Possible operating problems and their suggested solutions for treatment of poultry manure wastewater

In this study, possible operating problems for treatment of poultry manure wastewater by two identical 15.7-L anaerobic sludge bed reactor were appraised in a lab-scale study. It was aimed to provide a background information for the industrial-scale plants. In the scope of this study, the influences of several process-related operating problems such as manure odor, up-flow velocity, sludge problem, and raw manure characteristics were examined. With high up-flow velocities (1.40–1.96 m/h), both sludge bed and blanket were clearly observed to be expanded, and therefore the expected contact between the granular biomass and the poultry manure was not provided. Similarly, with low up-flow velocities (0.21–0.42 m/h), some dead zones were recorded in the sludge bed, probably due to low hydraulic conditions. Therefore, taking into account both the literature findings and the hydraulic behaviour of the present system, the most suitable up-flow velocity was determined to be 0.70 m/h in this study. Based on the authors’ experimental observations, as well as on the relevant literature, possible solutions for other operating problems were proposed and the obtained results were discussed.