Automated monitoring of activated sludge in a pilot plant using image analysis

2001 ◽  
Vol 43 (7) ◽  
pp. 91-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. da Motta ◽  
M. N. Pons ◽  
N. Roche

An automated procedure for the characterisation by image analysis of the morphology of activated sludge has been used to monitor the biomass in a pilot wastewater treatment plant, in complement to the usual settleability (sludge volume index, settling velocity) and size distribution (by laser granulometry) measurements.

2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 363-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. da Motta ◽  
M.N. Pons ◽  
N. Roche

An automated procedure for the characterisation by image analysis of the morphology of activated sludge has been used to monitor the biomass in a pilot wastewater treatment plant during two runs inoculated with a different sludge and operated at two different temperatures. The bulking events were easily detected by image analysis. Correlations were found between settleability properties (Sludge Volume Index and settling velocity) and the morphological parameters (filament total length, filament number and floc size).


2000 ◽  
Vol 41 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 5-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.v. Münch ◽  
K. Barr ◽  
S. Watts ◽  
J. Keller

The Oxley Creek wastewater treatment plant is a conventional 185,000 EP BOD removal activated sludge plant that is to be upgraded for nitrogen removal to protect its receiving water bodies, the Brisbane River and Moreton Bay. Suspended carrier technology is one possible way of upgrading this activated sludge wastewater treatment plant for nitrogen removal. Freely moving plastic media is added to the aeration zone, providing a growth platform for nitrifying bacteria and increasing the effective solids residence time (SRT). This paper presents the results from operating a pilot plant for 7 months at the Oxley Creek WWTP in Brisbane, Australia. Natrix Major 12/12 plastic media, developed by ANOX (Lund, Sweden), was trialed in the pilot plant. The pilot plant was operated with a mixed liquor suspended solids concentration of 1220 mg/L and a total hydraulic residence time of 5.4 hours, similar to the operating conditions in the full-scale Stage 1&2 works at the Oxley Creek WWTP. The plastic carriers were suspended in the last third of the bioreactor volume, which was aerated to a DO setpoint of 4.0 mg/L. The first third of the bioreactor volume was made anoxic and the second third served for carbon removal, being aerated to a DO setpoint of 0.5 mg/L. The results from the pilot plant indicate that an average effluent total inorganic nitrogen concentration (ammonia-N plus NOx−N) of less than 12 mg/L is possible. However, the effluent ammonia concentrations from the pilot plant showed large weekly fluctuations due to the intermittent operation of the sludge dewatering centrifuge returning significant ammonia loads to the plant on three days of the week. Optimising denitrification was carried out by lowering the DO concentration in the influent and in the carbon removal reactor. The results from the pilot plant study show that the Oxley Creek WWTP could be upgraded for nitrogen removal without additional tankage, using suspended carrier technology.


1992 ◽  
Vol 25 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 427-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Schulze-Rettmer ◽  
S. S. Kim ◽  
S. S. Son

The two-stage activated sludge process (AB-process, i.e. adsorption activated sludge process) invented by Boehnke was successfully applied to several municipal and industrial wastewaters in Korea. The first large wastewater treatment plant for the combined effluents of 22 textile dyeing companies was constructed in Taegu and started operation in 1989. Two years earlier pilot plant runs were performed. The AB-process proved to be superior to any other activated sludge process. BOD was reduced from 1200 mg/l down to 24 mg/l. In the meantime in Korea several further AB-process treatment plants were constructed, the overall planning and constructing period being not longer than one year.


1996 ◽  
Vol 33 (12) ◽  
pp. 255-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Burica ◽  
Marjeta Strazar ◽  
Ivan Mahne

The recirculation activated sludge process with preanoxic treatment was applied for biological reduction of the nitrogen content in municipal wastewater at pilot plant level. The pilot plant of total volume 3 300 1 with an initial anoxic to aerobic volume ratio of 40 : 60 was fed with wastewater from the first heavily loaded aerobic stage of a local wastewater treatment plant. Experiments were run over the summer and winter periods, the influent wastewater temperature being approx 24°C and approx 10°C, respectively. Special attention was paid to the hydraulic retention time, the total as well as mineral nitrogen loading, the aerobic to anaerobic volume ratio, and to the energy demand for denitrification of oxidised mineral nitrogen forms. Under optimal operating conditions the effluent quality that could be achieved was about 10 mg/l of total nitrogen (74% removal) and less than 2 mg N/l mineral nitrogen (87% removal), while simultaneously 205 mg BOD5/l in the influent was reduced to less than 7mg O2/l in the effluent. It was found feasible from the pilot plant experiments to upgrade an existing two stage aerobic-anaerobic wastewater treatment plant to reduce nitrogen from the liquid fraction of municipal wastewater so as to meet effluent quality standards without much additional volume and without amending the energy source for bioconversion of oxidised mineral nitrogen to gaseous forms.


1992 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 185-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Pedersen ◽  
Ole Sinkjær

A newly developed simulation programme, based on the Activated Sludge Model No. 1, was used to investigate the model's abilities to predict variations in a Bio-Denipho pilot plant. The model was tested under both normal conditions and in connection with an inhibition incident on the pilot plant with positive results.


2003 ◽  
Vol 47 (10) ◽  
pp. 33-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Malpei ◽  
L. Bonomo ◽  
A. Rozzi

A pilot plant membrane bioreactor has been tested in parallel with a full-scale activated sludge wastewater treatment plant fed on the wastewater from a textile factory. The possibility to upgrade the final effluent for internal reuse was investigated. The pilot and full-scale plants are located in a textile factory (Boselli & C., Olgiate Comasco, North Italy) which manufactures and finishes polyester fabric. The activated sludge wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is an extended aeration system. The MBR pilot plant is a ZW-10 bench hollow fibre module (membrane surface area: 0.93 m2) submerged in a 200 L tank. Performance and operation of the membrane bioreactor (MBR) were evaluated in terms of permeate characteristics and variability (COD, colour, total N and P, microbiological counts), of membrane specific flux (l m−2 h−1 bar−1) and other operational parameters (sludge growth and yield).


1984 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. 649-660
Author(s):  
P Balmér ◽  
S Hallquist ◽  
M Hernebring

The Rya wastewater treatment plant in Gothenburg, Sweden serves 640 000 population equivalents. It is an extremely highly loaded activated sludge plant without presetting with a mean cell residence time of about 0.5 days. Ten years experience proves that the plant is capable of removing about 70% of the BOD load. The effluent BOD is mainly caused by non settleable suspended solids due to the partly dispersed growth of the activated sludge. The low mean cell residence time and the high suspended solids concentration in the aeration basin influent gives an activated sludge with low viability and in mass balance studies it was determined that only 12% of the influent COD and about 40% of the BOD was oxidized by the activated sludge. The activated sludge has consistently had a very low sludge volume index and the settling basins could thus be very highly loaded. The surplus activated sludge could be thickened to solids concentrations over 6%. After dewatering the sludge was either lime treated or co-composted with bark. The plant is manned only eight hours five days a week. During unmanned time there are standby personnel. Data is presented on man power, energy and chemical use, and on costs.


2010 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarína Galbová ◽  
Petra Pagáčová ◽  
Miloslav Drtil ◽  
Ivana Jonatová

AbstractAnoxic granulation process with four different inocula was monitored in a laboratory post-denitrification up-flow sludge bed (USB) reactor. Wastewater containing 20 mg L−1 NO3-N and methanol as an organic carbon source was used. Gradual increase of mass volumetric loading (B v) and hydraulic loading (γ) resulted in spontaneous granulation of anoxic biomass both from flocculant activated sludge and from anaerobic granulated sludge. With flocculant activated sludge as the inoculum, anoxic granules sedimentation properties and maximum loadings of the USB reactor depended on the sludge volume index (SVI) of the inoculum. B v,max achieved in the USB reactor with flocculant inoculum from a municipal wastewater treatment plant (SVI = 208 mL g−1) was only 4.2 kg of COD per m3 per day and 0.7 kg of NO3-N per m3 per day. B v,max using flocculant inoculum from an industrial wastewater treatment plant (SVI = 170 mL g−1) was 8.1 kg of COD per m3 per day and 1.35 kg of NO3-N per m3 per day. With anaerobic granulated inoculum (SVI range 8–11 mL g−1), markedly higher loadings in the USB reactor and lower SVI values of anoxic granulated biomass were achieved. Values of B v,max were in the range of 16.1–22.4 kg of COD per m3 per day and of 2.7–3.7 kg of NO3-N per m3 per day (depending on the inoculum and the granulation procedure). It was proved that anaerobic granulated sludge is not just an inoculum, it is also a carrier for new denitrification biomass.


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