The use of upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors in the treatment of poultry slaughterhouse wastewater.

This work studied the performance of the dissolved air flotation (DAF) system and the start-up and the operation of two 450 m3 UASB reactors in a poultry slaughterhouse in Sorocaba, Brazil. The DAF presented reduction efficiency of grease and fats, suspended solids and COD 50% higher. The reactors were seeded with non-adapted sludge. The average COD of the reactor influent was 2,695 mg/L; and the initial organic loading rate (OLR) and the initial sludge loading rate at the start-up were 0.51 kg COD/m3.day and 0.04 kg COD/kg VTS.day, respectively. The start-up period was 144 days. During this time the reactor flow rate and OLR were gradually increased. At the reactor start-up, the maximum OLR value was 2.1 kg COD/m3.day, the COD reduction was higher than 80%, and the concentration of volatile fatty acids (VFA) was below 100 mg/L. The COD reductions, considering the reactor effluent raw COD and soluble COD were similar throughout the period studied in both reactors. The reactor effluent raw COD was approximately 10% higher than the soluble COD until the 225th day of operation. From the 225th day of operation this value increased 20%-30% due to the sludge washout. The effluent soluble COD reduction, the effluent VFA concentration and the operational stability attested the good performance of UASB reactors in poultry slaughterhouse wastewater treatment.