Performance of an Up-Flow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactor in the Treatment of Slaughter Wastewater

The wastewater discharged by the slaughterhouse was characterized mainly by the high biochemical oxygen demand, high suspended solids, and complex mixture of fats, proteins are requiring systematic treatment before disposal. This study was carried out to examine a lab-scale up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor performance to treat slaughter wastewater under varying operating conditions. (pH) 7.1-7.8, total suspended solids (TSS) 900-1500 mg/l, total dissolved solids (TDS) 1600-3000 mg/l, chemical oxygen demand (COD) 3000-5000 mg/l). The reactor was running at varying OLR (0.025) and HRT (7.00, 11.00, 15.00, 19.00, 23.00 hrs.) at a temperature of (29-35????C). The maximum total demand for the chemical oxygen removal efficiency of 82.83 % was achieved at an organic loading rate of 0.015 kg/COD/m2/day and at the hydraulic retention time of 23 hours.