Arabian Journal of Chemistry (2014) xxx, xxxxxx

King Saud University

Arabian Journal of Chemistry

www.ksu.edu.sa
www.sciencedirect.com

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Start-up of UASB reactors treating municipal wastewater

and eect of temperature/sludge age and hydraulic
retention time (HRT) on its performance
Hina Rizvi a, Nasir Ahmad b, Farhat Abbas a,*, Iftikhar Hussain Bukhari
Abdullah Yasar d, Shafaqat Ali a, Tahira Yasmeen a, Muhammad Riaz c

c,*

Environmental Sciences Department, Government College University, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan

Institute of Geology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
c
Department of Chemistry, Government College University, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
d
Sustainable Development Study Center, Government College University, Lahore, Pakistan
b

Received 21 June 2013; accepted 18 December 2013

KEYWORDS
UASB reactors;
Municipal wastewater;
Sludge;
Hydraulic retention time
(HRT);
Chemical oxygen demand
(COD) and biochemical
oxygen demand (BOD)

Abstract The upow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors seeded with cow dung manure
(UASBCD) and activated sludge of a dairy wastewater treatment plant (UASBASDIT) were used
to treat raw domestic wastewater of medium strength. The UASBCD reactor required a period of
120 days to start up. In case of UASBASDIT reactor, sludge bed was stabilized in a period of
80 days. The performance of both reactors to treat wastewater was enhanced with an increase
in the sludge age and temperature. Under psychrophilic temperature (17 C) and at early sludge
age (60 days), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) removal
by the reactors were in the range of 5762% and 6166%, respectively. However, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) removal efciency of the reactors
elevated to the range of 7981% and 7783%, respectively at sludge age of 150 days and temperature of 30 C. In short, overall performance of both reactors was optimum at sludge age
ranging from 120 to 150 days and temperature varying between 25 and 30 C. At hydraulic
retention time (HRT) of 9 h the chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids
(TSS) and sulfate removal efciency of UASBCD reactor reached 81%, 75% and 76 %, respectively and 77%, 74% and 69%, respectively for UASBASDIT. The rate of removal of these
parameters however, gradually declined with increasing hydraulic retention time. The UASB

* Corresponding authors. Tel.: +92 300 9639574.

E-mail addresses: farhat@gcuf.edu.pk (F. Abbas), pdiftikhar@
yahoo.com (I.H. Bukhari).
Peer review under responsibility of King Saud University.

Production and hosting by Elsevier

1878-5352 2014 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.arabjc.2013.12.016
Please cite this article in press as: Rizvi, H. et al., Start-up of UASB reactors treating municipal wastewater and eect of temperature/sludge age
and hydraulic retention time (HRT) on its performance. Arabian Journal of Chemistry (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.arabjc.2013.12.016

H. Rizvi et al.
technology provides a low-cost system for the direct treatment of municipal wastewater and can
be applied in small communities.
2014 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University.

1. Introduction
Among the various treatment technologies, anaerobic
treatment systems are being encouraged because of several
advantages, including low construction costs, small land
requirements, low excess sludge production, plain operation
and maintenance, energy generation in the form of biogas
(Singh et al., 2013) and robustness in terms of COD removal
efciency (Conceicao et al., 2013), pH stability and recovery
time (Abma et al., 2010; Elmitwalli et al., 2002; Hernandez
and Rodr guez, 2013; Kongjan et al., 2013; ; Lettinga et al.,
1992; Leitao, 2004; Van Haandel and Lettinga, 1994). A number of researchers have recommended anaerobic technology
like UASB reactor for the treatment of sewage in tropical
and subtropical regions (Cavalcanti, 2003; Banihani and
Field, 2013; Banu et al., 2007; Halalsheh, 2002; Leitao, 2004;
Mgana, 2003; Seghezzo, 2004). The start-up of UASB reactors
is a complicated process and a number of factors, including
wastewater characteristics, acclimatization of seed sludge,
pH, nutrients, presence of toxic compounds, loading rate,
upow velocity (Vup), hydraulic retention time (HRT), liquid
mixing and reactor design affect the growth of sludge bed
(Aydinol and Yetilmezsoy, 2010; Barbosa and Sant Anna,
1989; Foresti, 2002; Souza, 1986; Zhang et al., 2012).
The temperature considerably inuences the growth and
survival of microorganisms. Although anaerobic treatment is
possible at all three temperature ranges (psychrophilic, mesophilic and thermophilic), low temperature usually leads to a
decline in the maximum specic growth rate and methanogenic
activity (Azbar et al.,2009; Bodik et al., 2000). Methanogenic
activity at this temperature range is 1020 times lower than
the activity at 35 C, which requires an increase in the biomass
in the reactor (1020 times) or to operate at higher sludge
retention time (SRT) and hydraulic retention time (HRT) in
order to achieve the same COD removal efciency as that obtained at 35 C (Foresti, 2001; Kalogo and Verstraete, 2001;
Mahmoud, 2002).
Hydraulic retention time (HRT) is one of the most important parameters affecting the performance of a UASB reactor
when used for the treatment of municipal wastewater (Vieira
and Garcia, 1992). The upow velocity (Vup) is directly related
with HRT and plays an important role to entrap suspended
solids. A decrease in Vup entails an increase in HRT, which
boosts suspended solids (SS) removal efciency of the system
(Liu et al., 2010; Rajakumar et al., 2011; van Haandel and
Lettinga, 1994). The COD removal efciency of a UASB reactor also decreases at elevated upow velocity because higher
Vup reduces the contact time between sludge and wastewater
in addition to smashing of sludge granules, and resultantly
higher washout of solids (Gonclaves et al., 1994; Kalogo and
Verstraete, 1999; ; Leitao, 2004; Mahmoud, 2002; Nkemka
and Murto, 2010; Van Haandel and Lettinga, 1994). However,
some scientists reported no distinct effect of HRT on the
treatment efciency of UASB reactor (Halalsheh, 2002; Vieira
and Garcia, 1992). The difference of opinion in scientic

community is may be due to the difference in the reactor

design, operating procedures and range of HRT.
In the present study the growth of sludge bed in UASB
reactors initially seeded with cow dung and activated sludge
of dairy industry treatment plant were investigated. The effect
of process conditions (hydraulic retention time, sludge age and
temperature) on the performance of these reactors was then
examined.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Physicochemical properties of wastewater and sludge
Composite samples of domestic sewage were collected from the
Garden Town municipal wastewater pumping station of
Metropolitan Lahore, Pakistan. Physico-chemical properties
of samples were determined which included chemical oxygen
demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), conductivity, turbidity, total dissolved solids (TDS), total suspended
solids (TSS), total hardness, chlorides, sulfates, oil and grease,
color and pH. All the parameters were determined following
standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater (APHA et al., 1998).
2.2. Analytical techniques
Turbidity, conductivity, dissolved oxygen (DO) and pH were
determined by the metric method according to standard methods (APHA et al., 1998).
Standard Methods (4500-SO42 E, Turbidimetric method),
(4500-Cl C Titrimetric method), (5220 B Open reux method)
and (5210 B) were used for the determination of Sulfate,
Chloride, Chemical oxygen demand (COD) and Biochemical
oxygen demand (BOD), respectively.
Standard Methods (4500-N C), (4500-P Vanadomolybdophosphoric acid colorimetric method) and (5310 B) were used
for the determination of Total Nitrogen, Total Phosphorous
and Total Organic Carbon (TOC), respectively. Standard
Methods (2540 B to E) were applied for the determination of
Total Solids, Total Dissolved solids (TDS), Total Suspended
solids (TSS) and Volatile suspended solids. Standard Methods
(5520 B Gravimetric method) and 2120 C were used for the
determination of oil and grease contents and color,
respectively.
2.3. Design of UASB reactor assembly
A bench scale anaerobic UASB (Upow Anaerobic Sludge
Blanket) reactor was used in this study. The setup consisted
of a pair of UASB reactors, peristaltic pump, inuent tank,
efuent collection tank and gas trapping system. The UASB
reactor was made of Perspex material, comprising of a tubular
section at the bottom and an expanded section termed as gas
liquidsolid separator (GLSS) at the top. Tubular section was

Please cite this article in press as: Rizvi, H. et al., Start-up of UASB reactors treating municipal wastewater and eect of temperature/sludge age
and hydraulic retention time (HRT) on its performance. Arabian Journal of Chemistry (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.arabjc.2013.12.016

Start-up of UASB reactors treating municipal wastewater

a 120 cm long column with 7 cm internal diameter (ID) and a
volume of 4.6 L. The length of the gasliquidsolid separator
was 40 cm and volume was 10.2 L. The GLSS section was further divided into two parts; bottom half was tapered with a
slope angle () of 60 and top half was a 20 cm long column
with an internal diameter of 22 cm. An inverted canopy was
also attached with the top lid of GLSS in order to promote
coagulation of suspended/colloidal particles, boost the collection of suspended particles to enhance the collection of biogas
and to control the washout of particles (Yasar, 2006).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Start-up of UASB reactors
The cow dung seed sludge comprised of predominantly organic
matter and heavy population of microbes. Total solids (TS)
and volatile suspended solids (VSS) concentrations in the seed
sludge were 50.2 and 31.5 g/L, respectively. During the acclimatization of seed sludge, nutrients (COD:Nitrogen:Phosphorus in ratio of 300:5:1) were supplied to boost sludge growth by
the addition of Sucrose (C12H22O11) and diammonium hydrogen phosphate (NH4)2HPO4. The Biochemical oxygen demand

3
(BOD)/total organic carbon (TOC) ratio was 1 (Metcalf and
Eddy, 2003). The sludge in the UASBCD reactor was an inhomogeneous suspended mass during rst three months (Plate
1a). After that granulation started and sludge bed was stabilized in a period of 4 months (Plate 1b) and the quality of
sludge was comparable with the well mature sludge of a
digester.
Similarly, seed sludge in UASBASDIT reactor was fed with
nutrient-rich water (C:N:P ratio of 300:5:1) to accelerate its
growth. The color of seed sludge changed from light gray to
dark gray in a period of 1 month, which demonstrated the initiation of seed sludge stabilization. The sewage wastewater
(Table 1) was then introduced to the reactor to acclimatize
with sludge. The sludge bed was merely a suspended biomass
up to a period of sixty days. After that granulation of biosolids
became visible, which indicated successful start-up of the reactor. However, sludge granulation fully appeared after 80 days.
These results are in accordance with the ndings reported in
the literature. For instance, Louwe Kooijmans and van Velsen
(1986) reported that start-up of UASB reactor seeded with digested cow dung manure for domestic wastewater treatment at
25 C required a period of 6 months. Another study Vijayaraghavan and Ramanujan (1999) described that sludge in
anaerobic contact lter seeded with cow dung slurry was stabilized in a period of 160 days. Yasar (2006) inoculated UASB
reactor with activated sludge of diary wastewater treatment
plants, and reported 78 days start-up time for the reactor. Similarly a period of 147 days was required by Rajakumar et al.
(2011) to start a UASB lter.
The start-up of UASB reactors is a complicated process and
a number of factors, including wastewater characteristics,
acclimatization of seed sludge, pH, nutrients, presence of toxic
compounds, loading rate, upow velocity, hydraulic retention
time, liquid mixing and reactor design affect the growth of
sludge bed (Barbosa and Sant Anna, 1989; Foresti, 2002;
Souza, 1986). Variation in time period required for the stabilization of the sludge may owe to several factors, including
dissimilarities in wastewater composition, seed sludge, type
of reactor, sludge temperature, nutrient content, and sludge
pH (Barbosa and Sant Anna, 1989; Singh et al., 1997).
Table 2 shows the effect of age on the sludge composition in
terms of volatile suspended solids (VSS), total solids (TS), total
xed solids (TFS) contents in UASBCD reactor. The TS and
VSS contents were 55.2 and 34.5 g/L, respectively at the sludge
age of 30 days, whereas the values of TS and VSS for
UASBASDIT reactor were 42.2 and 23.0 g/L, respectively at
the same sludge age (Table 3). There was an overall increase

Table 1

Plate 1 Development of sludge bed in the reactors (a) inhomogeneous suspended mass in UASBCD, (b) granulation in UASBCD
at day 120.

Composition of sewage.

Parameter

Sewage

pH
COD (mg/l)
BOD5 (mg/l)
Conductivity (mS/cm)
Turbidity (FTU)
TSS (mg/l)
Chlorides (mg/l)
Color (absorbance)

7.39a 0.27
474.39a 36.51
245.9b 28.15
1.39 a 0.51
69.38a 7.95
379a 38.29
69.48b 7.75
0.0612b 0.02

The superscript alphabets stand for average of ve values.

Please cite this article in press as: Rizvi, H. et al., Start-up of UASB reactors treating municipal wastewater and eect of temperature/sludge age
and hydraulic retention time (HRT) on its performance. Arabian Journal of Chemistry (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.arabjc.2013.12.016

H. Rizvi et al.
Table 2 Sludge compositions with respect to sludge age in
UASBCD.
Parameters (g/l)

VSS
TFS
TS
VSS/TS

Sludge age (days)

30

60

90

120

150

180

34.5
20.7
55.2
0.625

40.9
16.5
57.4
0.71

49.0
18.8
67.8
0.72

57.4
18.3
75.7
0.75

62.3
18.2
80.5
0.77

59.5
18.9
78.4
0.76

Table 3 Sludge compositions with respect to sludge age in

UASBASDIT.
Parameters (g/l)

VSS
TFS
TS
VSS/TS

Sludge age (days)

30

60

90

120

150

180

23.0
19.2
42.2
0.55

31.6
23
54.7
0.58

39.7
21.6
61.3
0.65

47.6
23
70.7
0.68

51.7
23.7
75.4
0.66

49.2
14
63.3
0.62

in TS and VSS contents as the sludge age increased. The increase in TS and VSS contents continued up to sludge age of
150 days, and TS and VSS contents were elevated to 80.5
and 62.3 g/L, respectively for UASBCD reactor. In case of
UASBASDIT, TS and VSS values were 75.4 and 51.7 g/L,
respectively. A signicant increase in the VSS concentration
as compared to TS was clearly an indication of the active biomass growth in the reactors as more than 90% of VSS contents
are due to active biomass, and remaining 10% are attributed to
non-biodegradable volatile solids and dead cell debris (Metcalf
and Eddy, 2003). At sludge of 180 days, a decline in TS and

Plate 2 Microscopic view of liquidation of sludge granules at

day 180 (a) UASBCD reactor and (b) UASBASDIT reactor.

VSS contents of sludge in both reactors appeared, which could

be due to the liquidation of granules (Plate 2a and b).
The VSS/TS ratio is important in determining the sludge
characteristics and reects biomass growth and its quality.
The VSS/TS ratio in UASBCD reactor gradually increased
(from 0.63 to 0.77) up to a sludge age of 150 days followed
by a drop in this ratio at sludge age of 180 days. The
VSS/TS ratio in UASBASDIT was lower than the VSS/TS ratio
in UASBCD. However, it gradually increased (from 0.55 to
0.68) uptill sludge age of 120 days and decreased afterward.
The difference in VSS/TSS ratio may owe to a difference in
the contents and settleability of digested cow manure and activated sludge (Barbosa and Sant Anna, 1989).
3.2. Performance of UASB reactors to treat municipal
wastewater
3.2.1. Inuence of temperature and sludge age
The inuence of temperature on the performance of a UASB
reactor is very important because it affects signicantly the
hydrolysis process, substrate utilization rate, settling of solids
and gas transfer rates (van Haandel and Lettinga, 1994;
Lettinga et al., 2001). The rate of anaerobic digestion is rapidly
decreased as the temperature of sludge bed is dropped below
the mesophilic temperature range (3038 C) (Bogte et al.,
1993; Van Haandel and Lettinga, 1994). That is why, the
UASB technology has been applied to a lesser extent in cold
climates despite the fact that some successes of high-rate
anaerobic treatment under psychrophilic conditions (low
temperature) are reported in the literature (Aydinol and
Yetilmezsoy, 2010; Kaparaju et al., 2010; Rebac et al., 1995;
Seghezzo, 2004).
The performance of UASBCD and UASBASDIT reactors at
different temperatures varying between 17 and 38 C and
sludge age ranging from 60 to 180 days is shown in Table 4.
There is an increase in the efciency of the reactors with an increase in the temperature and sludge age. At a temperature of
17 C and a sludge age of 60 days, COD removal efciency of
UASBCD and UASBASDIT reactors was 62 and 57%, respectively. Whereas TSS removal efciency of these reactors at
the same temperature and sludge age was 44 and 41%, respectively. However, their BOD5 removal efciency was slightly
better (66% and 61%, respectively). Low removal efciency
under psychrophilic conditions (17 C) and early sludge age
may be attributed to incomplete sludge granulation and insufcient volume of settled solids and biomass, which consequently reduced the methanogenic activity of sludge
microorganism and slowed down the hydrolysis and substrate
consumption rate (Hulshoff Pol, 1989; Lehtomaki et al., 2008;
Lettinga et al., 2001; Van der Last and Lettinga, 1992).
The COD, BOD5, and TSS removal efciency of UASBCD
reached 68%, 72% and 53%, respectively at 20 C temperature
and sludge age of 90 days. The efciency of UASBASDIT reactor for the removal of these parameters was 61%, 68% and
48%, respectively at the same temperature and sludge age.
The improvement in the efciency may owe to an increase in
the digestion rate due to favorable temperature and relatively
better developed sludge bed (Chinnaraj and Venkoba Rao,
2006; van Lier and Lettinga, 1999). These results also agree
well with the ndings of Lew et al. (2003), who reported 4%
increase in the COD removal efciency of a UASB reactor

Please cite this article in press as: Rizvi, H. et al., Start-up of UASB reactors treating municipal wastewater and eect of temperature/sludge age
and hydraulic retention time (HRT) on its performance. Arabian Journal of Chemistry (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.arabjc.2013.12.016

Start-up of UASB reactors treating municipal wastewater

Table 4

The performance of UASBCD and UASBASDIT reactors with respect to sludge age and temperature.

Parameters

Removal eciency (%) with respect to sludge age (days)/ temperature (C)
60 days/17 C

COD
BOD5
Conductivity
Turbidity
TSS
TDS
SO42
Chloride
Oil and grease

90 days/20 C

120 days/25 C

150 days/30 C

180 days/38 C

UASBCD UASBASDIT UASBCD UASBASDIT UASBCD UASBASDIT UASBCD

UASBASDIT UASBCD UASBASDIT

62
66
9.6
66.7
44
7.8
48
41
70

78.7
77
15
85.4
65.4
14.8
66.8
55
91.5

57
61
9.4
60.3
41
5.4
40.3
30.6
67

68
72
12.4
76.7
53
10.5
55
47
82

61
68
11.9
71.4
48
8.5
49.4
43
78.6

77
78
14.9
84.6
68
16.6
68.6
62
89.4

employed to treat domestic wastewater when the sludge temperature was increased from 14 to 20 C.
At 25 C temperature and sludge age of 120 days, UASBCD
reactor obtained COD and TSS removal up to 77% and 68%,
respectively. These ndings are also in agreement with the results of other research workers (Banihani and Field, 2013;
Lettinga et al., 1987; Louwe Kooijmans and van Velsen,
1986) who reported COD and TSS removal efciency of a
UASB reactor inoculated with digested cow manure up to
78% and 75%, respectively at an operational temperature of
25 C. Slightly lower TSS removal efciency of the UASB reactors used in this study may owe to relatively less volume of
sludge bed, which is insufcient to entrap non-settleable suspended solids (Brown, 1998).
At sludge age of 150 days and 30 C temperature, the
UASBCD reactor showed COD, BOD5, TSS and oil and grease
removal up to 81%, 83%, 73% and 93%, respectively. The removal of these parameters by UASBASDIT reactor was 79%,
77%, 65% and 91%, respectively. The better performance of
the reactors at this stage may be attributed to favorable sludge
temperature, well developed sludge granulation and increased
growth of biomass which ultimately resulted in accelerated
degradation of organic matter and entrapment of suspended
solids (Agrawal et al., 1997; Kalogo and Verstraete, 2001;
Rajakumar et al., 2011; Uellendahl and Ahring, 2010; Yasar,
2006). At sludge age of 180 days and 38 C temperature, the
UASBCD reactor showed COD, BOD5, and TSS removal of
up to 82%, 85% and 73%, respectively. The removal of these

75
76
14.4
77.2
64
13.5
62.6
54.6
88.4

81
83
15.3
88
72.7
19
71.3
66.2
93

82
85
16.5
89
73
20
74.3
68.7
93.2

80.5
77.5
16.2
84.6
63.4
15.5
65.1
54.8
92.8

parameters by UASBASDIT reactor was 80.5%, 77.5%, 65%

and 63.4%, respectively. It was evident from the results that
the performance of both reactors was optimal at sludge age
ranging from 120 to 150 days and temperature varying between 25 and 30 C. Beyond sludge age of 150 days, the removal of pollution parameters by the reactors was marginal
though the sludge temperature was favorable for anaerobic
digestion. The decline in efciency may be due to liquidation
of sludge, disengagement of entrapped solids and/or reduced
rate of hydrolysis because enzymes involved in the hydrolysis
are very sensitive to temperature (Mahmood, 2002; Rajakumar
et al., 2011; Uellendahl and Ahring, 2010).
A comparison of results also revealed that overall performance of UASBCD reactor was better than UASBASDIT reactor, which may be explained due to better development of
sludge bed in terms of granulation, biomass growth and settling characteristics of cow dung sludge with time in the former
reactor (Barbosa and Sant Anna, 1989).
3.2.2. Inuence of hydraulic retention times (HRTs)
The hydraulic retention time (HRT) is directly related to upow velocity (Vup) of inuent in a UASB reactor. Hence, an
adequate Vup and accordingly HRT provides sufcient contact
between sludge and wastewater, reduces the formation of gas
pockets, disengages the biomass from gas and resultantly enhances TSS removal efciency of the system (van Haandel
and Lettinga, 1994; Gonclaves et al., 1994; Mahmoud, 2002;
Uellendahl and Ahring, 2010; Rajakumar et al., 2011). Table 5

Table 5 The performance of UASBCD and UASBASDIT reactors with respect to hydraulic retention times (HRTs) at an operational
temperature of 20 C.
Parameters

Removal eciency (%) at dierent hydraulic retention times (hr)

3

COD
BOD5
Conductivity
Turbidity
TSS
TDS
SO42Chloride
Oil and Grease

12

UASBCD

UASBASDIT

UASBCD

UASBASDIT

UASBCD

UASBASDIT

UASBCD

UASBASDIT

72.6
74.3
12
75
65
15
60.1
61
91

69.8
71.5
11.5
70
63
12
56.4
54
90

78.4
80.7
15
82.7
72.8
18
69.7
66
93.5

75.2
77.5
14
76
70.2
14
62
56
94

81.7
85.5
17.2
87.1
75.8
20.8
75.9
68.8
98.7

77.3
80.6
16.4
82.4
74.3
18.5
69
59.2
95

84.2
86.6
17.6
88.2
76.5
21.5
76.2
70.2
97

80.0
82.4
17.3
84
74.8
20.3
69.7
60.9
95

Please cite this article in press as: Rizvi, H. et al., Start-up of UASB reactors treating municipal wastewater and eect of temperature/sludge age
and hydraulic retention time (HRT) on its performance. Arabian Journal of Chemistry (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.arabjc.2013.12.016

6
shows the effect of HRT on the performance of both reactors
at an operational temperature of 20 C. The results revealed
that the COD, TSS and sulfate removal efciency of UASBCD
reactor was 73%, 65% and 60%, respectively and the removal
efciency of these parameters by UASBASDIT was 70%, 63%
and 56%, respectively at a hydraulic retention time of 3 h.
The COD, TSS and sulfate removal efciency of former reactor was 84%, 77% and 76 %, respectively and 80%, 75% and
71%, respectively for later one at HRT of 12 h. However, rate
of removal of these parameters gradually declined with
increasing hydraulic retention time (Fang, 2000; Hernandez
and Rodr guez, 2013; Leitao, 2004; Nkemka and Murto,
2010; Zhang et al., 2012). Similar ndings have also been reported in the literature (Kalogo and Verstraete, 2000; Lettinga
et al., 1993; Rajakumar et al., 2011). For instance, Ruiz et al.
(1998) reported that COD and TSS removal efciency of a laboratory scale UASB reactor treating domestic wastewater at
20 C was increased from 53% to 73% and 63% to 80%,
respectively with an increase in HRT from 4 to 8 h. Similarly,
Nkemka and Murto (2010) reported 81% COD removal efciency at HRT of 12 h in a UASB reactor treating seaweed
leachate and Zhang et al. (2012) reported 92% COD removal
efciency at HRT of 10 h in a UASB reactor treating sewage.
4. Conclusion
Following conclusions are drawn from this study. The start-up
of UASBCD reactor required a period of 120 days. In case of
UASBASDIT reactor sludge bed was stabilized in a period of
80 days. The performance of both reactors to treat wastewater
was enhanced with an increase in the temperature and sludge
age. Overall performance of both reactors was optimal at
sludge age ranging from 120 to 150 days and temperature varying between 25 and 30 C. The UASB technology provides a
low-cost system for the direct treatment of municipal wastewater and can be applied in small communities where the wastewater ow variation is high due to rainy season or population
load increases during the tourist season or due to seasonally
operated food industries.

Acknowledgments
The authors are highly thankful to the Higher Education
Commission (HEC), Islamabad Pakistan for the nancial
support under the indigenous Ph.D. scholarship scheme.
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Please cite this article in press as: Rizvi, H. et al., Start-up of UASB reactors treating municipal wastewater and eect of temperature/sludge age
and hydraulic retention time (HRT) on its performance. Arabian Journal of Chemistry (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.arabjc.2013.12.016