Evaluation of Effective Parameters in Organic Matters Removal Efficiency of Anaerobic Baffled Reactor Employing Electrolysis Process

Following the results of the electrolysis process application to upgrade the anaerobic baffled reactor for treating wastewater, the present study was conducted to evaluate the EABR performance efficiency, considering hydraulic retention time (HRT), current density and organic loading.  
In this study, a semi-industrial pilot of ABR with total volume of 72 L was studied before and after integration with an electrolysis system. The performance of the reactor was evaluated in terms of COD removal and bacterial adaption time.
The findings revealed that a HRT reduction from 45 to 38 and 29 hours results in a decrease of COD removal efficiency from 77.6 to 74.9 and 72.2 % respectively. Also, a current density reduction from 3 to 2, 1, and 0.5 Mill ampere/cm2 results in a decreasing COD removal efficiency from 77.6 to 73.5, 71.2, and 70 % respectively. Moreover, an increasing organic loading from 700 to 2400 mg/L enhanced the COD removal efficiency from 77.6 to 90.2 %.
The results showed that by increasing organic loading from 700 to 1000, 1500, 2000, and 2400 mg/L the necessary HRT for achieving operation stability increases from 3 to 8 days, which is less than in conventional ABR. Therefore, employing electrolysis process is a sustainable method for improving ABR performance efficiency.