Performance of an up-flow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) reactor treating landfill leachate containing heavy metals and formaldehyde

Abstract

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) landfill leachate is a serious environmental issue and treated using various methods, mostly involving biological treatment. In the present study, an up-flow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) was used for the treatment of matured landfill leachate that contains heavy metals (As, Fe, Ni, and Cd) and Formaldehyde (FA). Accordingly, the OLR to the UASB reactor was gradually increased from 0.125 to 2.5 kg CODm-3d-1, to observe the process performance. The process performance of the reactor was characterized in terms of pH, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) removal, Total Volatile Acid (TVA) production, Mixed Liquor Suspended Solids (MLSS), Mixed Liquor Volatile Suspended Solids (MLVSS) washout, and Methane composition. Results showed that at a Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) of 4 days and an OLR of 0.125 kg CODm-3d-1, up to 79.04% COD removal efficiency was observed. However, when the OLR was increased gradually from 0.375 to 2.5 kg CODm-3d-1, the COD removal efficiency decreased to 9.5%, suggesting that the high accumulation of heavy metals may have inhibited the methanogens. During this period, the heavy metal and formaldehyde concentration were 9.40, 0.43, 0.50, 12.80 and 8.60 mgL-1 respectively.