scholarly journals Aerial Mapping of Odorous Gases in a Wastewater Treatment Plant Using a Small Drone

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1757
Author(s):  
Javier Burgués ◽  
María Deseada Esclapez ◽  
Silvia Doñate ◽  
Laura Pastor ◽  
Santiago Marco

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are sources of greenhouse gases, hazardous air pollutants and offensive odors. These emissions can have negative repercussions in and around the plant, degrading the quality of life of surrounding neighborhoods, damaging the environment, and reducing employee’s overall job satisfaction. Current monitoring methodologies based on fixed gas detectors and sporadic olfactometric measurements (human panels) do not allow for an accurate spatial representation of such emissions. In this paper we use a small drone equipped with an array of electrochemical and metal oxide (MOX) sensors for mapping odorous gases in a mid-sized WWTP. An innovative sampling system based on two (10 m long) flexible tubes hanging from the drone allowed near-source sampling from a safe distance with negligible influence from the downwash of the drone’s propellers. The proposed platform is very convenient for monitoring hard-to-reach emission sources, such as the plant’s deodorization chimney, which turned out to be responsible for the strongest odor emissions. The geo-localized measurements visualized in the form of a two-dimensional (2D) gas concentration map revealed the main emission hotspots where abatement solutions were needed. A principal component analysis (PCA) of the multivariate sensor signals suggests that the proposed system can also be used to trace which emission source is responsible for a certain measurement.

2009 ◽  
Vol 60 (11) ◽  
pp. 2897-2903
Author(s):  
Christian Drakides ◽  
Meiling Lay-Son

Environmental monitoring of biological wastewater treatment plants (BWWTP) treating industrial effluents produces large amount of data. Frequent sampling is done in the influent and effluent but also in intermediate points. Samples are analyzed for classical and specific contaminants and physical-chemical parameters are monitored. In this paper data from a BWWTP treating the effluents of a coke and steel-processing factory are analyzed. Due to a complex situation, this BWWTP gave poor performances that did not match environmental regulations, meanwhile upgrading proved to be uneasy. Data analysis using principal component analyses (PCA) or kinetic modeling with a Haldane model was unsuccessful in handling these data, which was attributed to undetermined toxic effects. A new methodology is reported, that allowed to identify a kinetics for thiocyanate degradation and a relation between pH and toxic effects. This analysis of the plant data allowed to make hypothesis on the process control parameters and to recommend management modifications, allowing a further increase of the performances.


2001 ◽  
Vol 43 (7) ◽  
pp. 147-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Rosen ◽  
Z. Yuan

In this paper a methodology for integrated multivariate monitoring and control of biological wastewater treatment plants during extreme events is presented. To monitor the process, on-line dynamic principal component analysis (PCA) is performed on the process data to extract the principal components that represent the underlying mechanisms of the process. Fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering is used to classify the operational state. Performing clustering on scores from PCA solves computational problems as well as increases robustness due to noise attenuation. The class-membership information from FCM is used to derive adequate control set points for the local control loops. The methodology is illustrated by a simulation study of a biological wastewater treatment plant, on which disturbances of various types are imposed. The results show that the methodology can be used to determine and co-ordinate control actions in order to shift the control objective and improve the effluent quality.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zouxia Long ◽  
Wenling Wang ◽  
Xingguang Yu ◽  
Zhongyang Lin ◽  
Jian Chen

Plastic-related industrial discharge is suspected as a significant source of microplastics (MPs) in the influent of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). However, little is known about the characteristics of MPs in industrial wastewater. Taking the Haicang WWTP in Xiamen, China, as an example, this study compared MPs in industrial wastewater with the domestic one in terms of abundance, particle size, polymer type, shape and color. Wentworth modulus, grain size parameters and principal component analysis (PCA) were performed to describe the MP difference between those two. It was found that the abundance of MPs in industrial wastewater was more than twice that in domestic wastewater, and the flux of MPs discharged into the aquatic environment through industrial wastewater was about 3.2 times that of domestic wastewater. The main shapes of MPs in industrial wastewater and domestic wastewater were fiber and granule, respectively. The proportion of polyester (PES) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in industrial wastewater was higher than that in domestic wastewater, related to the type of factories served by the WWTP. Compared with domestic wastewater, the rough surface of MPs in industrial wastewater was more complex and diverse, which might have a high capability of adsorbing other pollutants, thereby causing more significant harm to the environment. Our results supported that industrial sources of MPs are the priority areas in environmental management, and immediate action is taken to prevent industrial-sources MPs from entering the environment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-151
Author(s):  
Peter Lukac ◽  
Lubos Jurik

Abstract:Phosphorus is a major substance that is needed especially for agricultural production or for the industry. At the same time it is an important component of wastewater. At present, the waste management priority is recycling and this requirement is also transferred to wastewater treatment plants. Substances in wastewater can be recovered and utilized. In Europe (in Germany and Austria already legally binding), access to phosphorus-containing sewage treatment is changing. This paper dealt with the issue of phosphorus on the sewage treatment plant in Nitra. There are several industrial areas in Nitra where record major producers in phosphorus production in sewage. The new wastewater treatment plant is built as a mechanicalbiological wastewater treatment plant with simultaneous nitrification and denitrification, sludge regeneration, an anaerobic zone for biological phosphorus removal at the beginning of the process and chemical phosphorus precipitation. The sludge management is anaerobic sludge stabilization with heating and mechanical dewatering of stabilized sludge and gas management. The aim of the work was to document the phosphorus balance in all parts of the wastewater treatment plant - from the inflow of raw water to the outflow of purified water and the production of excess sludge. Balancing quantities in the wastewater treatment plant treatment processes provide information where efficient phosphorus recovery could be possible. The mean daily value of P tot is approximately 122.3 kg/day of these two sources. The mean daily value of P tot is approximately 122.3 kg/day of these two sources. There are also two outflows - drainage of cleaned water to the recipient - the river Nitra - 9.9 kg Ptot/day and Ptot content in sewage sludge - about 120.3 kg Ptot/day - total 130.2 kg Ptot/day.


2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luchien Luning ◽  
Paul Roeleveld ◽  
Victor W.M. Claessen

In recent years new technologies have been developed to improve the biological degradation of sewage sludge by anaerobic digestion. The paper describes the results of a demonstration of ultrasonic disintegration on the Dutch Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) Land van Cuijk. The effect on the degradation of organic matter is presented, together with the effect on the dewatering characteristics. Recommendations are presented for establishing research conditions in which the effect of sludge disintegration can be determined in a more direct way that is less sensitive to changing conditions in the operation of the WWTP. These recommendations have been implemented in the ongoing research in the Netherlands supported by the National Institute for wastewater research (STOWA).


1993 ◽  
Vol 28 (10) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Gaber ◽  
M. Antill ◽  
W. Kimball ◽  
R. Abdel Wahab

The implementation of urban village wastewater treatment plants in developing countries has historically been primarily a function of appropriate technology choice and deciding which of the many needy communities should receive the available funding and priority attention. Usually this process is driven by an outside funding agency who views the planning, design, and construction steps as relatively insignificant milestones in the overall effort required to quickly better a community's sanitary drainage problems. With the exception of very small scale type sanitation projects which have relatively simple replication steps, the development emphasis tends to be on the final treatment plant product with little or no attention specifically focused on community participation and institutionalizing national and local policies and procedures needed for future locally sponsored facilities replication. In contrast to this, the Government of Egypt (GOE) enacted a fresh approach through a Local Development Program with the United States AID program. An overview is presented of the guiding principals of the program which produced the first 24 working wastewater systems including gravity sewers, sewage pumping stations and wastewater treatment plants which were designed and constructed by local entities in Egypt. The wastewater projects cover five different treatment technologies implemented in both delta and desert regions.


Author(s):  
Tamara Mainetti ◽  
Marilena Palmisano ◽  
Fabio Rezzonico ◽  
Blaž Stres ◽  
Susanne Kern ◽  
...  

AbstractConjugated estrogens, such as 17β-estradiol-3-sulfate (E2-3S), can be released into aquatic environments through wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). There, they are microbiologically degraded into free estrogens, which can have harmful effects on aquatic wildlife. Here, the degradation of E2-3S in environmental samples taken upstream, downstream and at the effluent of a WWTP was assessed. Sediment and biofilm samples were enriched for E2-3S-degrading microorganisms, yielding a broad diversity of bacterial isolates, including known and novel degraders of estrogens. Since E2-3S-degrading bacteria were also isolated in the sample upstream of the WWTP, the WWTP does not influence the ability of the microbial community to degrade E2-3S.


Toxics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 76
Author(s):  
Rashid Mohammed ◽  
Zi-Feng Zhang ◽  
Chao Jiang ◽  
Ying-Hua Hu ◽  
Li-Yan Liu ◽  
...  

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), 33 methylated PAHs (Me-PAHs), and 14 nitrated PAHs (NPAHs) were measured in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to study the removal efficiency of these compounds through the WWTPs, as well as their source appointment and potential risk in the effluent. The concentrations of ∑PAHs, ∑Me-PAHs, and ∑NPAHs were 2.01–8.91, 23.0–102, and 6.21–171 µg/L in the influent, and 0.17–1.37, 0.06–0.41 and 0.01–2.41 µg/L in the effluent, respectively. Simple Treat 4.0 and meta-regression methods were applied to calculate the removal efficiencies (REs) for the 63 PAHs and their derivatives in 10 WWTPs and the results were compared with the monitoring data. Overall, the ranges of REs were 55.3–95.4% predicated by the Simple Treat and 47.5–97.7% by the meta-regression. The results by diagnostic ratios and principal component analysis PCA showed that “mixed source” biomass, coal composition, and petroleum could be recognized to either petrogenic or pyrogenic sources. The risk assessment of the effluent was also evaluated, indicating that seven carcinogenic PAHs, Benzo[a]pyrene, Dibenz[a,h]anthracene, and Benzo(a)anthracene were major contributors to the toxics equivalency concentrations (TEQs) in the effluent of WWTPs, to which attention should be paid.


2012 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 589-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Ouali ◽  
H. Jupsin ◽  
J. L. Vasel ◽  
L. Marouani ◽  
A. Ghrabi

Korba wastewater treatment plant is a conventional activated sludge followed by three maturation ponds (MP1, MP2, MP3) in series acting as a tertiary treatment. The first study of wastewater treatment plants showed that the effluent concentration of Escherichia coli and enterococci at the outlet of the (MP3) varies between 103 and 104CFU/100 ml. After the hydrodynamic study conducted by Rhodamine WT which showed short-circuiting in the MP1, two baffles were introduced in the first maturation pond (MP1) to improve the hydrodynamic and the sanitary performances. The second hydraulic study showed that the dispersion number ‘d’ was reduced from 1.45 to 0.43 by this engineering intervention and the Peclet number was raised from 0.69 to 2.32. The hydraulic retention time was increased by 14 h. Because of well-designed baffles, the removal efficiency of E. coli and enterococci was raised between 0.2 and 0.7 log units for the first maturation pond.


2013 ◽  
Vol 67 (7) ◽  
pp. 1481-1489 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Barat ◽  
J. Serralta ◽  
M. V. Ruano ◽  
E. Jiménez ◽  
J. Ribes ◽  
...  

This paper presents the plant-wide model Biological Nutrient Removal Model No. 2 (BNRM2). Since nitrite was not considered in the BNRM1, and this previous model also failed to accurately simulate the anaerobic digestion because precipitation processes were not considered, an extension of BNRM1 has been developed. This extension comprises all the components and processes required to simulate nitrogen removal via nitrite and the formation of the solids most likely to precipitate in anaerobic digesters. The solids considered in BNRM2 are: struvite, amorphous calcium phosphate, hidroxyapatite, newberite, vivianite, strengite, variscite, and calcium carbonate. With regard to nitrogen removal via nitrite, apart from nitrite oxidizing bacteria two groups of ammonium oxidizing organisms (AOO) have been considered since different sets of kinetic parameters have been reported for the AOO present in activated sludge systems and SHARON (Single reactor system for High activity Ammonium Removal Over Nitrite) reactors. Due to the new processes considered, BNRM2 allows an accurate prediction of wastewater treatment plant performance in wider environmental and operating conditions.


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