The result indicates that inert carrier addition accelerate granule formation and improve the treatment efficiency of ABR.