The contribution of suspended solids to municipal wastewater PHA-based denitrification

Effect of an Increased Particulate COD Load on the Aerobic Granular Sludge Process: A Full Scale Study

High concentrations of particulate COD (pCOD) in the influent of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) systems are often associated to small granule diameter and a large fraction of flocculent sludge. At high particulate concentrations even granule stability and process performance might be compromised. However, pilot- or full-scale studies focusing on the effect of real wastewater particulates on AGS are scarce. This study describes a 3-month period of increased particulate loading at a municipal AGS wastewater treatment plant. The pCOD concentration of the influent increased from 0.5 g COD/L to 1.3 g COD/L, by adding an untreated slaughterhouse wastewater source to the influent. Sludge concentration, waste sludge production and COD and nutrient removal performance were monitored. Furthermore, to investigate how the sludge acclimatises to a higher influent particulate content, lipase and protease hydrolytic activities were studied, as well as the microbial community composition of the sludge. The composition of the granule bed and nutrient removal efficiency did not change considerably by the increased pCOD. Interestingly, the biomass-specific hydrolytic activities of the sludge did not increase during the test period either. However, already during normal operation the aerobic granules and flocs exhibited a hydrolytic potential that exceeded the influent concentrations of proteins and lipids. Microbial community analysis also revealed a high proportion of putative hydrolysing and fermenting organisms in the sludge, both during normal operation and during the test period. The results of this study highlight the robustness of the full-scale AGS process, which can bear a substantial increase in the influent pCOD concentration during an extended period.

Absorption of sulfur dioxide from simulated flue gas by polyethyleneimine-phosphoric acid solution

Clean fuel technologies have been widely developed in current society because fuel combustion can directly bring about the emission of hazardous gasses such as SO2. Flue gas desulfurization by polyethyleneimine (PEI)-phosphoric acid solution is an efficient desulfurization method. In this research, the PEI and the additive H3PO4 were used as absorption solution. SO2 was absorbed by the system and desorbed from the loaded solution. The cycle operation was also analyzed. Some technology conditions such as the concentration of PEI, the temperature, the gas flow rate, the concentration of SO2 and the pH value were experimentally researched. With the optimized process, the absorption efficiency of this system could reach 98% and the desorption efficiency was over 60%, showing good absorption/desorption capability. With this efficient approach, the present study may open a new window for developing high-performance absorbents which can make SO2 be well desorbed from the loaded solution and better reused in the flue gas desulfurization.

Enhancing nitrogen and phosphorus removal in the BUCT-IFAS process by bypass flow strategy

A University of Cape Town process coupled with integrated fixed biofilm and activated sludge system was modified by bypass flow strategy (BUCT-IFAS) to enhance nitrogen and phosphorus removal from the wastewater containing insufficient carbon source. This process was operated under different bypass flow ratios (λ were 0, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6 and 0.7, respectively) to investigate the effect of different operational modes on the nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) removal efficiency (λ=0 was noted as common mode, other λ were noted as bypass flow mode), and optimizing the N and P removal efficiency by altering the λ. Results showed that the best total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) removal performances were achieved at λ of 0.6, the effluent TN and TP averaged 14.0 and 0.4 mg/L meeting discharge standard (TN<15 mg/L, TP<0.5 mg/L). Correspondingly, the TN and TP removal efficiencies were 70% and 94%, respectively, which were 24 and 41% higher than those at λ of 0. In addition, the denitrification and anoxic P-uptake rates were increased by 23% and 23%, respectively, compared with those at λ of 0. These results demonstrated that the BUCT-IFAS process was an attractive method for enhancing nitrogen and phosphorus removal from wastewater containing insufficient carbon source.

Storage-based denitrification with municipal wastewater: influence of the denitrification stage duration

Microbial polyhydroxyalkenoates (PHAs) degradation is the rate limiting step for denitrification which is based on microbial carbon storage. The influence ofdenitrification stage duration (3, 2 and 1.5 h) on PHA degradation kinetics and denitrification efficiency during PHA-based denitrification ofmunicipal wastewater and acetate-based synthetic wastewater was investigated. PHA degradation kinetics showed a good fit to first-order reaction, with higher rates at higher PHA concentrations. Decreasing the denitrification stage duration from 3 to 2 h resulted in an increase in biomass PHA content with the corresponding higher specific denitrification rate. Moreover, the daily denitrification rates increased by about 30% in both the acetate fed reactor and the wastewater fed reactor. Further decreasing the denitrification stage duration to 1.5 h resulted in a decrease in sludge PHA content in both reactors. The amount of filtered chemical oxygen demand removed by storage and PHA stored, remained similar regardless of the denitrification stage duration.