Characterization of Anaerobic Effluent: Seasonal Influence and use of Anammox Process as Post-Treatment

Abstract This study aimed to verify if subtropical annual seasonality variation of organic matter and nitrogen ratio facilitates the use of anammox process as a post – treatment of anaerobic effluent. We characterized the anaerobic effluent from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) located in Campinas/SP, Brazil. The collected composed samples were from an UASB reactor in different days, hours and months during one year. We concluded subtropical annual seasonality of COD/N ratio range (2.2 to 3.1) from anaerobic effluent indicates that the use of anammox process is appropriate as post-treatment of anaerobic effluent in subtropical areas. However, as Total COD degrades over time and as total nitrogen concentration is influenced by seasons, these factors need to be taken into account in the project and operation of the reactor over the year.