Evaluación de la eficiencia de un tratamiento secundario de lodos activados a escala laboratorio en las aguas residuales domésticas de la Planta del municipio de Andes, Suroeste antioqueño

Abstract

RESUMEN: El proceso de lodos activados es ampliamente empleado para el tratamiento de las aguas residuales, el cual se compone de dos etapas: la primera, en la que se lleva a cabo la degradación microbiológica de la materia orgánica y la segunda donde, por sedimentación, la biomasa generada en la primera es separada. El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar la eficiencia de un tratamiento secundario de lodos activados a escala laboratorio en las aguas residuales domésticas de la Planta de Tratamiento de Agua Residual (PTAR) del municipio de Andes, Suroeste antioqueño. Para ello, la experimentación inició con una caracterización del agua y el lodo de la planta para su posterior activación en un montaje en lote; seguidamente, para un proceso en continuo, donde se emplearon tres caudales diferentes y en los que se evaluó la Demanda Química de Oxígeno (DQO) para determinar la eficiencia de remoción de materia orgánica en un reactor de mezcla completa. De esta forma, las eficiencias de remoción promedio en términos de DQO fueron de 77, 79 y 75% con caudales de 2,4, 2,9 y 8,2 ml/min respectivamente. Por lo tanto, con la implementación de los lodos activados a escala laboratorio, se logró que las concentraciones de contaminación medida como materia orgánica presente en el efluente de la PTAR fueran removidas a través de un proceso biológico. ABSTRACT: The activated sludge process is widely used for wastewater treatment and consists of two stages: the first, in which the microbiological degradation of organic matter takes place, and the second, in which the biomass generated in the first stage is separated by sedimentation. The objective of this work was to evaluate the efficiency of a laboratory-scale secondary activated sludge treatment of domestic wastewater from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) of the municipality of Andes, southwest of Antioquia. To this end, the experiment started with a characterization of the water and sludge from the plant for subsequent activation in a batch system; followed by a continuous process using three different flow rates, in which the Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) was evaluated to determine the efficiency of organic matter removal in a full mix reactor. The average COD removal efficiencies were 77, 79 and 75% at flow rates of 2,4, 2,9 and 8,2 ml/min respectively. Therefore, by implementing laboratory-scale activated sludge, the concentrations of pollutants measured as organic matter present in the WWTP effluent were removed by a biological process.

ABSTRACT: The activated sludge process is widely used for wastewater treatment and consists of two stages: the first, in which the microbiological degradation of organic matter takes place, and the second, in which the biomass generated in the first stage is separated by sedimentation. The objective of this work was to evaluate the efficiency of a laboratory-scale secondary activated sludge treatment of domestic wastewater from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) of the municipality of Andes, southwest of Antioquia. To this end, the experiment started with a characterization of the water and sludge from the plant for subsequent activation in a batch system; followed by a continuous process using three different flow rates, in which the Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) was evaluated to determine the efficiency of organic matter removal in a full mix reactor. The average COD removal efficiencies were 77, 79 and 75% at flow rates of 2,4, 2,9 and 8,2 ml/min respectively. Therefore, by implementing laboratory-scale activated sludge, the concentrations of pollutants measured as organic matter present in the WWTP effluent were removed by a biological process.