Modeling flow inside an anaerobic digester by CFD techniques

[EN] Anaerobic processes are used to treat high strength organic wastewater as well as for the treatment of primary and secondary sludge from conventional wastewater treatment plants. In these processes, heterotrophic microorganisms convert biodegradable organic matter to methane and carbon dioxide...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Martínez Mendoza, Alexandra, Montoya Martínez, Tatiana, Fajardo Montañana, Vicente, López Jiménez, Petra Amparo|||0000-0002-7043-3683
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2011
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)
Repositorio:RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia
Idioma:español
OAI Identifier:oai:riunet.upv.es:10251/43856
Acceso en línea:https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/43856
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Anaerobic digester
Computational fluid dynamics
Hydrodynamic model
Velocities profiles
INGENIERIA HIDRAULICA
MECANICA DE FLUIDOS
Descripción
Sumario:[EN] Anaerobic processes are used to treat high strength organic wastewater as well as for the treatment of primary and secondary sludge from conventional wastewater treatment plants. In these processes, heterotrophic microorganisms convert biodegradable organic matter to methane and carbon dioxide in the absence of dissolved oxygen and nitrate. Some of the most important aspects of the design of anaerobic digesters are related to hydraulic considerations. In spite of its important role in performance, hydraulics of flow inside digesters has not been quantified or adequately characterized. In this contribution a three-dimensional steady-state computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation has been performed for a particular anaerobic digester, in order to visualize the flow patterns. Flow and velocities profiles have been represented inside the digester to identify possible dead zones or stratifications. The geometry of a real digester installed in Valencia Waste Water Treatment Plant (located in Quart-Benager, Valencia, Spain) has been used in order to consider the proposed methodology.