Modelling of three-stage anaerobic digestion using SUMO1

Nutrient removal is a challenge when it comes to biological waste treatment, thus the aim of this research was to simulate the performance of a three-stage anaerobic digestion (AD) system treating poultry slaughterhouse wastewater (PSW) in the Western Cape, South Africa, with regards to the removal efficiency of organic matter, total suspended solids (TSS) and volatile suspended solids (VSS). The first AD unit focused on the removal of COD, the second AD unit was used for biogas generation, and the third AD unit was used for nutrient removal (i.e. nitrogen and phosphorus). SUMO wastewater treatment process simulator software was used to simulate the performance and the excel data sheet, that was generated by SUMO, provides an overview of the model developed, the influent and modified parameters, as well as the results obtained. The simulation indicated that the three-stage AD treatment had the lowest removal efficiencies when compared the single-stage AD and two-stage AD.