Search results for "BIOFILM"
showing 10 items of 394 documents
Biological nitrogen removal from municipal landfill leachate: low-cost nitrification in biofilters and laboratory scale in-situ denitrification.
2002
The slow leaching of nitrogen from solid waste in landfills, resulting in high concentrations of ammonia in the landfill leachate, may last for several decades. The removal of nitrogen from leachate is desirable as nitrogen can trigger eutrophication in lakes and rivers. In the present study, a low-cost nitrification-denitrification process was developed to reduce nitrogen load especially in leachates from small landfills. Nitrification was studied in laboratory and on-site pilot aerobic biofilters with waste materials as filter media (crushed brick in upflow filters and bulking agent of compost in a downflow filter) while denitrification was studied in a laboratory anoxic/anaerobic column …
Anaerobic on-site black water and kitchen waste treatment using UASB-septic tanks at low temperatures.
2006
Anaerobic on-site treatment of black water (BW) and a mixture of black water and kitchen waste (BWKW) was studied in a two-phased upflow anaerobic sludge blanket septic tank (UASBst) at 10–20 °C. The processes were fed either continuously or discontinuously (twice per weekday). Moreover, BWKW was post-treated for nitrogen removal in an intermittently aerated moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) at 20 °C. Removal of total chemical oxygen demand (CODt) was efficient at minimum 90% with all three UASBst at all temperatures. Removal of dissolved COD (CODdis) was also high at approx. 70% with continuously fed BW and discontinuously fed BWKW, while with discontinuous BW feeding it was 20%. Temperatu…
Contribution of bacterial biodiversity on the operational performance of a styrene biotrickling filter.
2020
Abstract Long-term operational stability of biotrickling filters (BTFs) degrading volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is dependent on both physicochemical as well as biological properties. Effects of increasingly stressful levels of air pollutants on the microbial structure of biofilms within BTFs are not well understood, especially for VOCs such as styrene. To investigate the relationship between biofilm biodiversity and operational stability, the temporal dynamics of a biofilm from a biotrickling filter subjected to stepwise increasing levels of air polluted with styrene was investigated using 16S rDNA pyrosequencing and PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE). As styrene con…
Moving bed membrane bioreactors for carbon and nutrient removal: The effect of C/N variation
2017
In this paper, an experimental campaign was carried out on a University of Cape Town Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge Membrane Bioreactor (UCT-IFAS-MBR) pilot plant. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of the influent C/N ratio on the system performance in terms of organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus removal, biomass viability (through respirometry), activated sludge features and membrane filtration properties. The experiments were organized into three phases, characterized by a variation of the C/N ratio (namely, Phase I: C/N= 5, Phase II: C/N =10; Phase III: C/N = 2). The results highlighted that the system performance was significantly affected by C/N ratio. The rem…
Biotrickling filter modeling for styrene abatement. Part 2: Simulating a two-phase partitioning bioreactor.
2017
Abstract A dynamic model describing styrene abatement was developed for a two-phase partitioning bioreactor operated as a biotrickling filter (TPPB-BTF). The model was built as a coupled set of two different systems of partial differential equations depending on whether an irrigation or a non-irrigation period was simulated. The maximum growth rate was previously calibrated from a conventional BTF treating styrene (Part 1). The model was extended to simulate the TPPB-BTF based on the hypothesis that the main change associated with the non-aqueous phase is the modification of the pollutant properties in the liquid phase. The three phases considered were gas, a water–silicone liquid mixture, …
The influence of solid retention time on IFAS-MBR systems: Assessment of nitrous oxide emission
2017
The aim of the present study was to investigate the nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from a moving bed based Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge (IFAS) - membrane bioreactor (MBR) pilot plant, designed according to the University of Cape Town (UCT) layout. The experimental campaign had a duration of 110 days and was characterized by three different sludge retention time (SRT) values (â, 30 d and 15 d). Results highlighted that N2O concentrations decreased when the biofilm concentrations increased within the aerobic reactor. Results have shown an increase of N2O with the decrease of SRT. Specifically, an increase of N2O-N emission factor occurred with the decrease of the SRT (0.13%, 0.21% …
Bacterial community analysis of a gas-phase biotrickling filter for biogas mimics desulfurization through the rRNA approach
2010
Abstract The bacterial composition of a lab-scale biotrickling filter (BTF) treating high loads of H 2 S was investigated by the rRNA approach. Two 16S rRNA gene clone libraries were established 42 and 189 d after reactor startup, while fluorescent in-situ hybridization (FISH) with DNA probes was performed throughout 260 d of reactor operation. Diversity, community structure and metamorphosis were studied from reactor startup to fully-established pseudo-steady state operation at near neutral pH and at an inlet H 2 S concentration of 2000 ppmv (load of 55.6 g H 2 S m −3 h −1 ). In addition, FISH was used for assessing the spatial distribution of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (SOB) along the len…
Pilot-scale comparison of thermophilic aerobic suspended carrier biofilm process and activated sludge process in pulp and paper mill effluent treatme…
2004
Thermophilic aerobic treatment of settled pulp and paper mill effluent was studied under mill premises with two comparative pilot processes; suspended carrier biofilm process (SCBP) and activated sludge process (ASP). Full-scale mesophilic activated sludge process was a reference treatment. During the runs (61 days) hydraulic retention times (HRTs) were kept 13 ± 5 h and 16 ± 6 h for SCBP and ASP, respectively. Corresponding volumetric loadings rates (VLR) were 2.7 ± 0.9 and 2.2 ± 1.0 kg CODfilt m-3d-1. Temperatures varied between 46 to 60°C in both processes. Mesophilic ASP was operated with HRT of 36 h, corresponding VLR of 0.7 kg CODfilt m-3d-1. Both SCBP and ASP achieved CODfilt (GF/A f…
Hybrid activated sludge/biofilm process for the treatment of municipal wastewater in a cold climate region: a case study.
2011
A hybrid activated sludge/biofilm process was investigated for wastewater treatment in a cold climate region. This process, which contains both suspended biomass and biofilm, usually referred as IFAS process, is created by introducing plastic elements as biofilm carrier media into a conventional activated sludge reactor. In the present study, a hybrid process, composed of an activated sludge and a moving bed biofilm reactor was used. The aim of this paper has been to investigate the performances of a hybrid process, and in particular to gain insight the nitrification process, when operated at relatively low MLSS SRT and low temperatures. The results of a pilot-scale study carried out at the…
Assessment of fungi proliferation and diversity in cultural heritage: Reactions to UV-C treatment.
2018
International audience; Fungi are present in natural and non-touristic caves due to the presence of organic matter provided mainly by insects or animals such as bats. In show caves, however, tourist infrastructure and the visitors themselves are an important source of organic matter. In addition, photosynthetic biofilms provide a high amount of carbon and nitrogen sources for fungi. This study was conducted to identify the fungal communities present in caves along with the potential use of UV-C treatment against their proliferation. Thus, fungal communities proliferating in biofilms in six French and Swiss show caves were analyzed using high throughput sequencing. The results show 385 speci…