Steady-state models are presented to describe the wastewater treatment process in two activated sludge systems. One of these makes use of a single complete-mix reactor; the other one involves two complete-mix reactors arranged in series. The in-series system is equivalent to what is known as the “two-phase” activated sludge, a concept which is now being launched throughout Poland in conjunction with the PROMLECZ technology under implementation. Analysis of the mathematical models has revealed the following: (1) treatment efficiency, excess sludge production, energy consumption, and the degree of sludge stabilization are identical in the two systems; (2) there exists a technological equivalence of “two-phase” sludge with “single-phase” sludge; (3) the “two-phase” system has no technological advantage over the “single-phase” system.
The distribution kinetics of 35 2-furylethylene derivatives in two-phase system 1-octanol-water was investigated. The transport rate parameters in direction water-1-octanol (l1) and backwards (l2) are partition coefficient P = l1/l2 dependent according to equations l1 = logP - log(βP + 1) + const., l2 = -log(βP + 1) + const., const. = -5.600, β = 0.261. Importance of this finding for assesment of distribution of compounds under investigation in biosystems and also the suitability of the presented method for determination of partition coefficients are discussed.
Two-phase water-free systems containing high ethanol content in the coexisting phases can selectively partition hydrophobic molecules from natural biomass.