Membrane bioreactors for wastewater treatment — operating experiences with the Kubota submerged membrane activated sludge process

A number of membrane systems have been developed for effluent treatment, however, few of these can treat the biological and solids loading of the effluent in one treatment stage. Operating and capital costs can be prohibitive for membrane systems used as a tertiary treatment stage (1), but by combining the biological and physical separation stages, membrane bioreactors promise to be compact and more economic in comparison.     

Performance of die cooling system design in hot stamping process

This study examined the cooling channel design of hot stamping tools to provide an effective method for the cooling system design. A flat plate tool model was investigated to determine the effects of cooling channel and manufacturing parameters on the cooling rate and cooling uniformity of the sheet blank by conducting finite element analysis. The fractional factor method was also employed to establish empirical equations for describing the cooling performance of the flat plate model. The empirical equations established in the present study can efficiently predict the cooling rate and cooling uniformity of sheet blanks with various cooling channel designs, and are of much help in providing an initial cooling system design for hot stamping tools. To validate the accuracy of the finite element analysis, experiments on sheet blank cooling process were conducted using the proposed flat plate tool design. The cooling processes were cyclically repeated for the validation of blank temperature distribution. The temperature evolution of sheet blanks obtained from the finite element simulations agree well with the experimental results and the validity of the finite element model is confirmed, and thus the effectiveness of the empirical equations is established.     

Hybrid finite element/volume method for shallow water equations

A hybrid numerical scheme based on finite element and finite volume methods is developed to solve shallow water equations. In the recent past, we introduced a series of hybrid methods to solve incompressible low and high Reynolds number flows for single and two‐fluid flow problems. The present work extends the application of hybrid method to shallow water equations. In our hybrid shallow water flow solver, we write the governing equations in non‐conservation form and solve the non‐linear wave equation using finite element method with linear interpolation functions in space. On the other hand, the momentum equation is solved with highly accurate cell‐center finite volume method. Our hybrid numerical scheme is truly a segregated method with primitive variables stored and solved at both node and element centers. To enhance the stability of the hybrid method around discontinuities, we introduce a new shock capturing which will act only around sharp interfaces without sacrificing the accuracy elsewhere. Matrix‐free GMRES iterative solvers are used to solve both the wave and momentum equations in finite element and finite volume schemes. Several test problems are presented to demonstrate the robustness and applicability of the numerical method. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Study of the aerobic biodegradation of coke wastewater in a two and three-step activated sludge process

A laboratory-scale biological plant composed of two aerobic reactors operating at 35 degrees C was used to study the biodegradation of coke wastewater. The main pollutants to be removed are organic matter, especially phenols, thiocyanate and ammonium nitrogen. The concentrations of the main pollutants in the wastewater during the study ranged between 922 and 1,980 mg COD/L, 133 and 293 mg phenol/L, 176 and 362 mg SCN/L and 123 and 296 mg NH(4)(+)-N/L. The biodegradation of these pollutants was studied employing different hydraulic residence times (HRT) and final effluent recycling ratios in order to minimize inhibition phenomena attributable to the high concentrations of pollutants. During the optimisation of the operating conditions, the removal of COD, phenols and thiocyanate was carried out in the first reactor and the nitrification of ammonium took place in the second. The best results were obtained when operating at an HRT of 98 h in the first reactor and 86 h in the second reactor, employing a recycling ratio of 2. The maximum removal efficiencies obtained were 90.7, 98.9, 98.6 and 99.9% for COD, phenols, thiocyanate and NH(4)(+)-N, respectively. In order to remove nitrate, an additional reactor was also implemented to carry out the denitrification process, adding methanol as an external carbon source. Very high removal efficiencies (up to 99.2%) were achieved.     

Distribution of extractable fractions of heavy metals in sludge during the wastewater treatment process

Sludge samples were collected from different treatment steps of Gaobeidian wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) of Beijing City, PR China, to investigate the distributions of total and chemical fractions of Fe, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cr, Pb, and Mo in different sludges. The highest total concentrations were found for Fe, Mn, Pb, and Mo in digested sludge (DS), Ni and Cr in thickened sludge (TS), Zn in dewatering sludge (DWS), and Cu in active sludge (AS). The lowest concentrations were observed in AS, except for Cu in TS. Significant differences of total metal concentration were observed between AS and TS (or DS), suggesting that sludge thickening and digesting treatments significantly influenced the total metal concentrations. Fe, Cu, Ni, Cr, Mo, and Pb distributed principally in the residual fraction in all sludges, while Zn and Mn presented in a highly available fraction. For same metal in different sludges, the portion of easily mobile fraction decreased significantly along the wastewater treatment process, and metals in AS presented in the highest available fraction. Organic matter contents, TN, and TP of sludges exhibited a significant positive correlation with the concentrations of exchangeable and reducible fraction of Pb, Mo, Cr, Cu, and Fe, while sludge pH demonstrated significant negative correlations with the concentrations of these metals.     

Effects of nickel(II) addition on the activity of activated sludge microorganisms and activated sludge process

The effects of Ni(II) in a synthetic wastewater on the activity of activated sludge microorganisms and sequencing batch reactor (SBR) treatment process were investigated. Two parallel lab-scale SBR systems were operated. One was used as a control unit, while the other received Ni(II) concentrations equal to 5 and 10 mg/l. The SBR systems were operated with FILL, REACT, SETTLE, DRAW and IDLE modes in the time ratio of 0.5:3.5:1.0:0.75:0.25 for a cycle time of 6 h. The addition of Ni(II) into SBR system caused drastically dropped in TOC removal rate (k) and specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR) by activated sludge microorganisms due to the inhibitory effects of Ni(II) on the bioactivity of microorganisms. The addition of 5 mg/l Ni(II) caused a slight reduction in TOC removal efficiency, whereas 10 mg/l Ni(II) addition significantly affected the SBR performance in terms of suspended solids and TOC removal efficiency. Termination of Ni(II) addition led to almost full recovery of the bioactivity in microorganisms as shown in the increase of specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR) and SBR treatment performance.     

A NEW TWO-DIMENSIONAL FINITE ELEMENT MODEL FOR THE SHALLOW WATER EQUATIONS USING A LAGRANGIAN FRAMEWORK CONSTRUCTED ALONG FLUID PARTICLE TRAJECTORIES

In this paper we describe a new finite element model for the tidal hydrodynamics in estuaries. The mathematical model is based on the solution of the two-dimensional shallow water equations in a Lagrangian framework which is defined along the trajectories of fluid particles. This method gives a flexible and robust numerical scheme for moving boundary flows encountered in tidal water systems. In order to validate the developed model we have, at first instance, compared our numerical results with analytical solutions obtained for domains with simple geometries. Further tests are then conducted to demonstrate the model's ability to cope with conditions such as hydraulic shock, abrupt changes in the flow domain geometry and gradual changes of water surface breadth. The change in the water surface breadth corresponds to the drying and wetting of the plains along the banks of a typical tidal river/estuary reach. The drying and wetting of flood plains result in the existence of very shallow depth of water at some sections of the flow domain during a tidal cycle. The flow equations under these conditions are strongly convection dominated. Previously published tidal models rely on either, some form of upwinding or the use of extremely fine meshes to give stable results for the convection dominated very shallow depth computations in estuaries. We show that our model can yield stable and accurate results for very shallow depths in the tidal flow domains without using any kind of artifical damping or excessive mesh refinement. Computational costs of simulating hydrodynamical conditions in a natural water course, even using a depth averaged two-dimensional approach, can be very high. The ability of our scheme to cope with convection dominated conditions has enabled us to economize the computational efforts by using coarse meshes in our finite element calculations. After the validation stage, the developed model is applied to simulate the tidal conditions in a real estuary. The comparison of the model results with the field observations shows a close agreement between these sets of data     

Solubilization of excess sludge in activated sludge process using the solar photo-Fenton reaction

The solubilization of excess sludge by the solar photo-Fenton reaction has been investigated for the reduction of excess sludge in the activated sludge process. The solubilization kinetics depended on the dosages of the Fenton reagents, Fe and H(2)O(2). Increases of initial Fe and H(2)O(2) concentrations in their ranges studied in this work continuously enhanced the sludge solubilization. Cell lysis by the photo-Fenton reaction caused the increase in dissolved chemical oxygen demand (COD) in the first step of sludge solubilization. The further oxidative decomposition of the discharged organic compounds by the photo-Fenton reaction led to the decrease in the dissolved COD as the second step of sludge solubilization. The increase of dissolved COD in the first step of sludge solubilization and the consumption of H(2)O(2) could be described by the pseudo-zero order kinetics based on the accumulated light energy. About 40% reduction of mixed-liquor suspended solids (MLSS) by the solar photo-Fenton reaction was found. It was found that solar light used as a light energy source instead of costly and hazardous artificial UV light was very effective. The dissolved COD for solar photo-Fenton reaction increased faster and by 1.5 times as compared with that by artificial UV light.     

Systematic analysis of the operational response of activated sludge process to variable wastewater flows. A case study

Flow perturbation due to inflow of water (mainly rain water) and loss of wastewater from the pipes of a sewage network is a widely recognized phenomenon in the operation of sewage transfer systems. The most apparent result is the variability of wastewater flow in the input of the subsequent wastewater treatment facilities, which affects several operational parameters including the sedimentation processes and the biological activity. As part of an overall effort for the upgrade of the wastewater treatment plant of Ioannina (Greece) a 3-year study was undertaken to investigate the effect of wastewater flow fluctuation on the performance of the treatment process. In either case (water infiltration or wastewater evaporation) a decrease in the process performance was observed due to decrease in the hydraulic or solids retention time or due to the elevated feed concentration caused by the reduced flow, respectively. Handling these problems through control of the return activated sludge flow was not found to be totally adequate for all operating conditions, thus indicating the need for a different perspective in the design procedures in order to meet with the legislative mandated effluent limits. Electronic Publication     

Evaluating wetting and drying algorithms for finite element models of shallow water flow

Three methods for the treatment of partially wet elements in finite element (FE) models of shallow water flow are evaluated: two previously used techniques, the element masking (EM) method and the free surface correction method, and a technique using a continuity correction to the EM method. A simple 1D Runge–Kutta method is used to develop a uniform velocity solution to the problem of inundation of a planar beach, which is used to assess the success of the FE model and the three wetting and drying algorithms in reproducing the water free surface profile. The EM technique is found to be most successful at reproducing the profile, but at the expense of mass balance errors, which can be reduced by use of a finer mesh. This has implications for environmental models of moving boundary shallow water flows, where different wetting and drying algorithms may be required in different parts of the mesh. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An adaptive finite point method for the shallow water equations

An adaptive Finite Point Method (FPM) for solving shallow water problems is presented. The numerical methodology we propose, which is based on weighted‐least squares approximations on clouds of points, adopts an upwind‐biased discretization for dealing with the convective terms in the governing equations. The viscous and source terms are discretized in a pointwise manner and the semi‐discrete equations are integrated explicitly in time by means of a multi‐stage scheme. Moreover, with the aim of exploiting meshless capabilities, an adaptive h‐refinement technique is coupled to the described flow solver. The success of this approach in solving typical shallow water flows is illustrated by means of several numerical examples and special emphasis is placed on the adaptive technique performance. This has been assessed by carrying out a numerical simulation of the 26th December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami with highly encouraging results. Overall, the adaptive FPM is presented as an accurate enough, cost‐effective tool for solving practical shallow water problems. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Temperature effect on shear flow and thixotropic behavior of residual sludge from wastewater treatment plant

The temperature and shear rate effects on rheological behavior of residual sludge from wastewater treatment plant was investigated in this work. The model of Herschel–Bulkley was used to fit the shear rate dependence of the shear stress. The temperature increase induced not only an increase in the yield stress and the flow index of sludge but also a decrease of the consistency index of sludge. The temperature dependence of limit viscosity at high shear rate of the residual sludge was fitted by an Arrhenius equation. For constant shear rate applied on the sludge at 20 °C a thixotropic behavior was observed and analyzed using a modified model of Herschel–Bulkley in which a structural parameter λ was included in order to account for the time-dependent effect.     

The effect of tool flank wear on the temperature distribution of a machined workpiece

Abstract

Temperature distributions in the chip, workpiece and tool during orthogonal machining were calculated numerically by the finite element method. The solution of the problem takes into account the thermal properties of the machined workpiece and the tool materials, which are the function of temperature. The effects of different flank wear under different cutting speeds on the temperature distributions of the machined workpiece were analyzed. It also provided an assumption for measuring the frictional force and the normal force on the flank face. The assumption was verified by experimental data.     

Improved vector FEM solutions of Maxwell's equations using grid pre-conditioning

The Time Domain Vector Finite Element Method is a promising new approach for solving Maxwell's equations on unstructured triangular grids. This method is sensitive to the quality, or condition, of the grid. In this study grid pre-conditioning techniques, such as edge swapping, Laplacian smoothing, and energy minimization, are shown to improve the accuracy of the solution and also reduce the overall computational effort. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

陶瓷基复合材料界面结合强影响断裂过程的有限元研究

提出了纤维增强复合材料断裂有限元模型,该模型既用弹簧单元考虑了基体与纤维之间的分离,又用接触单元考虑了基体与纤维之间的摩擦,较真实地模拟了纤维增强复合材料的断裂过程。通过有限元计算,预测了基体与纤维之间的界面结合强度对整个复合材料断裂模式的影响。还对强弱两种不同基体弹性模量的材料进行进一步的探讨。对比其他文献 , 本文中预测结果与真实情况较为吻合。结果表明,对于纤维增强复合材料,不论是强基体还是弱基体,适中的界面结合强度有助于提高其韧性及整体抗拉强度。       

基于有限元与边界元耦合法的波浪力分析

利用有限元与边界元耦合法对三维无界区域中直立圆柱所受的波浪力进行进行计算,把整个求解区域分成内域或外域两部分,在内域采用有限元法,对外域采用边界元法,数值计算的结果与理论解吻合良好,表明该方法有效。     

Turbulence/shock wave interactions in chemically reacting flows

Physical interactions between turbulence and shock waves are very complex phenomena. If these interactions take place in chemically reacting flows, the degree of complexity increases dramatically. Examples of applications may be cited in the area of supersonic combustion, in which the controlled generation of turbulence and/or large scale vortices in the mixing and flame-holding zones is crucial for efficient combustion. Equally important, shock waves interacting with turbulence and chemical reactions affect the combustor flowfield resulting in enhanced relaxation and chemical reaction rates. Chemical reactions in turn contribute to dispersion of shock waves and reduction of turbulent kinetic energies. Computational schemes to address these physical phenomena must be capable of resolving various length and time scales. These scales are widely disparate and the most optimum approach is found in explicit/implicit adjustable schemes for the Navier-Stokes solver. This is accomplished by means of the generalized Taylor-Galerkin (gtg) finite element formulations. Adaptive meshes are used in order to assure efficiency and accuracy of solutions. Various benchmark problems are presented for illustration of the theory and applications. Geometries of ducted rockets, supersonic diffusers, flame holders, and hypersonic inlets are included. Merits of proposed schemes are demonstrated through these example problems. This research was supported by the US Army Missile Command (daah01-91-D-R002) and National Science Foundation (asc-8918081) and contributions were made by a number of graduate students, notably by W S Yoon.     

The CIP method embedded in finite element discretizations of incompressible fluid flows

Quite effective low‐order finite element and finite volume methods for incompressible fluid flows have been established and are widely used. However, higher‐order finite element methods that are stable, have high accuracy and are computationally efficient are still sought. Such discretization schemes could be particularly useful to establish error estimates in numerical solutions of fluid flows. The objective of this paper is to report on a study in which the cubic interpolated polynomial (CIP) method is embedded into 4‐node and 9‐node finite element discretizations of 2D flows in order to stabilize the convective terms. To illustrate the capabilities of the formulations, the results obtained in the solution of the driven flow square cavity problem are given. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mechanism for sludge acidification in aerobic treatment of coking wastewater

This work was undertaken to investigate the cause of sludge acidification that led to disruption of the activated sludge process treating coking wastewater from a steel-making plant in Taiwan. An activated sludge reactor (ASR) with a working volume of 80 L was used as a model system to simulate the behavior of the real wastewater treatment process. Parameters that may cause acidification or inactivation of the sludge (NH(3), SCN(-), S(2)O(3)(2-) and CN(-)) were studied individually to examine for their effects on the performance of the ASR. The results show that high loading of NH(3), SCN(-) and CN(-) did not lead to pH decrease, while the ASR attained 85% COD removal and nearly 100% SCN degradation. In contrast, when the wastewater was supplemented with ca. 1,000 mg/L of S(2)O(3)(2-), the pH dropped to nearly 4.0 in 2 days and the COD and SCN removal yields were significantly lower (at 50 and 0-20%, respectively). Thus, overloading of S(2)O(3)(2-) was apparently a key factor causing sludge acidification. The results suggest that to ensure a normal functioning of the activated sludge, the influent S(2)O(3)(2-) concentration should be closely monitored and that the pH control of the ASR is indispensable when the S(2)O(3)(2-) loading is in excess.     

Effects of adsorbents and copper(II) on activated sludge microorganisms and sequencing batch reactor treatment process

Wastewater treatment systems employing simultaneous adsorption and biodegradation processes have proven to be effective in treating toxic pollutants present in industrial wastewater. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of Cu(II) and the efficacy of the powdered activated carbon (PAC) and activated rice husk (ARH) in reducing the toxic effect of Cu(II) on the activated sludge microorganisms. The ARH was prepared by treatment with concentrated nitric acid for 15 h at 60-65 degrees C. The sequencing batch reactor (SBR) systems were operated with FILL, REACT, SETTLE, DRAW and IDLE modes in the ratio of 0.5:3.5:1:0.75:0.25 for a cycle time of 6 h. The Cu(II) and COD removal efficiency were 90 and 85%, respectively, in the SBR system containing 10 mg/l Cu(II) with the addition of 143 mg/l PAC or 1.0 g PAC per cycle. In the case of 715 mg/l ARH or 5.0 g ARH per cycle addition, the Cu(II) and COD removal efficiency were 85 and 92%, respectively. ARH can be used as an alternate adsorbent to PAC in the simultaneous adsorption and biodegradation wastewater treatment process for the removal of Cu(II). The specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR) and kinetic studies show that the addition of PAC and ARH reduce the toxic effect of Cu(II) on the activated sludge microorganisms.