A two-step fed SBR for treating swine manure

Optimization of Simultaneous Nutrients and Chemical Oxygen Demand Removal from Anaerobically Digested Liquid Dairy Manure in a Two-Step Fed Sequencing Batch Reactor System Using Taguchi Method and Grey Relational Analysis

The technological development for efficient nutrient removal from liquid dairy manure is critical to a sustainable dairy industry. A nutrient removal process using a two-step fed sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system was developed in this study to achieve the applicability of simultaneous removal of phosphorus, nitrogen, and chemical oxygen demand from anaerobically digested liquid dairy manure (ADLDM). Three operating parameters, namely anaerobic time:aerobic time (min), anaerobic DO:aerobic DO (mg L-1), and hydraulic retention time (days), were systematically investigated and optimized using the Taguchi method and grey relational analysis for maximum removal efficiencies of total phosphorus (TP), ortho-phosphate (OP), ammonia-nitrogen (NH3-N), total nitrogen (TN), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) simultaneously. The results demonstrated that the optimal mean removal efficiencies of 91.21%, 92.63%, 91.82%, 88.61%, and 90.21% were achieved for TP, OP, NH3-N, TN, and COD at operating conditions, i.e., anaerobic:aerobic time of 90:90 min, anaerobic DO:aerobic DO of 0.4:2.4 mg L-1, and HRT of 3 days. Based on analysis of variance, the percentage contributions of these operating parameters towards the mean removal efficiencies of TP and COD were ranked in the order of anaerobic DO:aerobic DO > HRT > anaerobic time:aerobic time, while HRT was the most influential parameter for the mean removal efficiencies of OP, NH3-N, and TN followed by anaerobic time:aerobic time and anaerobic DO:aerobic DO. The optimal conditions obtained in this study are beneficial to the development of pilot and full-scale systems for simultaneous biological removal of phosphorus, nitrogen, and COD from ADLDM.

The Recovery of Phosphate and Ammonium from Biogas Slurry as Value-Added Fertilizer by Biochar and Struvite Co-Precipitation

Biowaste materials could be considered a renewable source of fertilizer if methods for recovering P from waste can be developed. Over the last few decades, there has been a high level of interest in using biochar to remove contaminants from aqueous solutions. This study was conducted using a range of salts that are commonly found in biogas slurry (ZnCl2, FeCl3, FeCl2, CuCl2, Na2CO3, and NaHCO3). Experiments with a biogas digester and aqueous solution were conducted at pH nine integration with NH4+, Mg2+, and PO43− molar ratios of 1.0, 1.2, and 1.8, respectively. The chemical analysis was measured to find out the composition of the precipitate, and struvite was employed to remove the aqueous solutions. The study found that the most efficient removal of phosphate and ammonium occurred at pH nine in Tongan sludge urban biochar and rice biochar, respectively. Increasing the concentration of phosphate and ammonium increased the phosphate and ammonium content. Moreover, increasing the biochar temperature and increasing the concentration of phosphate and ammonium increased the efficiency of the removal of ammonium and phosphate. The removal efficiency of ammonium and phosphate increased from 15.0% to 71.0% and 18.0% to 99.0%, respectively, by increasing the dose of respective ions K+, Zn2+, Fe3+, Fe2+, Cu2+, and CO32.The elements were increased from 58.0 to 71.0 for HCO3− with the increasing concentration from 30 mg L−1 to 240 mg L−1.This study concluded that phosphate and ammonium can be recovered from mushroom soil biochar and rice biochar, and phosphate can be effectively recovered via the struvite precipitation method.

Bioprocessing for elimination antibiotics and hormones from swine wastewater

Antibiotics and hormones in swine wastewater have become a critical concern worldwide due to the severe threats to human health and the eco-environment. Removal of most detectable antibiotics and hormones, such as sulfonamides (SAs), SMs, tetracyclines (TCs), macrolides, and estrogenic hormones from swine wastewater utilizing various biological processes were summarized and compared. In biological processes, biosorption and biodegradation are the two major removal mechanisms for antibiotics and hormones. The residuals in treated effluents and sludge of conventional activated sludge and anaerobic digestion processes can still pose risks to the surrounding environment, and the anaerobic processes' removal efficiencies were inferior to those of aerobic processes. In contrast, membrane bioreactors (MBRs), constructed wetlands (CWs) and modified processes performed better because of their higher biodegradation of toxicants. Process modification on activated sludge, anaerobic digestion and conventional MBRs could also enhance the performance (e.g. removing up to 98% SMs, 88.9% TCs, and 99.6% hormones from wastewater). The hybrid process combining MBRs with biological or physical technology also led to better removal efficiency. As such, modified conventional biological processes, advanced biological technologies and MBR hybrid systems are considered as a promising technology for removing toxicants from swine wastewater.

Aerobic N2O emission for activated sludge acclimated under different aeration rates in the multiple anoxic and aerobic process

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas that can be emitted during biological nitrogen removal. N2O emission was examined in a multiple anoxic and aerobic process at the aeration rates of 600mL/min sequencing batch reactor (SBRL) and 1200mL/min (SBRH). The nitrogen removal percentage was 89% in SBRL and 71% in SBRH, respectively. N2O emission mainly occurred during the aerobic phase, and the N2O emission factor was 10.1% in SBRL and 2.3% in SBRH, respectively. In all batch experiments, the N2O emission potential was high in SBRL compared with SBRH. In SBRL, with increasing aeration rates, the N2O emission factor decreased during nitrification, while it increased during denitrification and simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND). By contrast, in SBRH the N2O emission factor during nitrification, denitrification and SND was relatively low and changed little with increasing aeration rates. The microbial competition affected the N2O emission during biological nitrogen removal.

Evaluation of granular anaerobic ammonium oxidation process for the disposal of pre-treated swine manure

With rising environmental concerns on potable water safety and eutrophication, increased media attention and tighter environmental regulations, managing animal waste in an environmentally responsible and economically feasible way can be a challenge. In this study, the possibility of using granular anammox process for ammonia removal from swine waste treatment water was investigated. A rapid decrease of NO₂⁻–N and NH₄⁺–N was observed during incubation with wastewater from an activated sludge deodorization reactor and anaerobic digestion-partial oxidation treatment process treating swine manure and its corresponding control artificial wastewaters. Ammonium removal dropped from 98.0 ± 0.6% to 66.9 ± 2.7% and nearly absent when the organic load in the feeding increased from 232 mg COD/L to 1160 mg COD/L and 2320 mg COD/L. The presence of organic carbon had limited effect on nitrite and total nitrogen removal. At a COD to N ratio of 0.9, COD inhibitory organic load threshold concentration was 727 mg COD/L. Mass balance indicated that denitrifiers played an important role in nitrite, nitrate and organic carbon removal. These results demonstrated that anammox system had the potential to effectively treat swine manure that can achieve high nitrogen standards at reduced costs.

Effects of chlortetracycline amended feed on anaerobic sequencing batch reactor performance of swine manure digestion

The effects of antimicrobial chlortetracycline (CTC) on the anaerobic digestion (AD) of swine manure slurry using anaerobic sequencing batch reactors (ASBRs) was investigated. Reactors were loaded with manure collected from pigs receiving CTC and no-antimicrobial amended diets at 2.5 g/L/d. The slurry was intermittently fed to four 9.5L lab-scale anaerobic sequencing batch reactors, two with no-antimicrobial manure, and two with CTC-amended manure, and four 28 day ASBR cycles were completed. The CTC concentration within the manure was 2 8 mg/L immediately after collection and 1.02 mg/L after dilution and 250 days of storage. CTC did not inhibit ASBR biogas production extent, however the volumetric composition of methane was significantly less (approximately 13% and 15% for cycles 1 and 2, respectively) than the no-antimicrobial through 56 d. CTC decreased soluble chemical oxygen demand and acetic acid utilization through 56 d, after which acclimation to CTC was apparent for the duration of the experiment.

Synthesis of nano-zeolite from coal fly ash and its potential for nutrient sequestration from anaerobically digested swine wastewater

The treatment of anaerobically digested swine wastewater (ADSW) is problematic due to its high nutrient concentration. This study investigated the simultaneous sequestration of ammonium (N) and phosphate (P) from ADSW using nano-zeolites synthesized from fly ash (ZFA). The nanometer-scale crystalline structures plentiful of zeolite-NaP1 coating on ZFA particle increased the levels of specific surface area and cation exchange capacity at times of 40 and 104, compared to raw fly ash. Kinetic N and P sorption experiments with ZFA were well described by both the Langmuir and Freundlich models, suggesting the co-existence of homogeneous and heterogeneous sorption mechanisms. N and P removal efficiencies ranged from 41% to 95% and 75% to 98%, respectively, across a range of ZFA doses (from 0.25 to 8g/100ml). Collectively, application of the laboratory-synthesized ZFA can alleviate the nutrient loads in ADSW and therefore modify the ratio of N:P in wastewater beneficial for subsequent biological treatment.

Impact of chlortetracycline on sequencing batch reactor performance for swine manure treatment

Treatment of aged (500 day, 4°C stored) chlortetracycline (CTC; 0, 20, 40, 80 mg/L CTC)-amended swine manure using two cycle, 22 day stage anaerobic sequencing batch reactors (SBR) was assessed. Eighty milligrams per liter CTC treatment inhibited SBR treatment efficiencies, although total gas production was enhanced compared to the no-CTC treatment. The 20 and 40 mg/L CTC treatments resulted in either slight or no differences to SBR treatment efficiencies and microbial diversities compared to the no-CTC treatment, and were generally similar to no-CTC treatments upon completion of the first 22 day SBR cycle. All CTC treatments enhanced SBR gas generation, however CH(4) yields were lowest for the 80 mg/L CTC treatment (0.111L CH(4)/g tCOD) upon completion of the second SBR react cycle. After a 22 day acclimation period, the 80 mg/L CTC treatment inhibited methanogenesis due to acetate accumulation, and decreased microbial diversity and CH(4) yield compared to the no-CTC treatment.

Effect of feeding strategy on the performance of sequencing batch reactor with dual anoxic feedings for swine wastewater treatment

Two feeding ratios, 3:1 (RUN I) and 2:1 (RUN II), were experimented to investigate their effect on removal of nitrogen, phosphorus, organic matter, and on the trends of oxidization-reduction potential (ORP) and pH in sequencing batch reactors (SBR) with dual anoxic feedings of swine wastewater. Results showed for both runs, the feeding ratio had a more significant effect on the removal of phosphorus and nitrogen than on COD in the operating cycle. As compared to RUN I, the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus was enhanced in RUN II. In addition, the optimal feeding ratio greater than 1:1 for SBR with dual anoxic feedings can be determined with reference to the decreasing range of ORP following the primary feeding, and the denitrification-associated ORP bending point in the second non-aeration phase.

Landfill leachate treatment using powdered activated carbon augmented sequencing batch reactor (SBR) process: optimization by response surface methodology

In this study, landfill leachate was treated by using the sequencing batch reactor (SBR) process. Two types of the SBR, namely non-powdered activated carbon and powdered activated carbon (PAC-SBR) were used. The influence of aeration rate and contact time on SBR and PAC-SBR performances was investigated. Removal efficiencies of chemical oxygen demand (COD), colour, ammoniacal nitrogen (NH(3)-N), total dissolved salts (TDS), and sludge volume index (SVI) were monitored throughout the experiments. Response surface methodology (RSM) was applied for experimental design, analysis and optimization. Based on the results, the PAC-SBR displayed superior performance in term of removal efficiencies when compared to SBR. At the optimum conditions of aeration rate of 1L/min and contact time of 5.5h the PAC-SBR achieved 64.1%, 71.2%, 81.4%, and 1.33% removal of COD, colour, NH(3)-N, and TDS, respectively. The SVI value of PAC-SBR was 122.2 mL/g at optimum conditions.

Improvement strategy on enhanced biological phosphorus removal for municipal wastewater treatment plants: full-scale operating parameters, sludge activities, and microbial features

The poor quality of effluent discharged by municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is threatening the safety of water ecology. This study, which integrated a field survey, batch tests, and microbial community identification, was designed to improve the effectiveness of the enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) process for WWTPs. Over two-thirds of the investigated WWTPs could not achieve total P in effluent lower than 0.5 mg/L, mainly due to the high ratio of chemical oxygen demand to P (28.6-196.2) in the influent. The rates of anaerobic P release and aerobic P uptake for the activated sludge varied from 0.22 to 7.9 mg/g VSS/h and 0.43 to 8.11 mg/g VSS/h, respectively. The fraction of Accumulibacter (PAOs: polyphosphate accumulating organisms) was 4.8 ± 2.0% of the total biomass, while Competibacter (GAOs: glycogen-accumulating organisms) accounted for 4.8 ± 6.4%. The anaerobic P-release rate was found to be an effective indicator of EBPR. Four classifications of the principal components were identified to improve the EBPR effluent quality and sludge activity.

The stability of accumulating nitrite from Swine wastewater in a sequencing batch reactor

Shortcut nitrification is the first step of shortcut nitrogen removal from swine wastewater. Stably obtaining an effluent with a significant amount of nitrite is the premise for the subsequent shortcut denitrification. In this paper, the stability of nitrite accumulation was investigated using a 1.5-day hydraulic retention time in a 10-L (working volume) activated sludge sequencing batch reactor (SBR) with an 8-h cycle consisted of 4 h 38 min aerobic feeding, 1 h 22 min aerobic reaction, 30 min settling, 24 min withdrawal, and 1 h 6 min idle. The nitrite production stability was tested using four different ammonium loading rates, 0.075, 0.062, 0.053, and 0.039 g NH(4)-N/g (mixed liquid suspended solid, MLSS) day in a 2-month running period. The total inorganic nitrogen composition in the effluent was not affected when the ammonium load was between 0.053 and 0.075 g NH(4)-N/g MLSS · day (64% NO(2)-N, 16% NO(3)-N, and 20% NH(4)-N). Under 0.039 g NH(4)-N/g MLSS · day, more NO(2)-N was transformed to NO(3)-N with an effluent of 60% NO(2)-N, 20% NO(3)-N, and 20% NH(4)-N. The reducing load test was able to show the relationship between a declining free nitrous acid (FNA) concentration and the decreasing nitrite production, indicating that the inhibition of FNA on nitrite oxidizing bacteria depends on its levels and an ammonium loading rate around 0.035 g NH(4)-N/g MLSS · day is the lower threshold for producing a nitrite dominance effluent in the activated sludge SBR under the current settings.

Evaluation of second-generation multistage wastewater treatment system for the removal of malodors from liquid swine waste

Wastewater quality and malodors in a second generation implementation of environmentally superior technology (EST) were monitored over three cycles of pig (Sus scrofa) production and 15 mo. The wastewater treatment system consisted of three modules: solids separation, biological N removal, and P recovery/wastewater disinfection. While approximately more than 90% of the wastewater suspended solids were removed in the first stage of treatment, little reduction in malodorous compounds occurred, indicating that malodors largely remained with the liquid waste stream. The greatest improvements in wastewater quality occurred in the N treatment module where ammonium was removed through nitrification/denitrification processes: there was more than 99% reduction in aromatic malodorous compounds (e.g., p-cresol, skatole) and almost 90% reduction in volatile fatty acids (e.g., propanoate and butanoate) in N module effluent as compared to raw flushed manure. The system performed consistently well in wastewater odor removal, even during the first cycle of livestock production when system performance was being optimized. These findings showed that the combination of the processes of solids removal and biological N treatment into a practical treatment system can be very effective in reducing malodors from livestock wastewater.

A reformed SBR technology integrated with two-step feeding and low-intensity aeration for swine wastewater treatment

Wastewater from animal farms in China is threatening the quality and security of the local water environment. A traditional sequencing batch reactor (SBR) and a reformed SBR integrated with two-step feeding and low-intensity aeration at laboratory scale were investigated in this study for biological removal of nutrients and organic matter from swine wastewater. A low efficiency and poor stability were found under the traditional SBR, and the reduction of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) reached 89.1, 86.0 and 93.9%, respectively. When the wastewater was treated with the reformed SBR under the running cycle of anaerobic/anoxic-anaerobic/anoxic process, the reductions in TN, TP, and BOD5 reached a maximum of 94.0, 99.3 and 99.9%, respectively. The curves of oxidation reduction potential (ORP) and nutrients over time during operation of the reformed SBR could reflect the activity of denitrifying phosphorus-accumulating organisms (DNPAOs).

Optimization of main factors associated with nitrogen removal in hybrid sludge sequencing batch reactor with step-feeding of swine wastewater

To attain a high nitrogen removal efficiency and good sludge settleability in a step-fed sequencing batch reactor (SFSBR) treating swine wastewater, L(9)(3(4)) orthogonal experiments were carried out to optimize main factors associated with nitrogen removal, namely, the influent C/N ratio, feeding volume ratio, nitrogen loading rate and aeration intensity. Results showed that nitrogen loading rate contributed most for the build-up of NO(2)(-)-N, NO(3)(-)-N and NH(4)(+)-N in the effluent, while aeration intensity was the most important factor for net nitrogen removal efficiency based on the initial and final nitrogen concentrations in the SFSBR cycle. Additionally, the periodic starvation created by stepwise feeding was the major inducing force for granulation in the SFBSR process and the influent C/N ratio had a profound influence on sludge settleability and granular sludge stability in terms of sludge volume index (SVI) and the fraction of granular sludge with diameter over 0.5 mm (f(0.5 mm)), respectively. Considering the most and secondary important control factor for individual response index, the optimal operating condition for nitrogen removal of SFSBR treating swine wastewater was determined as A(3)B(3)C(1)D(2), i.e., influent C/N ratio 7.0 mg COD/mg NH(4)(+)-N, feeding volume ratio 3:1, nitrogen loading rate 0.026 g NH(4)(+)-N/gVSS . d and aeration intensity 4.2 L/m(3) . s, respectively. Under the optimal operating conditions, inorganic nitrogen concentration in the effluent, net nitrogen removal efficiency, SVI and f(0.5 mm) reached 21 mg/L, 72 %, 40.7 mL/g and 4.3 %, respectively.

Characteristics of a twice-fed sequencing batch reactor treating swine wastewater under control of aeration intensity

The changes of nitrogen (NH4+-N, NO2- -N, and NO3- -N), chemical oxygen demand (COD), dissolved phosphorus (DP), dissolved oxygen (DO), oxidization and reduction potential (ORP), and pH were tracked in a twice-fed sequencing batch reactor (SBR) treating swine wastewater at aeration intensities of 2.1, 4.2, and 6.3 L/m3 x s, with two alternating non-aeration/aeration phases. The SBR was fed at the beginning of each non-aeration phase with a volume ratio of 3:1. The results show that aeration intensity has positive effects on DO breakthrough and the maximum DO concentration during aeration. Additionally, nitrification, proceeding in an aerated environment with non-detectable DO, can be accelerated when aeration intensity increases from 2.1 to 4.2 L/m3 x s, while the COD and DP removals increase at the end of the aeration phase for higher aeration intensities (4.2 and 6.3 L/m3 x s). Online monitoring results indicate that pH is more sensitive than ORP in revealing the nitrification termination with non-detectable DO, whereas minimal ORP in the non-aeration phase has potential to be used as a control parameter for feeding.