Liquid-gas partitioning of selected volatile organic sulfur compounds in anaerobically digested sludges

The gas phase partitioning of volatile organic sulfur compounds (VOSCs) in anaerobic sludge digesters contributes to odors and can impact upon the suitability of biogases for use in alternative energy recovery technologies. In the present study, effective Henry's law coefficients (H') were estimated for methyl mercaptan (MM), dimethyl sulfide (DMS), and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) in both deionized water and deactivated digested sludge. It was found that the complex matrix of digested sludge did not significantly affect the partitioning of VOSCs. Therefore, partitioning of VOSCs in digesters could be represented by their partitioning in clean water. A regression model was developed for the linear relationship between ln H' and 1/T in the gas-water system. The H' values of MM, DMS, and DMDS were able to be calculated over a temperature range of 12-58 °C.     

Control of odour emission in wastewater treatment plants by direct and undirected measurement of odour emission capacity

Odour emissions from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are considered to be the main causes of disturbance noticed by the exposed population and have relevant impacts on both tourism economy and land costs. Odour impact from WWTPs is generated by primary and secondary odour emissions. Primary odour emissions are related especially to the wastewater type and variability discharged into the sewer and directed to the WWTP, and to the wastewater collection and sewage system. Secondary odours are related to the treatment units of the plant. Several studies describe the key role of primary odour emissions and how they are strongly related to odour impacts of WWTPs. In this way, a opportune characterization of the emission capacity of primary odour could be an effective way to control odour emission in the WWTPs. In this study the odour emission capacity (OEC) of different domestic sewers was described and investigated; a correlation between the OEC and the main physical-chemical parameters of wastewater quality was also carried out. Results of this study identify the optimum conditions for sampling and measuring OEC in wastewaters and define its dependence by wastewater quality. These results can contribute to setting the standards for the maximum odourant content of wastewater that are discharged into the publicly owned sewage system.     

Assessment of odour and H(2)S impact in WWTPs by cryo-condensation

Stability of gaseous samples is a major concern when dealing with odours and airborne pollutants sampling. In terms of odours, the representativeness of the sample can be very seriously compromised, despite the rigorous application of the maximum storage time established by EN-13725. The present paper is focused on the use of the cryo-condensation technique (Cryocore) for time-weighted-average (TWA) sampling in waste water treatment plants (WWTPs), with the aim of comparing the values of TWA odour and H(2)S concentration when using the Cryocore system and other well established sampling methods, such as those described in EN-13725 and passive sampling. The study showed comparable results when comparing all the methodologies tested.     

Cryogenic trapping for determination of odor concentration.

The sensory testing method applied under Japanese law to measure odor concentration has a lower detection limit of 10 in the specified Odor Index. To measure odor below the limit, a condensing procedure using solid sorbents (Tenax-TA, Unicarbon B and Carbosieve SIII) has been developed and used in Japan. This procedure however cannot condense all odorous substances, and is specifically unsuited to hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan, dimethyl sulfide, ammonia, and other typical odorous substances. In the present study, cryogenic trapping was tested to improve recovery rate. As water in sample air causes choking of the trap tube, vacant pre-columns to condense the water were connected to the Tenax-TA-packed column. The columns were chilled with liquid oxygen before passage of 100 L of sample air. The columns were then heated to 200 degrees C under passage of 50 mL/min of nitrogen carrier gas to desorb odors. The desorbed gases were captured in sampling bags made of polyethylene terephthalate film. The total volume of desorbed gases was approximately 1 L. The method showed good recovery rates for hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan, dimethyl sulfide and ammonia, and was useful for determining low-level odor concentrations during measurement of odor in ambient air at various sites in Osaka City.     

Odour emission inventory of German wastewater treatment plants--odour flow rates and odour emission capacity.

Wastewater Treatment plants can cause odour emissions that may lead to significant odour annoyance in their vicinity. Thus, over the past 20 years, several measurements were taken of the odour emissions that occur at WWTPs of different sizes, treatment technology, plant design and under different operating conditions. The specific aspects of odour sampling and measurement have to be considered. I presented some of the results of my odour emission measurements 11 years ago. However, it is now necessary to update the figures by evaluating newer measurement results obtained from measurements taken from 1994 to 2003. These are presented in this paper. Also, the paper highlights the odour emission capacity (OEC) measurement technique which characterises liquids and can be used to assess the results achieved by different types of treatment in the liquid phase, e.g. in a sewerage system. In addition, the OEC is a suitable parameter to set standards for the odorant content of industrial wastewaters that are discharged into the publicly owned sewerage system.     

Evaluation of a novel wind tunnel for the measurement of the kinetics of odour emissions from piggery effluent.

A novel laboratory wind tunnel, with the capability to control factors such as air flow-rate, was developed to measure the kinetics of odour emissions from liquid effluent. The tunnel allows the emission of odours and other volatiles under an atmospheric transport system similar to ambient conditions. Sensors for wind speed, temperature and humidity were installed and calibrated. To calibrate the wind tunnel, trials were performed to determine the gas recovery efficiency under different air flow-rates (ranging from 0.001 to 0.028m3/s) and gas supply rates (ranging from 2.5 to 10.0 L/min) using a standard CO gas mixture. The results have shown gas recovery efficiencies ranging from 61.7 to 106.8%, while the average result from the trials was 81.14%. From statistical analysis, it was observed that the highest, most reliable gas recovery efficiency of the tunnel was 88.9%. The values of air flow-rate and gas supply rate corresponding to the highest gas recovery efficiency were 0.028 m3/s and 10.0 L/min respectively. This study suggested that the wind tunnel would provide precise estimates of odour emission rate. However, the wind tunnel needs to be calibrated to compensate for errors caused by different air flow-rates.     

The odour of digested sewage sludge--determination and its abatement by air stripping.

This paper describes a project to investigate the odour of sewage sludge after anaerobic digestion. The impact of air stripping on the odour of liquid sludge and on the quality of the dewatered product was evaluated at a full-scale sludge treatment installation. A continuous and a batch air-stripping mode were tested. Odour samples were collected during air stripping from the liquid sludge and from the biosolids surface during long term storage. The biosolids were also analysed for hedonic tone and for their potential odour expressed as an odour unit per unit mass. The odour emission profiles for continuous and batch air stripping demonstrated a reduction in the overall (time weighted) emissions during a 24 hr-period compared with emissions from the quiescent liquid storage tank. The averaged specific odour emission rate (Esp) of the biosolids derived from the continuous process was only 13% of the Esp of the biosolids derived from unaerated liquid sludge during the first month of storage. The results of the total potential odour and the hedonic tone of the biosolids underpin the beneficial effects of the air stripping. Odour dispersion modelling showed a noticeable reduction in overall odour impact from the sludge centre when air stripping was applied. The reduction was primarily associated with the reduced odour from stockpiled biosolids. The continuous air-stripping mode appeared to provide the greatest benefits in terms of odour impact from site operations.     

Developing methods to evaluate odour control products.

An economical and practical alternative to the standard end-of-pipe odour control methods is the application of liquid odour control products. Currently, there are no established product-testing methods. The data that are available are often of questionable quality and may have limited relevance to waste management. Waste facilities receive differing streams of waste at varying loading volumes. Whilst in operation this exposes control products to a wide variety of environmental conditions, further increasing the difficulty of selecting an effective means of control. The current study initially identifies commercially available odour control products applicable for solid and liquid waste management operations. Bench-scale batch absorption tests have been carried out to investigate odorous gas abatement for a range of selected commercial products and water at a range of pH values. Hydrogen sulphide was the test odorous gas, as it is commonly associated with waste processes. Gas-phase volumetric mass-transfer coefficients (KGa) have been calculated to determine mass-transfer performance. The development of a pilot-scale spray tower is then presented as the testing apparatus for future work. This is an attempt to construct a repeatable testing method for evaluating abatement performance of odour control products, and control the problems encountered when applying odour control products to open sites. KGa values and data collected from tests in this study will be considered in future work as design parameters for the rig.     

Sensor fault diagnosis in a wastewater treatment process.

There are many sensors in a wastewater treatment process (WWTP) plant for monitoring process performance and condition. Sensor validation is essential to the success of process monitoring. In this paper, various sensor faults which can occur in WWTP are identified for taking proper remedial action at an early time. A proposed sensor fault isolation method is based on the variable reconstruction using principal component analysis (PCA). Even though several methods have been developed to identify sensor faults, they are only applicable to a static process. In other words, they cannot be successfully used to monitor severe dynamic processes such as WWTPs. We have removed this limitation by developing reconstruction methods based on a dynamic version of PCA. Artificial scenarios of sensor faults generated from the simulation benchmark have been used to validate the proposed sensor identifying methodology. Also, it is compared to a previous method to show its relative superiority in sensor fault validation in the WWTP.     

Assessment of diffuser pressure loss on WWTPs in Baden-Württemberg

Aeration of activated sludge is a critical treatment step for the operation of activated sludge plants. To achieve a cost effective treatment process, assessing and benchmarking of aeration system performance are important measures. A simple means of gauging the relative condition of a fine bubble diffused aeration system is to evaluate the pressure loss of the diffusers as oxygen transfer tests are rarely applied during the lifetime of an aeration system. This paper shows an assessment of fine bubble diffuser systems in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, based on the results of a questionnaire sent to 941 WWTPs. Apart from the results with regards to the diffuser pressure loss, this paper also presents information on the current state of diffuser technology such as types and materials as well as the diffuser cleaning methods used in Baden-Württemberg. The majority of the WWTPs were equipped with tube diffusers (71%) with 50% of all plants having EPDM membranes installed. Regular mechanical cleaning is the most common cleaning method followed by regular pressure release/air-bumping programs during operations. With regard to the diffuser pressure loss it was found that 50% of the evaluated plants had a diffuser pressure loss that was twice as high as measured for new diffusers.     

Integrated odour modelling for sewage treatment works.

Odours from sewage treatment works are a significant source of environmental annoyance. There is a need for tools to assess the degree of annoyance caused, and to assess strategies for mitigation of the problem. This is the role of odour modelling. Four main stages are important in the development of an odour problem. Firstly, the odorous molecules must be formed in the liquid phase. They must then transfer from the liquid to the gaseous phase. They are then transported through the atmosphere to the population surrounding the odour source, and are then perceived and assessed by that population. Odour modelling as currently practised tends to concentrate on the transportation of odorants through the atmosphere, with the other areas receiving less attention. Instead, odour modelling should consider each stage in an integrated manner. This paper describes the development of integrated odour models for annoyance prediction. The models describe the liquid-phase transformations and emission of hydrogen sulphide from sewage treatment processes. Model output is in a form suitable for integration with dispersion models, the predictions of which can in turn be used to indicate the probability of annoyance. The models have been applied to both hypothetical and real sewage treatment works cases. Simulation results have highlighted the potential variability of emission rates from sewage treatment works, resulting from flow, quality and meteorological variations. Emission rate variations can have significant effects on annoyance predictions, which is an important finding, as they are usually considered to be fixed and only meteorological variations are considered in predicting the odour footprint. Areas for further development of integrated odour modelling are discussed, in particular the search for improved links between analytical and sensory measurements, and a better understanding of dose/response relationships for odour annoyance.     

An advanced simulation model for membrane bioreactors: development, calibration and validation

Membrane wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have several advantages compared with conventionally designed WWTPs with classical purification techniques. The filtration process is the key to their commercial success in Germany with respect to energy consumption and effectiveness, enabled by the optimization of filtration using a dynamic simulation model. This work is focused on the development of a robust, flexible and practically applicable membrane simulation model for submerged hollow-fibre and flat-sheet membrane modules. The model is based on standard parameters usually measured on membrane WWTPs. The performance of the model is demonstrated by successful calibration and validation for three different full-scale membrane WWTPs achieving good results. Furthermore, the model is combinable with Activated Sludge Models.     

Relevance of the sludge retention time (SRT) as design criteria for wastewater treatment plants for the removal of endocrine disruptors and pharmaceuticals from wastewater.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) represent a significant source for the input of micro pollutants as endocrine disruptors (EDs) or pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) into the aquatic environment. Treatment efficiency of WWTPs often is reported, taking into account only inflow and effluent concentrations without further specification of the WWTP investigated. In order to allow comparison and evaluation of the removal efficiency of different layouts and concepts in wastewater treatment, additional information like the sludge retention time (SRT) and sludge load (F/M ratio) are necessary. Presented results from different WWTPs show correlation of removal of EDs and PhACs to the SRT. Compared to WWTPs with high F/M ratio implementation of the nitrification process on WWTPs results in a significant increase of the removal efficiency for EDs and PhACs. This paper describes an approach to determine comparable removal rates for different activated sludge systems based on mass balance and SRT.     

Specific SBR population behaviour as revealed by comparative dynamic simulation analysis of three full-scale municipal SBR wastewater treatment plants.

Three full-scale municipal sequential batch reactor (SBR) wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) were investigated by dynamic simulation studies using ASM1. All three WWTPs showed similar kinetic and stoichiometric conditions in the SBR population behaviour after calibration of the models. The simulation results detected only a discrepancy to the ammonia online data during and shortly after shock loading under anoxic and anaerobic conditions that so far could not be adjusted by the ASM1 model. However, these differences did not severely affect the quality of the simulations nor the effluent flows. Additionally, in all cases a dynamic alpha factor curve occurred during the aeration phases that was verified by further oxygen transfer measurements. This might reveal new aspects for the process control, design and simulation of SBR WWTPs. A short lag phase was detected in many cases at the beginning of the first aeration phase.     

Catalytic ozonation for odour removal of high temperature alumina refinery condensate

Odour emissions from aluminium processing can cause an impact on local communities surrounding such facilities. Of particular concern is fugitive odours emitted from the handling and use of refinery condensate streams, particularly the digestion condensate. This study evaluated the application of using catalytic ozonation to treat alumina refinery condensate in order to remove the potential emission of odourous compounds from the industrial wastewater. The technical challenges in treating the alumina refinery condensate are the high pH and temperatures of the wastewater effluent (over 80 °C and pH above 10) due the industrial process. The odour removal efficiencies for different catalysts (FeCl(3), MnO, and MnSO(4)) under experimental conditions in terms of controlled pH, temperature and ozone dosage were determined before and after ozone treatment using dynamic olfactometry. The result demonstrated that the addition of both FeCl(3) and MnO catalysts improved odour removal efficiencies during the ozonation of alumina condensates at similar pH and temperature conditions. FeCl(3) and MnO had similar enhancement for odour removal, however MnO was determined to be more appropriate than MnSO(4) for odour removal due to the colouration of the treated condensate.     

Use of non-thermal plasma and UV-light for removal of odour from sludge treatment

Non-thermal plasma (NTP) systems can be used for abatement of odour nuisances. Odour reductions are achieved by radical-initiated oxidation and dust collection in the plasma reactor. For some emissions a sequence of NTP followed by UV-light can improve the odour reduction further. This study was conducted to evaluate the efficiency of NTP technology combined with UV-light towards odour emissions from sludge treatment. Air from a pilot sludge dryer was treated with a pilot NTP and a UV unit. The effect of using an acid scrubber upstream the NTP system was also tested. Thermal desorption gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (TD-GC/MS) was used to analyse samples taken from the inlet and the outlet of the NTP system. The TD-GC/MS used was also equipped with a sniffing port that made it possible to record odour-active compounds eluting from the column. Relative amounts of odour-active compounds in the inlet and the outlet flow from the NTP system were compared. Bag samples from inlet and outlet were also separately analysed by an external lab and by two operators using a one-man olfactometer, a modified NasalRanger(TM). These results indicated a significant odour removal efficiency of 70-90% depending on the settings and combinations of abatement equipment.     

基于信息扩散和频率曲线适线的农业旱灾风险评估方法

为克服农业旱灾风险计算中小样本导致的信息不足,以农业因旱受灾率为损失指标,采用信息扩散理论和频率曲线适线方法相结合的方法,构建损失与概率之间的函数关系,建立了旱灾风险评估方法。据此方法定量计算不同旱灾水平年下的农业因旱受灾率,绘制旱灾风险空间分布图。该方法通过优化利用样本模糊信息来弥补小样本导致的信息不足,对小容量样本的概率分布估计有较高的精确度。将该方法用于安徽省农业旱灾风险评估,绘制了安徽省农业旱灾风险图,以便为安徽省抗旱减灾提供参考。     

Assessing the elimination of estrogenic activity in advanced wastewater treatment with a reporter gene-based bioassay.

Estrogen-like chemicals, so-called xenoestrogens, have become a topic of concern because they are potentially capable of disturbing the hormonal balance of wildlife and humans. Effluents of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are presumably the major source of xenoestrogens in the aquatic environment. In this study, we investigated eight WWTPs with respect to their input, elimination efficiency, and output of estrogenic activity by means of a reporter gene-based bioassay. All WWTPs employed activated sludge treatment with nitrification/denitrification and tertiary treatment (second nitrification and/or filtration). Estradiol equivalents (EEQs) in the influents of the WWTPs were between 5.7 and 65.8 ng/L. The greatest inputs were found in plants treating pure domestic sewage and in samples collected in winter. Process waters either had no estrogenic activity or EEQs in the range of raw sewage, depending on the source of the process water. EEQs of effluents ranged from mostly below quantification limit (0.8 ng/L) to a maximum of 5.4 ng/L in secondary and 1.4 ng/L in tertiary effluents. These findings demonstrate the elimination efficiency of the activated sludge treatment and the further improvement by additional tertiary treatment. However, several concentrated effluents elicited little, but detectable estrogenic responses in the bioassay.     

Interlaboratory comparison of olfactometry in Japan.

In 2000, 2001, and 2002, interlaboratory comparison of olfactometry was carried out in order to collect basic data for the establishment of a quality control procedure and the determination of quality criteria for the triangular odour bag method. In 2000, interlaboratory comparison was conducted by using a measurement method for samples taken at smoke stacks. On the other hand, the measurement method for samples taken at boundary lines was used for interlaboratory comparison in 2001. A total of seven olfactometry laboratories in Japan participated in each test, and mean values, repeatability standard deviations, reproducibility standard deviations, and standard deviations under intermediate conditions of detection threshold of ethyl acetate were calculated from the results. These values can be used in a quality control process of olfactometry. In 2002, interlaboratory comparison was carried out by using a measurement method for samples taken at smoke stacks. A total of 137 olfactometry laboratories in Japan participated in the test, and 69% of them lay within the permissible range of the odour index.