HydroThane Anaerobic

Anaerobic treatment of wastewater is a biological method characterised by the production of methane (CH4) which when further treated can significantly supplement your factory power requirements. Anaerobic processes are ideal for industrial wastewater with high COD and BOD loads and can usually achieve over 80% reduction whilst generating very little sludge and consuming comparatively low levels of power.

With the development of the ultra high rate HydroThane STP® ECSB (“Easy as Be” – External Circulation Sludge Bed) process, 2nd generation EGSB, HydroThane has created the opportunity for customers to treat their effluent within limited available space and close to urban areas.

The HydroThane STP® ECSB design has eliminated noise and odor related issues that were present in other older anaerobic processes.

Characteristics of the HydroThane STP® ECSB are:

1. Due to the complete overpressure design of the ECSB process, a (bio)gas holder is not required
2. No need to install any bio/compost filter or other, because allodors or smells are fully integrated into the pressurized and closed biogas circuit
3. The over- pressurized design prevents air oxygen entrance – corrosion is therefore not possible
4. No complex internals or rotating equipment inside the reactor (no maintenance at all necessary in the reactor)
5. Two layers separation design creates maximal process stability and capacity
6. Fully controlled hydraulic mixing by means of external circulation
7. Loading rates of the ECSB reactor are typically in the range of 15 – 35 kg COD/m3.day
8. There are numerous applications for anaerobic technology across the industrial sector including:

• Meat industry
• Poultry industry
• Dairy industry
• Beverage industry
• General food processing
• Manufacturing
• Pulp and Paper Industry
• Petrochemical Industry
• Environmental Water treatment

Anaerobic treatment of wastewater is a biological method characterised by the production of methane (CH4) which when further treated can significantly supplement your factory power requirements. Anaerobic processes are ideal for industrial wastewater with high COD and BOD loads and can usually achieve over 80% reduction whilst generating very little sludge and consuming comparatively low levels of power.

The HydroThane STP®UASB (Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket) process is the most commonly applied anaerobic technology for the biological treatment of industrial effluents. The first UASB pilot plant was installed at a beet sugar refinery in The Netherlands (CSM Suiker) in the 1970’s.

Thereafter, a large number of full scale UASB plants were installed throughout The Netherlands at sugar refineries, potato starch processing plants and other food industries as well as at paper recycle plants. Nowadays the UASB process is a proven and worldwide accepted process in and for different types of effluent streams.

Characteristics of HydroThane STP® UASB are:

1. Maximum process stability because of its controlled external re-circulation flow and is not depending on the influent COD/flow
2. Due to the complete overpressure design of the UASB process a (bio)gas holder is not required
3. Phase separators are constructed completely of PP, so no corrosion possibilities
4. Phase separators are based on the mammoth stream principle
5. No complex internals (like tilted plates) or rotating equipment inside the reactor (no maintenance, no clogging at all within the reactor)
6. Loading rates of the UASB reactor are typically in the range of 5 – 1 5 kg COD/m3.day

There are numerous applications for anaerobic technology across the industrial sector including:

• Meat industry
• Poultry industry
• Dairy industry
• Beverage industry
• General food processing
• Manufacturing
• Pulp and Paper Industry
• Petrochemical Industry
• Environmental Water treatment

DESIGN CONSTRUCTION OPERATION

Engaging a professional wastewater treatment company to look after the entire wastewater project is a convenient, economical and hassle free option for industry.

Hydroflux Industrial can provide all process design works, manufacture and fabrication, construction and even complete operation of your wastewater treatment plant.

When Hydroflux Industrial provides complete solutions, we can either undertake a contract on a turnkey basis or work together with building services engineers and other construction professionals to ensure that the project is delivered smoothly, without interruption and on time.

BUILD OPERATE TRANSFER (BOT) FINANCING

The Hydroflux Group is able to offer a Build Operate & Transfer (BOT) option for water and wastewater assets in Australia and New Zealand. This innovative partnership arrangement strengthens existing strong bonds between Hydroflux and their customers for the long term.

Hydroflux, represented by a special purpose vehicle dedicated to the project, supplies the design, construction, financing, and operation of the water or wastewater plant. The plant is transferred to the client at the end of the contract, which is generally around 10 years.

Hydroflux also purchase existing water and wastewater plants on a similar basis, which releases cash to our clients for either returning or distributing to investors or for funding other investments in their core business.

The multidisciplinary structure of the Hydroflux group including design, construction, equipment supply and operation makes Hydroflux the ideal BOT water and wastewater partner.

Please contact Hydroflux if would like to explore the option of either acquiring a new water or wastewater facility without capital outlay or would like to free up cash by selling your existing water or wastewater assets.

Anaerobic treatment of waste (water) is a biological method characterised by the production of methane (CH4). All the active micro-organisms belong to the group of anaerobic bacteria, i.e. bacteria which are able to and in most cases can only exist in an environment which excludes oxygen. In this context, methanogenic bacteria are a key component.

The process of anaerobic degradation of organic material occurs in four steps:

– Hydrolysis
– Acidification
– Acetogenesis
– Methanogenesis.

The anaerobic process removes the bulk of COD from the waste (water) by converting it into biogas (= methane + carbon dioxide) at low operational costs.

There are a number of factors to consider which will determine whether anaerobic digestion of your wastewater is a suitable solution.
Firstly an anaerobic treatment plant will not remove BOD to levels that allow discharge to the environment or for reuse, nor will it reduce the levels of nutrients. In saying this however for high COD loads, Anaerobic digestion upstream of an aerobic process such as the Hydroflux SBR, MBR, MBBR or Organica process will significantly reduce the load on the aerobic process lowering the overall capital and operating costs of the treatment plant whilst having the possibility of generating and reusing biogas.

Anaerobic treatment is best suited to relatively high flows and for economical gas recovery generally over 3-4T of COD a day would be necessary.

Each system is designed to suit the specific characteristics of the wastewater in question.
The Hydrothane ESCP process is however one of the most compact anaerobic systems available worldwide utilising tall reactors that save on surface area. Our reactors can extend up to 20m high.

The main reactor itself is usually sized based on a loading rate of 15-35 Kg COD / m3 / day, thus for a COD load of 3000Kg per day, the diameter of the main reactor could be as little as 5m . Additional space is required for ancillary components, however the Hydrothane ESCP process is usually one of the most compact wastewater treatment solutions for industry.

The amount of gas generated depends on a number of factors but of most value is the COD load. As a rule of thumb for every Kg of COD, 0.35m3 of biogas will be generated. This biogas is not pure and will be contaminated with carbon-dioxide (CO2) along with some trace gasses such as water vapor, hydrogen sulphide (H2S), nitrogen (N2), hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2).

The concentration of hydrogen sulphide in biogas can vary from 250 ppmv up to several volume percentage, it has an offensive odour of “rotten eggs” at concentrations as low as 50 ppbv and is toxic at concentrations above 100 ppmv.

At some applications H2S must be removed before the biogas can be given for utilization, for reasons of health, safety, environment and due to the fact that hydrogen sulphide gas is corrosive (can damage equipment like; gas engines (CHP), boilers, piping etc.)

Desulphurization of the biogas is also required when biogas is upgraded to natural gas quality for injection into the gas grid.