ADVANCES IN ANAEROBIC WASTE-WATER TREATMENT

The suitability of foam glass as the support material for anaerobic fl uidised bed reactors was investigated in the laboratory. The resultant COD-degradation, up to 180 kg/m3/day, was extraordinarily high, compa red with that obtained with sand. A further finding was that the choic e of the inoculation material is of great importance for the initial p eriod. Preliminary experiments on a pilot reactor with a volume of 1.6 m3 with foam glass as support confirmed the laboratory results. No pr oblems occurred with scale-up and the use of actual waste water.