Search results for "Activated Sludge"
showing 10 items of 143 documents
The sludge dewaterability in membrane bioreactors
2016
The influence of the sludge origin on the dewaterability features has been investigated by comparing the experimental results of six membrane bioreactor pilot plants with different configurations. The capillary suction time (CST) and the specific resistance to filtration (SRF), identified as representative of sludge dewaterability features, were measured. The results were related to operational parameters, such as extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and soluble microbial product (SMP), influent salinity and hydrocarbon, in order to elucidate the influence exerted on the dewaterability. Furthermore, the effect of biofilm and suspended biomass was also investigated. The results showed th…
Application of the Oxic-Settling-Anaerobic Process in a Membrane Bioreactor for Excess Sludge Reduction
2017
The main goal of this study was the evaluation of the excess sludge reduction in a MBR for biological nitrogen removal (BNR) through the implementation of the Oxic-Settling-Anaerobic (OSA) process. For this purpose, a MBR pilot plant (42 L volume) was realized according to a pre-denitrification scheme. The whole experimentation was divided into two periods, named Period 1 and Period 2, respectively. In Period 1 the pilot plant was started-up and the excess sludge production was evaluated. In Period 2 the plant configuration was partially modified by inserting an anaerobic reactor into the return activated sludge (RAS) line to realize an OSA configuration. In Period 1, the Yobs resulted equa…
Biological minimization of excess sludge in a membrane bioreactor: Effect of plant configuration on sludge production, nutrient removal efficiency an…
2018
Abstract Excess sludge minimization was studied in a MBR with pre-denitrification scheme. Sludge minimization, nitrogen removal performance and membrane fouling tendency were investigated in two configurations, characterized by a different position of the sludge retention reactor (SRR). In particular, the SRR was placed: i) in the return activated sludge line (Anaerobic Side-Stream Reactor – ASSR configuration) and ii) in the mainstream between the anoxic and aerobic reactor (Anaerobic Main-Stream Reactor – AMSR configuration). The achieved results demonstrated that the ASSR enabled a higher excess sludge reduction (74% vs 32%), while achieving lower biological nitrogen removal (BNR) (TN = …
Integrated fixed-film activated sludge membrane bioreactors versus membrane bioreactors for nutrient removal: A comprehensive comparison
2018
Abstract This research elucidates the pollutants (nutrients and carbon) removal performance and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions of two pilot plants. Specifically, a University of Cape Town (UCT) Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) plant and an Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge (IFAS)-UCT-MBR plant were investigated. The plants were fed with real wastewater augmented with acetate and glycerol in order to control the influent carbon nitrogen ratio (C/N). The short-term effect of the inlet C/N ratio variation (C/N = 5 mgCOD/mgN and C/N = 10 mgCOD/mgN) on the behaviour of both plants was investigated. The results showed that the IFAS-UCT-MBR configuration provided the best performance in terms of poll…
Preliminary evaluation of biopolymers production by mixed microbial culture from citrus wastewater in a MBR system using respirometric techniques
2021
Abstract This preliminary study was aimed at evaluating the feasibility to produce biopolymers (BP) from citrus wastewater by mixed microbial culture in an anaerobic/aerobic membrane bioreactor (A/O-MBR). The activated sludge of the A/O-MBR was successfully enriched in microorganisms having a good capacity in producing intracellular biopolymers. The production of BP was found to be about 0.55 mgCOD mgCOD−1 using pure acetate at a concentration of 1000 mgCOD L−1. When using fermented wastewater, the conversion of acetate into BP product was 0.56 mgCOD mgCOD−1 in the test performed with C/N equal to 1000:1, whereas it was only 0.12 mgCOD mgCOD−1 in the test with C/N of 100:5. The results achi…
Selective enrichment of heterotrophic nitrifiers <em>Alcaligenaceae</em> and <em>Alcanivorax</em> spp. from industrial wastew…
2020
Removal of nitrogen from wastewaters (WW) represents a global problem. The low nitrification rate during WW treatment is often caused by ecotoxicity. This problem is attributed mostly to the industrial WW. Our study was focused on the testing of industrial WW and activated sludge (AS) with the aim to reveal the abundance of nitrifiers and increase their biomass, thus, providing the additional step, i.e., bioaugmentation, within the technological process of WW treatment. Plating of AS on the selective solidified media designated for the 1st and 2nd nitrification stages, resulted in the shift in bacterial community structure with dominated Alcaligenaceae and Alcanivorax for the 1st stage, and…
Influence of carbon to nitrogen ratio on nitrous oxide emission in an Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge Membrane BioReactor plant
2018
Abstract In this study a University of Cape Town (UCT) Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge (IFAS) Membrane BioReactor (MBR) wastewater treatment plant was monitored in terms of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. The short term effect on the N2O emission due to the influent carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio variation (C/N ratios of 2, 5 and 10 gCOD/gN) was evaluated. Since in a previous study, the effect of the C/N ratio was studied in the same system without biofilm (UCT-MBR configuration) the main aim here was to investigate the role of biofilms on N2O emissions. Under all the investigated C/N ratios, the N2O fluxes and the average emission factors were lower than that of previous studies with…
The influence of solid retention time on IFAS-MBR systems: analysis of system behavior.
2018
A University of Cape Town Integrated Fixed-Film Activated Sludge Membrane Bioreactor (UCT-IFAS-MBR) pilot plant was operated at different values of the sludge retention time (SRT). Three SRTs were investigated at different durations: indefinitely, 30 and 15 days. The organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus removal, kinetic/stoichiometric parameters, membrane fouling tendency and sludge filtration properties were assessed. The findings showed that by decreasing the SRT, the pilot plant could maintain excellent carbon removal efficiencies throughout the experiments. In contrast, the biological carbon removal showed a slight nitrification and was slightly affected by the decrease of the SRT, s…
Modeling the decay of nitrite oxidizing bacteria under different reduction potential conditions
2018
[EN] Autotrophic growth and decay rates of ammonium and nitrite oxidizing bacteria (AOB and NOB, respectively) have a significant impact on the design and on the process performance of wastewater treatment systems where nitrification occurs. Literature data on the separate decay rates of AOB and NOB is scarce and inconsistent. In this study, batch experiments based on respirometric techniques were conducted to determine the NOB decay rates under different oxidation-reduction potential conditions, in order to widen the understanding of nitrite dynamics. The decay rate measured under anoxic conditions was 85% lower than under aerobic conditions, whereas under anaerobic conditions the decay ra…
A multivariate approach of changes in filamentous, nitrifying and protist communities and nitrogen removal efficiencies during ozone dosage in a full…
2019
[EN] The application of low ozone dosage to minimize the problems caused by filamentous foaming was evaluated in two bioreactors of an urban wastewater treatment plant. Filamentous and nitrifying bacteria, as well as protist and metazoa, were monitored throughout a one-year period by FISH and conventional microscopy to examine the effects of ozone application on these specific groups of microorganisms. Multivariate data analysis was used to determine if the ozone dosage was a key factor determining the low carbon and nitrogen removal efficiencies observed throughout the study period, as well as to evaluate its impact on the biological communities monitored. The results of this study suggest…