Bionest Reactor for the Application of Anaerobic Wastewater Treatment and Bioenergy Recovery

Category: Engineering and Physical Sciences

Reference Number: 00413

Description

Water pollution control due to runoff from agricultural feeding operations is huge problem nationwide. In the United States, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are working together to improve America’s waters. Researchers at the University of Hawaii have developed an unique and efficient anaerobic reactor which removes organic pollutants and produces methane gas. This development solves the problem of biomass flotation and wash-out for treating wastewater containing high lipid and fat. Also, the bioreactor can react effectively at the ambient temperature of 20.2°C.

Applications

• Reliable reactor for both organic pollutant removals and biogas production.
• Integrate the Bionest reactor with existing lagoon systems or solids/liquid separators.
• Useful for biogas production.
• Can be installed for land limited area.

Main Advantages

• High organic loading rate which leads to cost effectiveness of both the construction and operation of the reactor.
• Easy startup.
• Reliable operation.
• High methane content of biogas.
• High concentration biomass which can be maintained from different positions of the bionest reactor.
• Reactions can be separated in different layers and stages which reduce the inhibition of milk fat and lipids.
• Long SRT (Solids Retention Time) can be achieved and is relatively independent from HRT (Hydraulic Retention Time).
• More reaction space and more effective reaction time are provided than conventional UASB (upflow anaerobic sludge blanket).
• High loading rate and high removal rate can be achieved at a temperature of 20°C.

Inventor(s)

Pingyi Yang, Professor and Graduate Chair of Bioengineering
Liangjie Dong, Project Engineer

College of Tropical Agriculture, Department of Molecular Bioscience and Bioengineering

Contact Information

For more information, contact Lisa Matsunaga at matsunag@hawaii.edu