0000000000236507
AUTHOR
G. Noriega-hevia
Resource recovery from sulphate-rich sewage through an innovative anaerobic-based water resource recovery facility (WRRF)
[EN] This research work proposes an innovative water resource recovery facility (WRRF) for the recovery of energy, nutrients and reclaimed water from sewage, which represents a promising approach towards enhanced circular economy scenarios. To this aim, anaerobic technology, microalgae cultivation, and membrane technology were combined in a dedicated platform. The proposed platform produces a high-quality solid- and coliform-free effluent that can be directly discharged to receiving water bodies identified as sensitive areas. Specifically, the content of organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus in the effluent was 45 mg COD.L-1 , 14.9 mg N.L-1 and 0.5 mg P.L-1 , respectively. Harvested solar…
Economic analysis of the scale-up and implantation of a hollow fibre membrane contactor plant for nitrogen recovery in a full-scale wastewater treatment plant
[EN] Nitrogen recovery technologies such as the hollow fibre membrane contactor are now being developed. However, an economic analysis is needed prior to their full-scale application in wastewater treatment plants. The aim of this study was to analyse the economic and environmental aspects of scaling-up this method. To achieve it, a full-scale 40,000 m3·day¿1-wastewater treatment plant influent flow rate was simulated jointly with a membrane contactor plant to evaluate the minimum costs of optimum operating conditions of membrane contactors (pH, feed flow rate and membrane surface). The optimum conditions for treating 600 m3·day¿1 of reject water was found to be 10 pH, 0.08 m3·s¿1 feed flow…
Maximising resource recovery from wastewater grown microalgae and primary sludge in an anaerobic membrane co-digestion pilot plant coupled to a composting process
[EN] A pilot-scale microalgae (Chlorella spp.) and primary sludge anaerobic co-digestion (ACoD) plant was run for one year in an anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) at 35 °C, 70 d solids retention time and 30 d hydraulic retention time, showing high stability in terms of pH and VFA concentration. The plant achieved a high degree of microalgae and primary sludge substrate degradation, resulting in a methane yield of 370 mLCH4·gVSinf¿1. Nutrient-rich effluent streams (685 mgN·L¿1 and 145 mgP·L¿1 in digestate and 395 mgNH4-N·L¿1 and 37 mgPO4-P·L¿1 in permeate) were obtained, allowing posterior nutrient recovery. Ammonium was recovered from the permeate as ammonia sulphate through a hydrophob…
Experimental sulphide inhibition calibration method in nitrification processes: A case-study.
[EN] Sulphide is one of the inhibitors in the nitrification process in WWTP in regions with sulphate rich soils. As little information is currently available on sulphide nitrification inhibition, the aim of this study was to develop a method based on a modification of the Successive Additions Method to calibrate the effect of sulphide on the activity of ammonia-oxidising bacteria (AOB) and nitrite-oxidising bacteria (NOB). The developed method was then applied to activated sludge samples from two WWTPs with different influent sulphide concentrations. In both cases, sulphide had a greater inhibitory effect on NOB than AOB activity. The sulphide inhibition was found to be lower in the activat…
Nitrogen recovery using a membrane contactor: Modelling nitrogen and pH evolution
[EN] A hollow fibre membrane contactor has been applied for nitrogen recovery from anaerobic digestion supernatant at different operating conditions obtaining nitrogen recovery efficiencies over 99 %. A mathematical model able to represent the time evolution of pH and nitrogen concentration during the recovery process is presented in this paper. The developed model accurately reproduced the results obtained in 26 experiments carried out at different pH values (from 9 to 11), temperatures (from 25 to 35 degrees C), membrane surfaces (from 1.2 to 2.4 m(2)) and feed flow rates (from 0.33 x 10(-5) to 5.83 x 10(-5) m(3)/s) predicting the variations in nitrogen recovery rates measured at the diff…