scholarly journals Plantwide modelling – anaerobic digestion of waste sludge from parent nutrient (N and P) removal systems

Water SA ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (3 July) ◽  
Author(s):  
DS Ikumi ◽  
GA Ekama
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Volatile Fatty Acids ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Anaerobic Digester ◽  
Hydrolysis Rate ◽  
Biological Nutrient Removal ◽  
Biomass Hydrolysis ◽  
Behavioural Patterns ◽  
Anaerobic Zone

Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) mathematical models are based on the behavioural patterns of microorganisms involved in the treatment process. These microorganisms are assumed incapable of thinking or planning but simply act according to the capabilities afforded to them by their surrounding conditions – hence different microorganisms pre-dominate different WWTP zones according to how well the conditions suit them. When waste activated sludge (WAS) from biological nutrient removal (BNR) activated sludge (AS) systems, containing phosphorus-accumulating organisms (PAOs), is fed to an anaerobic digester, there is a release of high quantities of metals, phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N). The manner in which we model the release of these metals and nutrients significantly affects the accuracy of predicted anaerobic digestion (AD) outcomes. Previous studies of PAOs show that in the anaerobic zone of the AS system, they can form energy-rich poly3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) at the expense of their aerobically generated polyphosphate (PP). Thus, it is expected that the PAOs containing PP sent into an anaerobic digester with volatile fatty acids (VFAs) present, would utilize their PP reserves as they would in the anaerobic zone of an AS process ending up with formation and storage of some PHB. Ultimately, all the stored products of the PAO get released, since there is no alternating aerobic environment to cater for their growth. Since it has been established that the PP release in the AD occurs much faster than the PAO biomass hydrolysis rate, it is modelled as a separate process. Steps are presented in the development of this PP release mass-balanced stoichiometries that occur with AD of PAOs. By comparing outcomes from these proposed stoichiometries against measured experimental data, it is noticed that better predictions are obtained with acetate uptake for PHB formation than when modelling the AD PP release to occur with PAO death and hydrolysis.

Two-stage thermophilic-mesophilic anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge from a biological nutrient removal plant

2006 ◽  
Vol 53 (8) ◽  
pp. 149-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Watts ◽  
G. Hamilton ◽  
J. Keller
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Nutrient Removal ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Single Stage ◽  
Biological Nutrient Removal ◽  
Waste Activated Sludge ◽  
Two Stage ◽  
Primary Sludge ◽  
Second Stage

A two-stage thermophilic-mesophilic anaerobic digestion pilot-plant was operated solely on waste activated sludge (WAS) from a biological nutrient removal (BNR) plant. The first-stage thermophilic reactor (HRT 2 days) was operated at 47, 54 and 60 °C. The second-stage mesophilic digester (HRT 15 days) was held at a constant temperature of 36–37 °C. For comparison with a single-stage mesophilic process, the mesophilic digester was also operated separately with an HRT of 17 days and temperature of 36–37 °C. The results showed a truly thermophilic stage (60 °C) was essential to achieve good WAS degradation. The lower thermophilic temperatures examined did not offer advantages over single-stage mesophilic treatment in terms of COD and VS removal. At a thermophilic temperature of 60 °C, the plant achieved 35% VS reduction, representing a 46% increase compared to the single-stage mesophilic digester. This is a significant level of degradation which could make such a process viable in situations where there is no primary sludge generated. The fate of the biologically stored phosphorus in this BNR sludge was also investigated. Over 80% of the incoming phosphorus remained bound up with the solids and was not released into solution during the WAS digestion. Therefore only a small fraction of phosphorus would be recycled to the main treatment plant with the dewatering stream.

Are standard wastewater treatment plant design methods suitable for any municipal wastewater?

2012 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 328-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Insel ◽  
B. Güder ◽  
G. Güneş ◽  
E. Ubay Cokgor
Keyword(s):  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Volatile Fatty Acids ◽  
Municipal Wastewater ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Design Methods ◽  
Biological Nutrient Removal ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Plant Design ◽  
Biological Phosphorus Removal ◽  
Operational Parameters

The design and operational parameters of an activated sludge system were analyzed treating the municipal wastewaters in Istanbul. The design methods of ATV131, Metcalf & Eddy together with model simulations were compared with actual plant operational data. The activated sludge model parameters were determined using 3-month dynamic data for the biological nutrient removal plant. The ATV131 method yielded closer sludge production, total oxygen requirement and effluent nitrogen levels to the real plant after adopting correct influent chemical oxygen demand (COD) fractionation. The enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) could not easily be predicted with ATV131 method due to low volatile fatty acids (VFA) potential.

scholarly journals An Investigation of Impact of Iron and Aluminium Addition on the Anaerobic Digestion Process

2017 ◽  
pp. 558-563
Author(s):  
Svetlana Ofverstrom ◽  
Ieva Sapkaite ◽  
Regimantas Dauknys
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plant ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Anaerobic Digester ◽  
Anaerobic Digestion Process ◽  
Digestion Process ◽  
Aluminium Addition ◽  
The Impact

In this study, the impact of iron and aluminium salts addition on anaerobic digestion process was investigated. Mixture of primary and activated sludge collected at Vilnius wastewater treatment plant in Lithuania was digested under laboratory conditions by using anaerobic digester (W8, Amfield, UK). To compare the relative digestibility of iron-dosed (Fe-dosed)and aliuminium-iron-dosed (Al-Fe-dosed) sludge with un-dosed sludge three continuous experiments were made. Results showed that iron and aliuminium negatively impacted anaerobic digestion process by reducing the volume of biogas produced. Fe-dosed sludge produced 20-50% less biogas and Al-Fe-dosed sludge produced 30-40% less biogas in comparison to the same un-dosed sludge. VS destruction decreased during dosing of Fe or/and Al salt. Biogas composition was not measured during the experiments.

Biological nutrient removal wastewater treatments and sewage sludge anaerobic mesophilic digestion performances

2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (10) ◽  
pp. 199-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Bolzonella ◽  
L. Innocenti ◽  
F. Cecchi
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Economic Assessment ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Anaerobic Digester ◽  
Biological Nutrient Removal ◽  
Energetic Balance ◽  
Mesophilic Digestion ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Energy Balances

The paper deals with the performances of the mesophilic anaerobic digestion treatment of sewage sludge from a full scale BNR process without primary settling (nominally 300,000 PE). A relation between the activated sludge observed yields, Yobs, and the anaerobic digester performance was preliminarily found: for values of Yobs of 0.25 kgVSS/kgCOD the anaerobic digester specific gas production showed the best performances (0.22 m3/kgVSfed). This has to be confirmed with wider future studies. It was also shown the level of sludge pre-thickening to be reached for the self-sustaining warming of the digester also in wintertime. According to the energetic balance and to a comparison with an aerobic stabilisation process, it was pointed out as when a co-generation unit for heat and energy production was introduced about 3.4 kWh/PE y of energy were produced in the anaerobic digestion process. On the other hand, 4.3 kWh/PE y were spent if an aerobic stabilisation process was applied. The economic assessment, carried out on the basis of the energy balances, showed that the anaerobic digestion is always economically advantageous if compared to aerobic stabilisation processes, also for small WWTPs. According to the energetic evaluations an environmental balance was assessed, in terms of CO2 emissions. The difference between anaerobic and aerobic processes was about 5.3 kgCO2/PE y in favour of anaerobic processes application.

Mesophilic and Thermophilic Digestion of Thickened Waste Activated Sludge: A Comparative Study

2010 ◽  
Vol 113-116 ◽  
pp. 450-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Zhi Chi ◽  
Yu You Li ◽  
Min Ji ◽  
Hong Qiang ◽  
Heng Wei Deng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Municipal Wastewater ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Methane Content ◽  
Waste Activated Sludge ◽  
Digested Sludge ◽  
Anaerobic Digestion Process ◽  
Digestion Process ◽  
Significant Difference

This paper presents an experimental study over 204 days on anaerobic degradation of thickened waste activated sludge (TWAS) from a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The experiments were conducted under thermophilic (55°C) and mesophilic (35°C) condition, respectively, by using the semi-continuous flow completely mixed reactors. The influent total solids (TS), hydraulic retention time (HRT) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) loading levels were around 4%, 30 days and 1.67 kg-CODCr•m-3•d-1 , respectively. During the opration period, the thermophilic anaerobic digestion process (TADP) and the mesophilic anaerobic digestion process (MADP) were stable and well-functioned without ammonia inhibition. Particulate organic matters reduction of TADP was superior to that of MADP. This result implies that TADP has higher sludge reduction efficiency than MADP. According to the simulated chemical formula of TWAS, C5.85H9.75O3.96N, and the stoichiometric equation, the methane content and the ammonia yield in the anaerobic process could be calculated, which were consistent with the experimental results. The methane yield of TADP was a little higher than that of MADP. The statistical mean values of methane content for TADP and MADP were 60.97% and 62.38%, respectively.According to paired t-test, there was a significant difference in methane content between TADP and MADP(α=0.01, n=62). Compared with the mesophilic digested sludge, the dewaterability of thermophilic digested sludge was lower.

Thermochemical pretreatment in the anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge

2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (10) ◽  
pp. 173-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Tanaka ◽  
K. Kamiyama
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Sewage Treatment ◽  
Sewage Treatment Plant ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Municipal Sewage ◽  
Waste Activated Sludge ◽  
Anaerobic Digesters ◽  
Thermochemical Pretreatment ◽  
Methane Production Rate

Effects of a thermochemical pretreatment on the anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge (WAS) was investigated by semicontinuously-fed digesters operated at 37¡C. WAS from a return sludge line of a municipal sewage treatment plant was pretreated by autoclaving at 130°C for 5 minutes after adding 0.3g NaOH/g VSS. Solids of WAS were thermochemically solubilized to one half and then 60% or more were in totality solubilized in anaerobic digesters fed with pretreated WAS at 2-8 days of hydraulic retention times (HRT), while only 16-36% were solubilized in digesters fed with raw WAS. The adverse effect of the set temperature (130°C) on the biodegradability of protein was not found. As a result, removal rates of COD in digestion was increased from 38% to 57% at 8 days HRT by the pretreatment. A specific methane production rate in the pretreated process was three times as high as the normal process. The thermochemical pretreatment was found to be very effective to enhance biodegradability as well as solubilization of WAS in anaerobic digestion.

scholarly journals Temperature-Phased Biological Hydrolysis and Thermal Hydrolysis Pretreatment for Anaerobic Digestion Performance Enhancement

Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1812 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beraki Bahre Mehari ◽  
Sheng Chang ◽  
Youngseck Hong ◽  
Han Chen
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Volatile Fatty Acids ◽  
Municipal Wastewater ◽  
Performance Enhancement ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Wastewater Sludge ◽  
Thermal Hydrolysis ◽  
Soluble Chemical Oxygen Demand ◽  
Effects Of Temperature

Thermal hydrolysis (TH) and biological hydrolysis (BH) are two main and growing anaerobic digestion pretreatment technologies. In this study, municipal wastewater sludge samples were collected from the Guelph Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in Ontario, Canada. The effects of temperature on BH treatment, including BH at 42 °C (BH42), 42 °C followed by 55 °C (BH42+55), 55 °C followed by 42 °C (BH55+42), and 55 °C (BH55) were evaluated for anaerobic digestion performance enhancement and compared with TH treatment at 165 °C. The TH, BH42, BH42+55, BH55+42, and BH55 treatments caused the reduction of volatile suspended solids (VSS) by 22.6%, 17.5%, 24.6%, 23.1%, and 25.9%, respectively. The soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD) content of the sludge increased by 377.5%, 323.8%, 301.3%, 286.9%, and 221.7% by the TH, BH55, BH42+55, BH55+42, and BH42 treatments, respectively. Volatile fatty acids (VFA) constituted around 40% of the sCOD in the BH-treated sludge and 6% in the TH-treated sludge. The cumulative methane yields (NmLCH4/g COD fed) of sludge treated by BH55+42 and TH were respectively 23% and 20% higher than that of the untreated sludge. For BH pretreatment, sludge treated by BH55+42 produced more methane than those treated by BH42+55, BH55, and BH42. The methane yields of the combined sludge treated by the TH and BH55+42 treatments were in the ranges of 248.9 NmLCH4/g COD to 266.1 NmLCH4/g COD fed, and 255.3 NmLCH4/g COD to 282.2 NmLCH4/g COD fed, respectively.

Full Scale Optimization of Biological Phosphorus Removal at Kelowna, Canada

1985 ◽  
Vol 17 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 243-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. K. Oldham
Keyword(s):  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Biological Nutrient Removal ◽  
Biological Phosphorus Removal ◽  
Nutrient Quality ◽  
Total N ◽  
Primary Sludge ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Anaerobic Zone ◽  
Scale Optimization

A newly constructed biological nutrient removal treatment plant operating in the Phoredox mode was used to test the effects on plant efficiency of varying two important operating conditions - the point of introduction of return sludge flow, and the addition of primary sludge thickener supernatant to the bioreactor. Overall treatment results for Kelowna's weak sewage showed that the effluent was consistently below 10 mg/L BOD and 4 mg/L suspended solids, while total P was below 2 mg/L 94 percent of the time, and total N was below 6 mg/L 90 percent of the time. There was no significant difference in effluent nutrient quality between tests with all return sludge entering the anaerobic zone or with half entering the anaerobic zone and half entering the first anoxic zone. Primary sludge thickener supernatant added to the anaerobic zone typically resulted in an effluent P concentration of less than 0.1 mg ortho-P/L, while the absence of supernatant produced an effluent containing greater than 2 mg ortho-P/L.

scholarly journals Enhanced Acetogenesis of Waste Activated Sludge by Conditioning with Processed Organic Wastes in Co-Fermentation: Kinetics, Performance and Microbial Response

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 3630
Author(s):  
Yu Zhang ◽  
Rui Sun ◽  
Cristiano Varrone ◽  
Yaoli Wei ◽  
Alimzhanova Shyryn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Canonical Correlation ◽  
Volatile Fatty Acids ◽  
Anaerobic Fermentation ◽  
Soy Sauce ◽  
Hydrolysis Rate ◽  
Waste Activated Sludge ◽  
Carbon And Nitrogen ◽  
Hydrolysis Rate Constant ◽  
Microbial Response

Aimed at the low ratio of carbon and nitrogen (C/N, approximately 7/1) of waste activated sludge (WAS), which would inhibit the acetogenesis process during anaerobic fermentation, this study introduced three brewing wastes, including vinegar (VR), stillage (SR) and soy sauce (SSR) residues, to promote acetogenesis by co-fermenting with WAS. Results showed that different brewing wastes contributed differently to the volatile fatty acids (VFAs) yield. The best performance was observed with SSR (4517 ± 367 mg COD/L), particularly rich in C2–C3 VFAs, corresponding to 40% and 52% higher concentrations than with SR and VR, respectively. Meanwhile, the hydrolysis rate constant peaked at 0.0059 h−1 in the SSR test, compared to the sole WAS test (0.0018 h−1). Furthermore, canonical correlation analysis reflected that the functional consortia, known to ferment saccharides/amino acids into C2–C3 VFAs (i.e., Proteiniclasticum, Petrimonas, Cloacibacillus and Gemmobacter), was related to the characteristics of the feedstock.

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