Fluidized and expanded bed reactors

The anaerobic fluidized bed (AFB) reactor comprises small media, such as sand or granular activated carbon, to which bacteria attach. Good mass transfer resulting from the high flow rate around the particles, less clogging and short-circuiting due to the large pore spaces formed through bed expansion and high specific surface area of the carriers due to their small size make fluidized bed reactors highly efficient. However, difficulty in developing strongly attached biofilm containing the correct blend of methanogens, detachment risks of microorganisms, negative effects of the dilution near the inlet as a result of high recycle rate and high energy costs due to the high recycle rate are the main drawbacks of this system. The expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactor is a modification of the AFB reactor with a difference in the fluid’s upward flow velocity. The upflow velocity is not as high as in the fluidized bed which results in partial bed fluidization. (Rittmann and McCarty, 2001). OLR of 10-50 kg kg COD/m3-d can be applied in AFB reactors (Ozturk, 2007; Ersahin et al., 2011).