Tratamiento de lactosuero ácido en un reactor UASB a diferentes cargas constantes y puntuales.

Introduction. For this research work, the acid whey produced by Oaxaca cheese industry in a UASB reactor was used. The reactor was subjected to three constant charges and three punctual charges of the whey. The reactor had a nominal capacity of 2.9 L with 1.9 days of hydraulic retention with an upward flow and a sludge blanket of 40% of the reactor's volume. Objective. Evaluate the behavior of the UASB reactor with three different charges of whey. Materials and methods. Three different constant charges of whey were used (5200, 7800 and 10500 mg CDO/L each one) during 22 days, and punctual charges of 32000, 47000 and 65000 mg DQO/L per day of whey, for each one, during 24 hours. Both the influent and the effluent were determined: total of sugars, volatile fatty acids (VFA's) protein, pH, methane and CDO. Results. The findings demonstrated that in the constant charges used the removal efficiency of CDO was 26 %, and for the punctual charges was 57 %. The sugar degradation efficiency was 95% for the constant and the punctual charges. For the protein, the removal efficiencies in the constant charges were above 27 % and for the punctual charges the efficiency was 46 %. Conclusion. The values of volatile fatty acids and methane were all within the limits for a good functioning of the reactor. Nevertheless, the pH had acid values below the ones recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]