Search results for "Activated Sludge"
showing 10 items of 143 documents
Modelling and dynamic simulation of hybrid moving bed biofilm reactors: model concepts and application to a pilot plant.
2011
In the recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the development of hybrid reactors, especially in the up-grading of existing activated sludge plants that are no longer able to comply with concentration limits established by regulatory agencies. In such systems the biomass grows both as suspended flocs and as biofilm. In this way, it is possible to obtain a higher biomass concentration in the reactor, but without any significant increase of the load to the final clarifier. The paper presents the setting-up of a dynamic mathematical model aimed at quantitatively describing the biokinetic processes occurring in a hybrid moving bed biofilm reactor (HMBBR), and, more in general, in…
comparing two start-up strategies for MBRs: experimental study and mathematical modelling
2012
Abstract The performance of a membrane bioreactor (MBR), and mechanisms of fouling formation, may differ due to the start-up. Therefore, the start-up can constitute an aspect that critically influences MBR performance during its lifespan. Indeed, the start-up can influence the mechanisms of membrane fouling, which is of paramount importance in an MBR. In order to gain insights on the effects of the start-up, both experimental and mathematical modelling studies were carried out on an MBR pilot plant. The MBR pilot plant constituted of a hollow fibre membrane module, in a submerged configuration, was fed by real wastewater. Two experimental periods were carried out, lasting 65 days each, char…
Variance-based sensitivity analysis for wastewater treatment plant modelling.
2014
Global sensitivity analysis (GSA) is a valuable tool to support the use of mathematical models that characterise technical or natural systems. In the field of wastewater modelling, most of the recent applications of GSA use either regression-based methods, which require close to linear relationships between the model outputs and model factors, or screening methods, which only yield qualitative results. However, due to the characteristics of membrane bioreactors (MBR) (non-linear kinetics, complexity, etc.) there is an interest to adequately quantify the effects of non-linearity and interactions. This can be achieved with variance-based sensitivity analysis methods. In this paper, the Extend…
Modelling of hybrid moving bed biofilm reactors: a pilot plant experiment.
2007
In recent years there has been an increasing interest in the development of hybrid biofilm reactors, especially in the upgrading of existing WWTP that are no longer able to respect concentration limits. In fact, today's challenge is the achievement of a good aquatic state for the receiving water bodies according to the Water Framework Directive requirements, which indeed limit even more the continuous emissions, i.e. coming from WWTP. This paper presents the setting up of a mathematical model for the simulation of a hybrid MBBR system; the model calibration/validation has been carried out considering a field gathering campaign on an experimental pilot plant. The main goal is to gain insight…
Parameter subset selection for the dynamic calibration of activated sludge models (ASMs): experience versus systems analysis.
2007
In this work we address the issue of parameter subset selection within the scope of activated sludge model calibration. To this end, we evaluate two approaches: (i) systems analysis and (ii) experience-based approach. The evaluation has been carried out using a dynamic model (ASM2d) calibrated to describe nitrogen and phosphorus removal in the Haaren WWTP (The Netherlands). The parameter significance ranking shows that the temperature correction coefficients are among the most influential parameters on the model output. This outcome confronts the previous identifiability studies and the experience based approaches which excluded them from their analysis. Systems analysis reveals that parame…
SCREENING OF CHEMICAL SPILL RISKS TO MUNICIPAL SEWAGE TREA TMENT PLANTS
1994
Seven operational mishaps were specified on the basis of a questionnaire on wastewater treatment plants, some of them large. In this study a process was developed for screening the chemical spill risks to municipal biological sewage treatment plant. Data on wastewater treatment processes, potential spill sources and chemical properties were combined to determine the threshold chemical quantities which may inhibit the removal of carbonaceous material, prevent nitrification and methanogenesis, cause sludge contamination or lead to the aeration capacity being exceeded. Two sewage treatment plants and eleven industrial sites were chosen for field studies. The influence of spill duration and mai…
Comparing the efficiency of wastewater treatment technologies through a DEA metafrontier model
2011
Abstract The assessment of economic and technical efficiency is a useful tool to select the most appropriate technology for wastewater treatment. However, traditional models require that the units being assessed operate with the same technology. To overcome this limitation, we investigate the viability of using a non-concave metafrontier approach that is based on data envelopment analysis (DEA) to calculate the techno-economic efficiency and technological gap ratios (TGRs) of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) operating with non-homogeneous technologies. The model is applied to a sample of 99 Spanish WWTPs, encompassing four alternative technologies: activated sludge; aerated lagoon; trick…
Unveiling the distinctive role of titanium dioxide nanoparticles in aerobic sludge digestion.
2022
Abstract Aerobic digestion is considered to be a common process for the stabilization of waste activated sludge (WAS) in the small-sized wastewater treatment systems, while the broad application of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) results in their unavoidable existence in WAS aerobic digestion, with its role in aerobic sludge digestion being never documented. This study set up a series of aerobic sludge digesters to evaluate the previously unknown role of TiO2 NPs on the performance of the digesters. The volatile solids (VS) degradation percentage increased from 21.9 ± 0.6% to 26.9 ± 0.1% − 30.0 ± 0.3% with the different contents of TiO2 NPs (0, 1, 20 and 50 mg/L). Similarly, the t…
Modelling the metabolic shift of polyphosphate-accumulating organisms
2014
Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) is one of the most important methods of phosphorus removal in municipal wastewater treatment plants, having been described by different modelling approaches. In this process, the PAOs (polyphosphate accumulating organisms) and GAOs (glycogen accumulating organisms) compete for volatile fatty acids uptake under anaerobic conditions. Recent studies have revealed that the metabolic pathways used by PAOs in order to obtain the energy and the reducing power needed for polyhydroxyalkanoates synthesis could change depending on the amount of polyphosphate stored in the cells. The model presented in this paper extends beyond previously developed metaboli…
Dewaterability of CAS and MBR Sludge: Effect of Biological Stability and EPS Composition
2018
The dewaterability of sludge from two conventional activated sludge (CAS) and three membrane bioreactor (MBR)-based wastewater treatment plants is investigated prior to and after anaerobic digestion. The concentration and composition of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) mostly affect the dewaterability of all raw sludge samples. Better sludge dewaterability is observed when the concentration of proteins, carbohydrates, uronic acids, and humic acids is below approximately 400, 250, 200, and 40 mg/L, respectively. In contrast, the specific resistance to filtration (SRF) increases in the sludge samples with a higher EPS concentration. The MBR results in a lower EPS production and a uron…