Anaerobic treatment process with removal of nonbiodegradable organic material
AssigneeWestern Environmental Engineering Company
InventorDennis A. Burke
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Removal of non-biodegradable organic material from an anaerobic treatment process that employs recycle or retention of anaerobic bacteria increases the efficiency of the anaerobic treatment process by removing the non-biodegradable organic material without removing substantial amounts of partially or wholly undigested biodegradable organic material or anaerobic bacteria. The accumulation of inert materials can be minimized, thus allowing for the design of anaerobic treatment process wherein the hydrolysis of the biodegradable organic material can be maximized by focusing the reactor's design on the kinetics of the conversion of the biodegradable organic material to gaseous and soluble products.
Claims26
A method of improving the efficiency of an anaerobic treatment process wherein anaerobic bacteria are contacted in an anaerobic reactor with an influent containing biodegradable organic material, nonbiodegradable organic material, dissolved inorganic material, and undissolved inorganic material, and a portion of the biodegradable organic material is converted to gaseous products and soluble products in the anaerobic reactor, followed by separation of a portion of the soluble products from a portion of the anaerobic bacteria, the separated anaerobic bacteria being recycled to the anaerobic reactor, the method comprising:
- separating the nonbiodegradable organic material from the biodegradable organic material, anaerobic bacteria, and dissolved inorganic material after a portion of the biodegradable organic material in the influent to the anaerobic reactor is converted to gaseous products and soluble products and before a portion of the soluble products are separated from a portion of the anaerobic bacteria;
- and
- removing a portion of the separated nonbiodegradable organic material from the anaerobic treatment process without removing a significant quantity of the biodegradable organic material or anaerobic bacteria.
An anaerobic treatment process for the conversion of biodegradable organic material to soluble and gaseous products comprising the steps:
- contacting in a first anaerobic reactor, an influent stream containing the biodegradable organic material with anaerobic bacteria recycled from a second reactor;
- maintaining the biodegradable organic material in contact with the anaerobic bacteria for a predetermined period to at least partially digest the biodegradable organic material;
- separating non-biodegradable organic material from the biodegradable organic material, anaerobic bacteria and dissolved inorganic material and removing the separated non-biodegradable organic material from the anaerobic treatment process without removing a significant amount of the anaerobic bacteria or the biodegradable organic material;
- separating anaerobic bacteria and wholly or partially undigested biodegradable organic material from the soluble products;
- delivering the separated anaerobic bacteria and the wholly or partially undigested biodegradable organic material to the second anaerobic reactor for further digestion of the biodegradable organic material;
- and
- recycling anaerobic bacteria from the second anaerobic reactor to the first anaerobic reactor.
An anaerobic treatment process for the conversion of biodegradable organic material to soluble and gaseous products comprising the steps:
- contacting an influent stream containing the biodegradable organic material with recycled anaerobic bacteria in an anaerobic reactor;
- maintaining the biodegradable organic material in contact with the anaerobic bacteria for a predetermined period to partially digest the biodegradable organic material;
- separating nonbiodegradable organic material from the anaerobic bacteria and biodegradable organic material after a portion of the biodegradable organic material in the influent to the anaerobic reactor is converted to gaseous products and soluble products and before a portion of the soluble products are separated from a portion of the anaerobic bacteria, and removing the separated nonbiodegradable organic material from the anaerobic treatment process without removing a significant amount of the anaerobic bacteria or the biodegradable organic material;
- separating anaerobic bacteria from the soluble products;
- and
- recycling the anaerobic bacteria separated from the soluble products to the anaerobic reactor.
A method of improving the efficiency of an anaerobic treatment process wherein anaerobic bacteria are contacted in an anaerobic reactor with an influent containing biodegradable organic material, dissolved inorganic material, undissolved inorganic material and nonbiodegradable organic material, and a portion of the biodegradable organic material is converted to gaseous products and soluble product in the anaerobic reactor, followed by separation of a portion of the soluble products from a portion of the anaerobic bacteria, the separated anaerobic bacteria being retained in the anaerobic reactor, the method comprising:
- separating the nonbiodegradable organic material from the biodegradable organic material, anaerobic bacteria, and dissolved inorganic material after a portion of the biodegradable organic material in the influent to the anaerobic reactor is converted to gaseous products and soluble products and before a portion of the soluble products are separated from a portion of the anaerobic bacteria;
- and
- removing a portion of the separated nonbiodegradable organic material from the anaerobic treatment process without removing a significant quantity of the biodegradable organic material or anaerobic bacteria.
An anaerobic treatment process for the conversion of biodegradable organic material to soluble and gaseous products comprising the steps:
- contacting an influent stream containing the biodegradable organic material with retained anaerobic bacteria in an anaerobic reactor;
- maintaining the biodegradable organic material in contact with the anaerobic bacteria for a predetermined period to partially digest the biodegradable organic material;
- separating nonbiodegradable organic material from the anaerobic bacteria and biodegradable organic material after a portion of the biodegradable organic material in the influent to the anaerobic reactor is converted to gaseous products and soluble products and before a portion of the soluble products are separated from a portion of the anaerobic bacteria, and removing the separated nonbiodegradable organic material from the anaerobic treatment process without removing a significant amount of the anaerobic bacteria or the biodegradable organic material;
- separating anaerobic bacteria from the soluble products;
- and
- retaining the anaerobic bacteria separated from the soluble products in the anaerobic reactor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.