Performance of Two-Stage Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactor Treating Wastewater from Latex-Processing Factory

In this study, a relatively high-rate treatment (hydraulic retention time ≤2.5 days) of latex-processing wastewater was achieved in a two-stage upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor. A maximum acid production rate of 1.8 g L−1 d−1 acetic acid was obtained when the acidogenic reactor was operated over a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 4 hr. Total chemical oxygen demand (COD) and sulfate removal efficiencies of the system were 51.6 and 75.9%, respectively, when the methanogenic reactor was operated over an HRT of 24 h. The specific acidogenic activity of granular sludge in the acidogenic and methanogenic reactor varied between 1.33–2.02 g COD g volatile suspended solids (VSS)−1 d−1, and the specific methanogenic activity ranged from 0.0078 to 0.0138 g COD-CH4 g VSS−1 d−1. Microbial diversity monitoring using the denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis technique revealed that there was more sulfate-reducing bacteria in both reactors than archea bacteria.