Characteristics, Process Parameters, and Inner Components of Anaerobic Bioreactors

Table 1

Advantages and disadvantages of anaerobic process [3, 15].

Advantages

Disadvantages

(i) Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through methane recovery.; (ii) High treatment efficiency for biodegradable sludge.; (iii) Production of methane gas (potential source of fuel).; (iv) A high degree of waste stabilization is possible.; (v) Simplicity.; (vi) Flexibility: anaerobic treatment can easily be applied on either a very large or a very small scale.; (vii) Space saving (higher loading rates require smaller reactor volumes thereby saving on disposal cost).; (viii) Less requirement of energy and oxygen.; (ix) Inoffensive residual sludge may be used as soil conditioner.; (x) Low nutrients and chemicals requirement.

(i) Long recovery time: it may take longer time for the system to return to normal operating conditions if shock loading happens.; (ii) Low pathogen and nutrient removal.; (iii) Long startup.; (iv) Possible bad odors.; (v) High sensitivity of methanogenic bacteria to a large number of chemical compounds.; (vi) Small- and middle-scale anaerobic technology for the treatment of solid waste in middle- and low-income countries is still relatively new.