Activated sludge plant facing grape harvest period – a case study

1996 ◽  
Vol 34 (11) ◽  
pp. 25-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Chudoba ◽  
R. Pujol

Most of municipal activated sludge plants located in wine production regions receive winery wastewaters during the grape harvest period which lasts usually only a few weeks. A drastic increase in organic pollution (COD, BOD) during this period generates a temporary overloading, resulting very often in biological problems such as decreased sludge settleability, sludge floc disintegration, increased SS concentration in treated effluent and in the worst case a complete plant failure. In order to work satisfactorily even during those temporary overloading periods, the plant has to be oversized. This strategy is rather costly, because such a plant has to run below its nominal capacity during a major part of the year. An original solution has been proposed and successfully tested at a municipal wastewater treatment plant in Eguisheim, France. The proposed technique is based on the addition of a mineral material with a low particle size, whose presence positively influences the physical behaviour of the sludge and will allow the nominal capacity of the plant to be surpassed without any important modification. The modification of the sludge structure around the added powdered material improved significantly the sludge settleability (DSVI< 160 ml/g) and enabled the plant to treat organic pollution several times higher than the nominal level.

2005 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 27-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y.S. Cao ◽  
K.H. Teo ◽  
W.A. Yuen ◽  
W.Y. Long ◽  
B. Seah

The paper describes and analyses the performance of anoxic selectors in upgrading activated sludge process in a municipal wastewater treatment plant under tropical climate, where poor sludge settleability is a problem due to elevated temperature. Site monitoring and laboratory experiment were conducted to study the denitrification, sludge settleability, kinetics, mass balance, pH and alkalinity variation in the system. The sludge settleability measured in Sludge Volume Index (SVI) was observed to improve with the increasing degree of denitrification in the anoxic selector. Under well-developed stable state, an average SVI value of 136 ml/g was achieved, which was significantly lower than the value of 250 ml/g before the application of anoxic selector. The specific reaction rates for denitrification and nitrification at 30°C were 0.06 mg NO3-N/mg MLSS day and 0.08 mg NH4-N/mg MLSS day, respectively. The overall efficiencies of nitrification and denitrification were 86 percent and 55.4 percent, respectively, with an alkalinity recovery ratio of 15.4 percent. 32 percent of total COD removed was used up as electron donor in the denitrification process. However, due to absence of the internal Mixed Liquor Recirculation (MLR), a higher degree of denitrification occurred in the secondary sedimentation tank than in the anoxic zone. Issues for further studies are also discussed.


2007 ◽  
Vol 73 (6) ◽  
pp. 1952-1960 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Schlüter ◽  
R. Szczepanowski ◽  
N. Kurz ◽  
S. Schneiker ◽  
I. Krahn ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The erythromycin resistance plasmid pRSB105 was previously isolated from an activated sludge bacterial community of a municipal wastewater treatment plant. Compilation of the complete pRSB105 nucleotide sequence revealed that the plasmid is 57,137 bp in size and has a mean G+C content of 56.66 mol%. The pRSB105 backbone is composed of two different replication and/or partitioning modules and a functional mobilization region encoding the mobilization genes mobCDE and mobBA. The first replicon (Rep1) is nearly identical to the corresponding replication module of the multiresistance plasmid pRSB101 isolated from an unknown activated sludge bacterium. Accordingly, pRSB101 and pRSB105 are sister plasmids belonging to a new plasmid family. The second replicon (Rep2) of pRSB105 was classified as a member of the IncP-6 group. While Rep1 confers replication ability only in γ-proteobacteria, Rep2 extents the host range of the plasmid since it is also functional in the β-proteobacterium Ralstonia eutropha. Plasmid pRSB105 harbors the macrolide resistance genes mel and mph, encoding, respectively, a predicted ABC-type efflux permease and a macrolide-2′-phosphotransferase. Erythromycin resistance is mainly attributed to mel, whereas mph contributes to erythromycin resistance to a lesser extent. The second resistance region, represented by an integron-containing Tn402-like element, includes a β-lactam (oxa10) and a trimethoprim (dfrB2) resistance gene cassette. In addition to antibiotic resistance modules, pRSB105 encodes a functional restriction/modification system and two nonresistance regions of unknown function. The presence of different mobile genetic elements that flank resistance and nonresistance modules on pRSB105 indicates that these elements were involved in acquisition of accessory plasmid modules. Comparative genomics of pRSB105 and related plasmids elucidated that pRSB105 evolved by integration of distinct modules from different plasmid sources, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa plasmids, and thus represents a mosaic plasmid.


1992 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 167-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Siegrist ◽  
M. Tschui

The wastewater of the municipal treatment plants Zürich-Werdhölzli (350000 population equivalents), Zürich-Glatt (110000), and Wattwil (20000) have been characterized with regard to the activated sludge model Nr.1 of the IAWPRC task group. Zürich-Glatt and Wattwil are partly nitrifying treatment plants and Zürich-Werdhölzli is fully nitrifying. The mixing characteristics of the aeration tanks at Werdhölzli and Glatt were determined with sodium bromide as a tracer. The experimental data were used to calibrate hydrolysis, heterotrophic growth and nitrification. Problems arising by calibrating hydrolysis of the paniculate material and by measuring oxygen consumption of heterotrophic and nitrifying microorganisms are discussed. For hydrolysis the experimental data indicate first-order kinetics. For nitrification a maximum growth rate of 0.40±0.07 d−1, corresponding to an observed growth rate of 0.26±0.04 d−1 was calculated at 10°C. The half velocity constant found for 12 and 20°C was 2 mg NH4-N/l. The calibrated model was verified with experimental dam of me Zürich-Werdhölzli treatment plant during ammonia shock load.


2010 ◽  
Vol 113-116 ◽  
pp. 450-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Zhi Chi ◽  
Yu You Li ◽  
Min Ji ◽  
Hong Qiang ◽  
Heng Wei Deng ◽  
...  

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.


2018 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. 644-654 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Olsson ◽  
S. Schwede ◽  
E. Nehrenheim ◽  
E. Thorin

Abstract A mix of microalgae and bacteria was cultivated on pre-sedimented municipal wastewater in a continuous operated microalgae-activated sludge process. The excess material from the process was co-digested with primary sludge in mesophilic and thermophilic conditions in semi-continuous mode (5 L digesters). Two reference digesters (5 L digesters) fed with waste-activated sludge (WAS) and primary sludge were operated in parallel. The methane yield was slightly reduced (≈10%) when the microalgal-bacterial substrate was used in place of the WAS in thermophilic conditions, but remained approximately similar in mesophilic conditions. The uptake of heavy metals was higher with the microalgal-bacterial substrate in comparison to the WAS, which resulted in higher levels of heavy metals in the digestates. The addition of microalgal-bacterial substrate enhanced the dewaterability in thermophilic conditions. Finally, excess heat can be recovered in both mesophilic and thermophilic conditions.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
B Vivekanandan ◽  
K Jeyannathann ◽  
A. Seshagiri Rao

Abstract The quality of a treated effluent changes when there is a sudden variation in the influent flow to the wastewater treatment plant during dry, rain, and storm weather conditions. In this study, various influent flow conditions in an activated sludge process are considered that affect the sensitivity of effluent variables such as chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD), nitrate nitrogen (SNO), ammonical nitrogen (SNH), and total nitrogen (TN) with respect to varying internal recycle flow rate (Qa), sludge recycle flow rate (Qr), sludge wastage flow rate (Qw) and oxygen transfer rate co-efficient of aerobic tanks (KLa(3,4,5)). The analysis has been carried out based on benchmark simulation model no.1 (BSM 1) plant layout which comprises of two models namely activated sludge model no.1 (ASM 1) and simple one dimensional (Simple 1-D) Takacs model. Based on the present analysis, it is observed that the changes in influent flow rate have larger impact on the effluent variables. This variation can be subdued by introducing additional tanks to smoothen the perturbations or using internal recycle rate from the fifth tank in order to maintain the flow around the optimal influent flow rate. The sludge wastage rate has a greater impact on all effluent variables except nitrogenous variables during maximum flow conditions.


2000 ◽  
Vol 41 (9) ◽  
pp. 7-14
Author(s):  
A. Jobbágy ◽  
B. Literáthy ◽  
F. Farkas ◽  
Gy. Garai ◽  
Gy. Kovács

The treated effluent of the Southpest Wastewater Treatment Plant is discharged into a small, low-flow branch of the Danube susceptible to eutrophication. The first, high-load activated sludge system with a hydraulic retention time of 2.5 hrs in the aerated basins, was installed here in 1966. The paper presents the evolution of the technology by illustrating the effects of the different changes carried out since 1991. Reconfiguration of the existing activated sludge basins connected originally in parallel into an arrangement of tanks in series increased the settleability of the sludge as well as the efficiency of COD removal significantly. Introduction of an anaerobic zone preceding the aerated basins facilitated biological excess phosphorus removal with a consequent release in the thickener and digester. Introducing lime addition into the recycled sludge processing wastes significantly improved the performance of the system. However, since there had been no provision built for eliminating the nitrate content of the recycled sludge, efficiency of phosphorus removal proved to be dependent on the eventually occurring nitrification. In order to achieve both an effective nitrogen and phosphorus removal the current technology established in 1999 applies a nitrification and a denitrification filter following the activated sludge unit and uses precipitation for phosphorus removal.


2000 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian O’Connor ◽  
Tibor Kovacs ◽  
Sharon Gibbons ◽  
Al Strang

Abstract Rainbow trout exposed to effluent from a UNOX (oxygen activated sludge) treatment plant were found to exhibit signs of distress during the first hours of exposure. While the final effluent was not acutely lethal at full strength, it was still important to determine the cause of the distress to ensure that the mill's effluents remain in regulatory compliance. The use of a series of effluent manipulations involving pH adjustment and aeration as well as observations of symptoms exhibited by the fish were successful in identifying carbon dioxide as the cause of fish distress for the UNOX-treated effluent. For rainbow trout, the symptoms of exposure to elevated levels of carbon dioxide of 100 mg/L or greater included loss of equilibrium, erratic swimming, gasping at the surface, sinking to the bottom of the test container and paralysis. The fish were found to eventually recover as the carbon dioxide was stripped from the effluent due to aeration during the test. A carbon dioxide concentration of 250 mg/L, however, was found to be lethal to trout A survey of mills using oxygen activated sludge treatment systems indicated that the carbon dioxide levels in effluents from such operations can range from 48 to 251 mg/L. Solutions for eliminating the fish distress and possible mortality associated with such effluents would be to lower the carbon dioxide level to below 100 mg/L by aeration or pH adjustment.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 622 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabella Pecorini ◽  
Francesco Baldi ◽  
Renato Iannelli

Four inocula collected from different operating facilities were tested in their hydrogenic performances by means of two biochemical hydrogen potential test set-ups using sucrose and food waste as substrates, with the aim of evaluating the influence of inoculum media in batch fermentative assays. The selected inocula were: activated sludge collected from the aerobic unit of a municipal wastewater treatment plant, digested sludge from an anaerobic reactor treating organic waste and cattle manure, digested sludge from an anaerobic reactor treating agroindustrial residues, and digested sludge from an anaerobic reactor of a municipal wastewater treatment plant. Test results, in terms of specific hydrogen production, hydrogen conversion efficiency, and volatile solids removal efficiency, were significantly dependent on the type of inoculum. Statistical analysis showed different results, indicating that findings were due to the different inocula used in the tests. In particular, assays performed with activated sludge showed the highest performances for both substrates and both experimental set-ups.


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