AF(anaerobic filter)/BAF(biological aerated filter) system and UASB(upflow anaer-obic sludge blanket)/BAF system, of which system effluents were recirculated to the anaerobic reactors in each system, were operated in order to investigate the perfor-ma...
AF(anaerobic filter)/BAF(biological aerated filter) system and UASB(upflow anaer-obic sludge blanket)/BAF system, of which system effluents were recirculated to the anaerobic reactors in each system, were operated in order to investigate the perfor-mance in simultaneous removal of organics and nitrogen in high-strength dairy wastewater. Advanced anaerobic treatment processes of AF and UASB were evaluat-ed on applicability as pre-denitrification reactors. and BAF was also evaluated on the performance in oxidizing the remaining organics and ammonia nitrogen. At system HRTs of 4.0 to 4.5 days and recirculation ratios of one to three, the AF/BAF system could achieve more than 99% of organics removals and 64 to 78 of total nitrogen removals depending upon the recirculation ratio. Although the UASB/BAF system also showed more than 99% of organics removals, total nitrogen removals in the UASB/BAF system were 53 to 66% which are lower than those in the AF/BAF system at the corresponding recirculation ratios. Optimum recirculation ratios considering simultaneous removal of organics and nitrogen and cost-effective-ness, were in the range of two to three. The upflow AF packed with crossflow module media. as a primary treatment of the anaerobic reactor/BAF system, showed better performances in denitrification, SS removals, and gas production than the UASB. Higher loading rate of suspended solids from the UASB increased the backwashing times in the following BAF. Especially, at a recirculation ratio of three in the UASB/BAF system, the increase in head loss due to clogging in the BAF caused fre-quent backwashing, at least once a day. The BAF showed the high nitrification effi-ciency of average 99.2% and organics removals more than 90% at organics loading rate less than 1.4kgCOD/㎥/d and COD/NH3-N ratio less than 6.4. It was proved that the simplified anaerobic reactor/BAF system could maximize the organics removal and achieve high nitrogen removal efficicncies through recircu-lation of system effluents to the anacrobic reactor. The AF/BAF system can, especial-ly, be a cost effective and competitive alternative for the simultaneous removal of organics and nitrogen from wastewaters.