ATP as an indicator of biomass activity in thermophilic upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor

This work investigated the biomass activity in a thermophilic upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor of wastewater treatment. Synthetic textile wastewater with pH 10-11, COD level of 2000-3000 mg/L was tested. Cellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in volatile solids (VS; mg ATP/gVS) was measured and expressed as specific ATP content to compare the biomass activity in up zone and lower zone in UASB reactor. The result shows that the specific ATP content based on total volatile solids (VS)in lower zone (0. 046 mgATP/gVS average) is much lower than that in up zone (0.62 mgATP/gVS average) due to high content of inactive biomass and high pH in lower zone. The SATP in up zone increases as HRT increases and approaches to a maximum value of 0.85 mgATP/gVS at HRT of 7h, then decreases. It shows most of the total VS in up zone represent active bacterial biomass at HRT of 7h. Rate of subtract utilization is directly related to the activity of microorganisms in the reactor. The effect of HRT on SATP in lower zone is not as significant as on SATP in up zone. The buffer capacity of the thermophilic UASB reactor is very good. It is the activity of sludge granules in lower zone that give the UASB reactor such a good buffer capacity to the inlet high pH.