Abstract:
This study aimed to study the efficiency of the wastewater treatment, Upflow
Sludge Bed Filter (USBF) and its potential for energy recovery. The designed reactor
was acrylic pipe with internal diameter of 15 cm and a height of 1.2 m. The effective
volume of the reactor was 13.2 liters and the baked clay media was used in the reactor
with an approximate height of 40 cm. The noodle soup wastewater was diluted prior to
feeding into the reactor with an average of 3,021.18 mg/L of Chemical Oxygen
Demand (COD). Hydraulic retention times (HRT) were 18, 24 and 30 hours.
The results showed that the COD removal efficiency at HRT of 18, 24 and 30
hours were 91.14%, 89.58% and 90.48%, respectively, whereas Biochemical Oxygen
Demand (BOD) removal efficiencies were 79.84%, 82.27% and 79.53%, respectively.
Regarding Suspended Solid (SS), removal efficiency for 18, 24 and 30 hours were
68.88%, 49.02% and 57.10%, respectively. Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN) removal
efficiency for 18, 24 and 30 hours were 39.24%, 27.62% and 25.78%, respectively.
Oil and grease removal efficiency were 96.92%, 72.99% and 50.43% for 18, 24 and
30 hours, respectively. There were no significant differences among HRT for COD,
SS, and BOD removal (p-value>0.05) except for TKN, oil and grease removal. The
average biogas production yielded was 502.89 L per 1 kg of COD removal. The
average methane content of this biogas was 19.20%. The relationship of gCOD
removal and liters of biogas produced was Y= 0.2119x + 6.821 (Y: biogas production,
X: gCOD removal) with R2 = 0.5403. The optimum performance of USBF in this
study was obtained at HRT of 18 hours.
The results suggest that the USBF can be used to treat noodle soup wastewater
for a small noodle shop. The biogas generation is slightly high; however, the content
of methane gas produced through energy generates is low.