Effects of Polyurethane as Support Material for the Methanogenic Digester of a Two-Stage Anaerobic Wastewater Digestion System

To increase the efficiency of a two-stage anaerobic wastewater digestion system, various polymers were added to the methanogenic reactor as supports. The addition of polyurethane addition (6%, w/v) to the methanogenic reactor facilitated the organic loading rate (2-day Hydraulic Retention Time), higher than that of the conventional methanogenic reactor (6-day HRT). During the operation of the polyurethane-added reactor, a significant decrease in the organic mass in the effluent (COD 5-6 kg/l) was achieved, compared to that of the conventional reactor (COD 15-20 kg/l). The methane gas production rate also improved about 3-fold in the polyurethane-added reactor. More biomass was found to accumulate in the polyurethane-liquid phase (volatile solid, 26-28kg) than in the free-liquid phase (volatile solid, 5- 7 kg/l) after 90 days of operation. A scaled-up experiment with a polyurethane-added 2.5-1 reactor confirmed the previous results, and no adverse effects such as plugging or channeling due to decreased efficiency was observed even after 4 months of operation.