THE "CHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND / TOTAL VOLATILE ACIDS" RATIO AS AN ANAEROBIC TREATABILITY INDICATOR FOR LANDFILL LEACHATES

Author(s)

R. C. Contrera ^[1] ; K. C. da Cruz Silva ^[2] ; G. H. Ribeiro Silva ^[3] ; D. M. Morita ^[4] ; M. Zaiat ^[5] ; V. Schalch ^[6]

Affiliation

^[1] Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Politécnica (EP). Departamento de Engenharia Hidráulica e Ambiental (PHA) - Brasil

^[2] Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Politécnica (EP). Departamento de Engenharia Hidráulica e Ambiental (PHA) - Brasil

^[3] Universidade Estadual Paulista "Julio de Mesquita Filho" (UNESP). Departamento de Engenharia Civil (DEC) - Brasil

^[4] Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Politécnica (EP). Departamento de Engenharia Hidráulica e Ambiental (PHA) - Brasil

^[5] Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC). Departamento de Hidráulica e Saneamento (SHS) - Brasil

^[6] Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC). Departamento de Hidráulica e Saneamento (SHS) - Brasil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering; v. 32, n. 1, p. 73-86, 2015-03-00.

Abstract

Abstract In some operational circumstances a fast evaluation of landfill leachate anaerobic treatability is necessary, and neither Biochemical Methane Potential nor BOD/COD ratio are fast enough. Looking for a fast indicator, this work evaluated the anaerobic treatability of landfill leachate from São Carlos-SP (Brazil) in a pilot scale Anaerobic Sequence Batch Biofilm Reactor (AnSBBR). The experiment was conducted at ambient temperature in the landfill area. After the acclimation, at a second stage of operation, the AnSBBR presented efficiency above 70%, in terms of COD removal, utilizing landfill leachate without water dilution, with an inlet COD of about 11,000 mg.L-1, a TVA/COD ratio of approximately 0.6 and reaction time equal to 7 days. To evaluate the landfill leachate biodegradability variation over time, temporal profiles of concentration were performed in the AnSBBR. The landfill leachate anaerobic biodegradability was verified to have a direct and strong relationship to the TVA/COD ratio. For a TVA/CODTotal ratio lower than 0.20, the biodegradability was considered low, for ratios between 0.20 and 0.40 it was considered medium, and above 0.40 it was considered high. (AU)