scholarly journals A Practical Methodology for Forecasting the Impact of Changes in Influent Loads and Discharge Consents on Average Energy Consumption and Sludge Production by Activated Sludge Wastewater Treatment

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 12293
Author(s):  
Catarina Silva ◽  
Maria João Rosa

This paper proposes a simple and easy-to-use methodology for forecasting the impact of changes in influent chemical oxygen demand (COD) and in the emission limit values (ELVs) of COD and total nitrogen on average energy requirements for aeration and sludge production by activated sludge wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The methodology is based on mass balances of sludge production and oxygen requirements for carbonaceous material biodegradation and/or nitrification, oxygen transfer and aeration equipment efficiency. Using average values of historical data of regular monitoring (water quality and operating conditions) WWTP-specific equations of oxygen requirements, energy consumption and sludge production are derived as a function of influent COD and influent N-total, which may be used to quantify the impact of influent and ELV changes. The methodology was tested in five extended aeration WWTPs for three scenarios established by the utility. The results show that increasing influent COD, from 900 to 1300 mg/L, for example, significantly increases the energy consumption by 49% and sludge production by 53%. For influent 54–68 mg/L N-total, imposing 15 mgN/L ELV results in a 9–26% increase in energy consumption. The COD ELV change studied (season-specific, from 150 mg/L 12 months/year to 125 mg/L 8 months/year to 100 mg/L 4 months/year) increases the energy consumption by 1.8–2.6% and the sludge production by 4.3–5.4%.

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 2657
Author(s):  
Elwira Nowobilska-Majewska ◽  
Piotr Bugajski

The aim of this study was to determine the condition of activated sludge in the biologic reactor located in the collective wastewater treatment plant in Nowy Targ (Poland) based on OUR tests in the aspect of the impact of sludge’s concentration in the biologic reactor and dependence of BOD5/TN and BOD5/TP in wastewater flowing into the biologic reactor. The analysis was conducted based on test results from 61 samples of activated sludge taken from the biologic reactor and 61 samples of wastewater flowing into the biologic reactor. The analysis included the concentration of sludge in the biologic reactor. The following indicators were analyzed in wastewater flowing into the reactor: biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP). The statistical analysis concerning the impact of the analyzed factors on oxygen uptake rate (OUR) tests was developed based on the Pearson’s correlation coefficient and partial correlation of many variables. Based on the results of the partial correlation analysis, nomograms were developed to determine the condition of activated sludge microorganisms (OUR) based on the BOD5/TN and BOD5/TP connection and knowledge of the sludge concentration in the bioreactor of the treatment plant. The presented nomograms can be formulated for each bioreactor based on activated sludge technology related the load of organic and biogenic pollutants in the wastewater flowing into the bioreactor and the concentration of the sludge in the bioreactor.


2017 ◽  
Vol 76 (9) ◽  
pp. 2473-2481 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Sid ◽  
A. Volant ◽  
G. Lesage ◽  
M. Heran

Abstract Energy consumption and sludge production minimization represent rising challenges for wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The goal of this study is to investigate how energy is consumed throughout the whole plant and how operating conditions affect this energy demand. A WWTP based on the activated sludge process was selected as a case study. Simulations were performed using a pre-compiled model implemented in GPS-X simulation software. Model validation was carried out by comparing experimental and modeling data of the dynamic behavior of the mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentration and nitrogen compounds concentration, energy consumption for aeration, mixing and sludge treatment and annual sludge production over a three year exercise. In this plant, the energy required for bioreactor aeration was calculated at approximately 44% of the total energy demand. A cost optimization strategy was applied by varying the MLSS concentrations (from 1 to 8 gTSS/L) while recording energy consumption, sludge production and effluent quality. An increase of MLSS led to an increase of the oxygen requirement for biomass aeration, but it also reduced total sludge production. Results permit identification of a key MLSS concentration allowing identification of the best compromise between levels of treatment required, biological energy demand and sludge production while minimizing the overall costs.


2013 ◽  
Vol 69 (6) ◽  
pp. 1136-1144 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Drewnowski

The hydrolysis process of slowly biodegradable substrate (XS) has an impact on the efficiencies of nutrient removal in activated sludge systems. Measurement of oxygen utilization rates (OURs) and corresponding chemical oxygen demand (COD) is accepted as a very useful tool to reflect the consumption of biodegradable substrates. The influence of the SS fraction in biological wastewater treatment systems has been extensively investigated, but little information is known about the effects of XS on OUR. The aim of this study was to determine the immediate effects of particulate and colloidal (XS) biodegradable compounds on oxygen utilization for a full-scale process mixed liquor from a large wastewater treatment plant located in northern Poland. Since it is difficult to distinguish XS in a direct way, a novel procedure, based on the standard batch tests, was developed and run in parallel reactors with settled wastewater (SWW) and pretreated SWW samples. Two types of aerobic OUR experiments with low and high substrate/biomass (S0/X0 ratio) concentration, were carried out with the SWW without pretreatment, and pretreated with a coagulation–flocculation (C–F) method. The removal of colloidal and particulate fractions by C–F resulted in reduced process rates. The major discrepancy in the rate reductions (over 300% referred to the OURmax) was observed during the OUR batch test with high S0/X0 ratio.


1992 ◽  
Vol 26 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 1355-1363 ◽  
Author(s):  
C-W. Kim ◽  
H. Spanjers ◽  
A. Klapwijk

An on-line respiration meter is presented to monitor three types of respiration rates of activated sludge and to calculate effluent and influent short term biochemical oxygen demand (BODst) in the continuous activated sludge process. This work is to verify if the calculated BODst is reliable and the assumptions made in the course of developing the proposed procedure were acceptable. A mathematical model and a dynamic simulation program are written for an activated sludge model plant along with the respiration meter based on mass balances of BODst and DO. The simulation results show that the three types of respiration rate reach steady state within 15 minutes under reasonable operating conditions. As long as the respiration rate reaches steady state the proposed procedure calculates the respiration rate that is equal to the simulated. Under constant and dynamic BODst loading, the proposed procedure is capable of calculating the effluent and influent BODst with reasonable accuracy.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Young Kyung Kim ◽  
Keunje Yoo ◽  
Min Sung Kim ◽  
Il Han ◽  
Minjoo Lee ◽  
...  

Abstract Bacterial communities in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) affect plant functionality through their role in the removal of pollutants from wastewater. Bacterial communities vary extensively based on plant operating conditions and influent characteristics. The capacity of WWTPs can also affect the bacterial community via variations in the organic or nutrient composition of the influent. Despite the importance considering capacity, the characteristics that control bacterial community assembly are largely unknown. In this study, we discovered that bacterial communities in WWTPs in Korea and Vietnam, which differ remarkably in capacity, exhibit unique structures and interactions that are governed mainly by the capacity of WWTPs. Bacterial communities were analysed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and exhibited clear differences between the two regions, with these differences being most pronounced in activated sludge. We found that capacity contributed the most to bacterial interactions and community structure, whereas other factors had less impact. Co-occurrence network analysis showed that microorganisms from high-capacity WWTPs are more interrelated than those from low-capacity WWTPs, which corresponds to the tighter clustering of bacterial communities in Korea. These results will contribute to the understanding of bacterial community assembly in activated sludge processing.


Membranes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 461
Author(s):  
Fu Yang ◽  
Zhengkun Huang ◽  
Jun Huang ◽  
Chongde Wu ◽  
Rongqing Zhou ◽  
...  

Ultrafiltration is a promising, environment-friendly alternative to the current physicochemical-based tannery wastewater treatment. In this work, ultrafiltration was employed to treat the tanning wastewater as an upstream process of the Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) system in the leather industry. The filtration efficiency and fouling behaviors were analyzed to assess the impact of membrane material and operating conditions (shear rate on the membrane surface and transmembrane pressure). The models of resistance-in-series, fouling propensity, and pore blocking were used to provide a comprehensive analysis of such a process. The results show that the process efficiency is strongly dependent on the operating conditions, while the membranes of either PES or PVDF showed similar filtration performance and fouling behavior. Reversible resistance was the main obstacle for such process. Cake formation was the main pore blocking mechanism during such process, which was independent on the operating conditions and membrane materials. The increase in shear rate significantly increased the steady-state permeation flux, thus, the filtration efficiency was improved, which resulted from both the reduction in reversible resistance and the slow-down of fouling layer accumulate rate. This is the first time that the fouling behaviors of tanning wastewater ultrafiltration were comprehensively evaluated, thus providing crucial guidance for further scientific investigation and industrial application.


2008 ◽  
Vol 57 (8) ◽  
pp. 1287-1293 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Jobbágy ◽  
G. M. Tardy ◽  
Gy. Palkó ◽  
A. Benáková ◽  
O. Krhutková ◽  
...  

The purpose of the experiments was to increase the rate of activated sludge denitrification in the combined biological treatment system of the Southpest Wastewater Treatment Plant in order to gain savings in cost and energy and improve process efficiency. Initial profile measurements revealed excess denitrification capacity of the preclarified wastewater. As a consequence, flow of nitrification filter effluent recirculated to the anoxic activated sludge basins was increased from 23,000 m3 d−1 to 42,288 m3 d−1 at an average preclarified influent flow of 64,843 m3 d−1, Both simulation studies and microbiological investigations suggested that activated sludge nitrification, achieved despite the low SRT (2–3 days), was initiated by the backseeding from the nitrification filters and facilitated by the decreased oxygen demand of the influent organics used for denitrification. With the improved activated sludge denitrification, methanol demand could be decreased to about half of the initial value. With the increased efficiency of the activated sludge pre-denitrification, plant effluent COD levels decreased from 40–70 mg l−1 to < 30–45 mg l−1 due to the decreased likelihood of methanol overdosing in the denitrification filter


2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. S. Fatima ◽  
S. Jamal Khan

In this study, the performance of wastewater treatment plant located at sector I-9 Islamabad, Pakistan, was evaluated. This full scale domestic wastewater treatment plant is based on conventional activated sludge process. The parameters which were monitored regularly included total suspended solids (TSS), mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS), mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSS), biological oxygen demand (BOD), and chemical oxygen demand (COD). It was found that the biological degradation efficiency of the plant was below the desired levels in terms of COD and BOD. Also the plant operators were not maintaining consistent sludge retention time (SRT). Abrupt discharge of MLSS through the Surplus Activated sludge (SAS) pump was the main reason for the low MLSS in the aeration tank and consequently low treatment performance. In this study the SRT was optimized based on desired MLSS concentration between 3,000–3,500 mg/L and required performance in terms of BOD, COD and TSS. This study revealed that SRT is a very important operational parameter and its knowledge and correct implementation by the plant operators should be mandatory.


2017 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanjun Mao ◽  
Xie Quan ◽  
Huimin Zhao ◽  
Yaobin Zhang ◽  
Shuo Chen ◽  
...  

Abstract The activated sludge (AS) process is widely applied in dyestuff wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs); however, the nitrogen removal efficiency is relatively low and the effluent does not meet the indirect discharge standards before being discharged into the industrial park's WWTP. Hence it is necessary to upgrade the WWTP with more advanced technologies. Moving bed biofilm processes with suspended carriers in an aerobic tank are promising methods due to enhanced nitrification and denitrification. Herein, a pilot-scale integrated free-floating biofilm and activated sludge (IFFAS) process was employed to investigate the feasibility of enhancing nitrogen removal efficiency at different hydraulic retention times (HRTs). The results showed that the effluent chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonium nitrate (NH4+-N) and total nitrogen (TN) concentrations of the IFFAS process were significantly lower than those of the AS process, and could meet the indirect discharge standards. PCR-DGGE and FISH results indicated that more nitrifiers and denitrifiers co-existed in the IFFAS system, promoting simultaneous nitrification and denitrification. Based on the pilot results, the IFFAS process was used to upgrade the full-scale AS process, and the effluent COD, NH4+-N and TN of the IFFAS process were 91–291 mg/L, 10.6–28.7 mg/L and 18.9–48.6 mg/L, stably meeting the indirect discharge standards and demonstrating the advantages of IFFAS in dyestuff wastewater treatment.


2018 ◽  
Vol 78 (8) ◽  
pp. 1772-1781 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyungjun (Brian) Jo ◽  
Wayne Parker ◽  
Peiman Kianmehr

Abstract A range of thermal pretreatment conditions were used to evaluate the impact of high pressure thermal hydrolysis on the biodegradability of waste activated sludge (WAS) under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. It was found that pretreatment did not increase the overall extent to which WAS could be aerobically biodegraded. Thermal pretreatment transformed the biodegradable fraction of WAS (XH) to readily biodegradable chemical oxygen demand (COD) (SB) (16.5–34.6%) and slowly biodegradable COD (XB) (45.8–63.6%). The impact of pretreatment temperature and duration on WAS COD fractionation did not follow a consistent pattern as changes in COD solubilization did not correspond to the observed generation of SB through pretreatment. The pretreated WAS (PWAS) COD fractionations determined from aerobic respirometry were employed in anaerobic modeling and it was concluded that the aerobic and anaerobic biodegradability of PWAS differed. It was found that thermal pretreatment resulted in as much as 50% of the endogenous decay products becoming biodegradable in anaerobic digestion. Overall, it was concluded that the COD fractionation that was developed based upon the aerobic respirometry was valid. However, it was necessary to implement a first-order decay process that reflected changes in the anaerobic biodegradability of the endogenous products through pretreatment.


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