Search results for "Bioreactor"
showing 10 items of 397 documents
An extension of ASM2d including pH calculation
2003
This paper presents an extension of the Activated Sludge Model No. 2d (ASM2d) including a chemical model able to calculate the pH value in biological processes. The developed chemical model incorporates the complete set of chemical species affecting the pH value to ASM2d describing non-equilibrium biochemical processes. It considers the system formed by one aqueous phase, in which biochemical processes take place, and one gaseous phase, and is based on the assumptions of instantaneous chemical equilibrium under liquid phase and kinetically governed mass transport between the liquid and gas phase. The ASM2d enlargement comprises the addition of every component affecting the pH value and an i…
Influence of volatile solids and pH for the production of volatile fatty acids: batch fermentation tests using sewage sludge
2021
The aim of this work was to study the effect of volatile suspended solid (VSS) and pH on volatile fatty acids (VFA) production from waste activated sludge (WAS) fermentation by means of batch tests. The final goal was to gain insights to enhance VFA stream quality, with the novelty of using WAS with high sludge retention time. Results revealed that the optimum conditions to maximize VFAs and minimize nutrients and non-VFA sCOD are a VSS concentration of 5.9 g/L and initial pH adjustment to pH 10. The WAS bacterial community structures were analysed according to Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) of 16S rDNA amplicons. The results revealed changes of bacterial phyla abundance in comparison wit…
Monitoring pH and electric conductivity in an EBPR sequencing batch reactor
2004
This paper presents laboratory-scale experimentation carried out to study enhanced biological phosphorus removal. Two anaerobic aerobic (A/O) sequencing batch reactors (SBR) have been operated during more than one year to investigate the information provided by monitoring pH and electric conductivity under stationary and transient conditions. Continuous measurements of these parameters allow detecting the end of anaerobic phosphorus release, of aerobic phosphorus uptake and of initial denitrification, as well as incomplete acetic acid uptake. These results suggest the possibility of using pH and electric conductivity as control parameters to determine the length of both anaerobic and aerobi…
Nitrous oxide from integrated fixed-film activated sludge membrane bioreactor: Assessing the influence of operational variables
2017
The influence of the main operational variables on N2O emissions from an Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge University of Cape Town membrane Bioreactor pilot plant was studied. Nine operational cycles (total duration: 340 days) were investigated by varying the value of the mixed liquor sludge retention time (SRT) (Cycles 1â3), the feeding ratio between carbon and nitrogen (C/N) (Cycles 4â6) and simultaneously the hydraulic retention time (HRT) and the SRT (Cycles 7â9). Results show a huge variability of the N2O concentration in liquid and off-gas samples (ranged from 10â1μg N2O-N Lâ1to 103μg N2O-N Lâ1). The maximum N2O concentration (1228 μg N2O-N Lâ1) in the off-gas sa…
Greenhouse gas emissions from membrane bioreactors: analysis of a two-year survey on different MBR configurations
2018
Abstract This study aimed at evaluating the nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from membrane bioreactors (MBRs) for wastewater treatment. The study investigated the N2O emissions considering multiple influential factors over a two-year period: (i) different MBR based process configurations; (ii) wastewater composition (municipal or industrial); (iii) operational conditions (i.e. sludge retention time, carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, C/N, hydraulic retention time); (iv) membrane modules. Among the overall analysed configurations, the highest N2O emission occurred from the aerated reactors. The treatment of industrial wastewater, contaminated with salt and hydrocarbons, provided the highest N2O emission…
Treatment of a submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor (SAnMBR) effluent by an activated sludge system: the role of sulphide and thiosulphate in the …
2014
This work studies the use of a well-known and spread activated sludge system (UCT configuration) to treat the effluent of a submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor (SAnMBR) treating domestic waste-water. Ammonia, phosphate, dissolved methane and sulphide concentrations in the SAnMBR effluent were around 55 mg NH4-N L-1, 7 mg PO4-P L-1, 30 mg non-methane biodegradable COD L-1, and 105 mg S2- L-1 respectively. The results showed a nitrification inhibition caused by the presence of sulphur compounds at any of the solids retention time (SRT) studied (15,20 and 25 days). This inhibition could be overcome increasing the hydraulic retention time (HRT) from 13 to 26 h. Among the sulphur compounds, …
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 …
Greenhouse gases from sequential batch membrane bioreactors: A pilot plant case study
2016
Abstract The paper reports the results of nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions from aerobic and anoxic tank of a Sequential Batch Membrane Bioreactor (SB-MBR) pilot plant. The influence of salinity variation on N 2 O emission was analyzed by gradually increasing the inlet salt concentration from 0 to 10 g NaCl L −1 . The observed results showed that the N 2 O concentration of the gaseous samples was strongly influenced by the salt concentration. This result was likely related to a worsening of the nitrification activity due to the effect of salinity on autotrophic bacteria. Dissolved oxygen concentration and salinity were found to be the key factors affecting N 2 O concentration in the gaseous s…
Pilot-scale thermophilic anaerobic treatment of wastewaters from seasonal vegetable processing industry
1997
Thermophilic anaerobic treatment of food industry wastewaters was studied using a 0.65 m3 upflow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) reactor. The reactor was operated at 55°C and placed on the premises of a factory manufacturing deep-frozen goods from vegetables. The hot (>80-90°C) and concentrated (COD 14-79 g/l) wastewater streams, deriving from steam peeling and blanching of carrot and potato were used. The UASB reactor was inoculated with a small amount of granular sludge from a full-scale mesophilic UASB reactor. Prior to inoculation, the inoculum was acclimated to 55°C for 2 days. The reactor was fed with a mixture of wastewaters diluted to the desired COD. The reactor was started with loadin…
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…