Evaluation of potential integration of entrapped mixed microbial cell and membrane bioreactor processes for biological wastewater treatment/reuse

The challenge of biological wastewater treatment process is the design and operation of effective retention of mixed microbial cells within the reactor. Entrapped mixed microbial cell (EMMC) technology is designed to entrap the mixed microbial cells in polymeric carriers; membrane bioreactor (MBR) process utilizes membrane sheets/fibers to effectively retain the biomass in the reactor. These two biotechnologies are considered potential alternatives for conventional biological treatment/reuse because of their capability of retaining high concentration of biomass in the reactor, or in other words increasing the solid retention time (SRT). The simultaneous removal of organics and nitrogen were investigated using a modified EMMC system design. The modified EMMC system demonstrated higher organic and nitrogen removal performance due to high SRT. Compared to single-stage MBR process operated at similar conditions, the modified EMMC system was able to achieve slightly lower organic removal, comparable nitrification, and higher total nitrogen removal. One limitation in applying an EMMC only treatment process regime for potential reuse of treated wastewater is that such an operation requires the removal of pathogens and large particles if disinfection and solid/liquid separation were not followed. The major challenge of MBR process to overcome is membrane fouling, and the high energy consumption associated with fouling control. The intrinsic features of EMMC process including high SRT, low, and stabilized effluent suspended biomass concentration may significantly reduce the chance and extent of membrane fouling; while the membrane filtration can further polish the effluent quality from EMMC process. Therefore, integrating MBR and EMMC is strongly recommended because it may be a ??break-through?? for solving the membrane fouling problem and in improving effluent quality for potential reuse.     

Treatability and kinetics studies of mesophilic aerobic biodegradation of high oil and grease pet food wastewater

In this work, batch activated sludge studies were investigated for the treatment of raw pet food wastewater characterized by oil and grease concentrations of 50,000-66,000 mg/L, COD and BOD concentrations of 100,000 and 80,000 mg/L, respectively, as well as effluent from an existing anaerobic digester treating the aforementioned wastewater. A pre-treatment process, dissolved air flotation (DAF) achieved 97-99% reduction in O&G to about 400-800 mg/L, which is still atypically high for AS. The batch studies were conducted using a 4-L bioreactor at room temperature (21 degrees C) under different conditions. The experimental results showed for the DAF pretreated effluent, 92% COD removal efficiency can be achieved by using conventional activated sludge system at a 5 days contact time and applied initial soluble COD to biomass ratio of 1.17 mg COD/mg VSS. Similarly for the digester effluent at average oil and grease concentrations of 13,500 mg/L, activated sludge affected 63.7-76.2% soluble COD removal at 5 days. The results also showed that all kinetic data best conformed to the zero order biodegradation model with a low biomass specific maximum substrate utilization rate of 0.168 mg COD/mg VSS day reflecting the slow biodegradability of the wastewater even after 99% removal of oil and grease.     

Performance of a modified multi-stage bubble column reactor for lead(II) and biological oxygen demand removal from wastewater using activated rice husk

The excessive release of wastewater into the environment is a major concern worldwide. Adsorption is the one of the most effective technique for treatment of wastewater. In this work activated carbon prepared from rice husk has been used as an adsorbent. In the present investigation a three phase modified multi-stage bubble column reactor (MMBCR) has been designed to remove lead and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) from wastewater by means of its adsorption onto the surface of activated rice husk. The multi-staging has been achieved by hydrodynamically induced continuous bubble generation, breakup and regeneration. Under optimum conditions, maximum lead and BOD reduction achieved using activated rice husk was 77.15% and 19.05%, respectively. Results showed MMBCR offered appreciated potential benefits for lead removal from wastewater and BOD removal, even this extent of removal is encouraging and the MMBCR can be used a pretreatment unit before subjecting the wastewater to biological treatment.     

An integrated approach for enhanced textile dye degradation by pre-treatment combined biodegradation

The wastewater released by the textile industries affects aquatic, plant and human life. Though there are many conventional wastewater treatment techniques, interest on coupled treatment methods has increased in the recent times owing to their increased efficiency. In the present study, the textile wastewater was pre-treated by three different techniques, viz. sonication, photocatalysis and ozonation. Increasing the treatment time increased the biological oxygen demand to chemical oxygen demand (BOD/COD) ratio, and thus the biodegradability was about 0.6–0.73. Effluent pre-treated by photocatalysis showed relatively higher biodegradability compared to ozonation and sonication. The degradation of aromatic compounds due to pre-treatment was substantiated by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR) spectroscopy. Since pre-treatment increased the biodegradability of the effluents, further biological degradation using acclimatized sludge biomass resulted in COD removal efficiencies 94, 91 and 82 %, respectively, for photocatalysis, sonication and ozonation. The morphology of the organisms which played a major role during the degradation of pre-treated effluent was examined under scanning electron microscope (SEM).     

A pilot scale bioreactor using EMMC for carbon and nitrogen removal

A pilot scale (100 l reactor) of an entrapped mixed microbial cell (EMMC) process was fabricated and tested for simultaneous removal of carbon and nitrogen. Process performance, operational stability, and maintenance requirements were all determined. Two sources of actual agricultural processing wastewater containing a high concentration of chemical oxygen demand (COD) (about 800–1,000 mg/l) and domestic sewage containing a low concentration of COD (about 150–200 mg/l) were investigated in this study. Various HRT (hydraulic retention time) and aeration schedules were operated. It was found that soluble COD (SCOD) and soluble total nitrogen (STN) could be removed in the range of 40–70% and 20–90%, respectively, for domestic sewage depending on the operational conditions provided. For agricultural processing wastewater, removal efficiencies of SCOD and STN are 89–91% and 60–75%, respectively, depending on the HRTs and aeration schedules applied. Economic evaluation for the application of domestic sewage was conducted. It was found that at an HRT of 6 h with 24 h of aeration it costs U.S.$1.75 for the treatment of 1,000 gal/day (3.8 m³/day). It is apparent that the EMMC process is technically feasible for simultaneous removal of carbon and nitrogen under the operation of an alternated schedule of the aeration in one single bioreactor. Ultimately, it can replace or upgrade the existing conventional wastewater treatment plant by combining the secondary and tertiary wastewater treatment plant in one bioreactor and provides simple maintenance and operation. This will also assist in providing the high quality of treated effluent meeting current and future environmental regulation for reuse. Electronic Publication     

Detoxification of simulated textile wastewater using a membraneless electrochemical reactor with immobilized peroxidase

Simulated textile wastewater was degraded using a membraneless electrochemical reactor with immobilized peroxidase on the porous Celite. The optimal current density was 10 A m(-2), at which the highest amount of hydrogen (H(2)O(2)) could be generated. The decolorization efficiencies of the simulated wastewater using the electrochemical and electroenzymatic methods were 35% and 92%, respectively. Biodegradability, the ratio of 5-day biochemical oxygen demand to chemical oxygen demand (BOD(5)/COD), was enhanced about 1.88 times when using the electroenzymatic treatment rather than raw wastewater, which could not be achieved by the electrochemical treatment. The toxic unit (TU), calculated using the lethal concentration (LC(50)) of Daphnia magna (D. Magna), of effluent treated by electroenzymatic method was below 1, whereas those of simulated textile wastewater and effluent treated by electrochemical method were 11.4 and 3.9, respectively.     

淹没式MBR去除有机物动力学模型及其应用

针对淹没式MBR的工艺特点,以反应器内物料衡算为基础,建立了有机物去除的动力学模型——ROM模型,得出淹没式MBR对有机底物的去除速率Uy不仅与进、出水中的有机底物质量浓度S0、Sc和水力停留对间tH有关,还与膜组件去除的有机底物质量浓度Sm、污泥停留时间ts有关．利用ROM模型,可以预测反应器内活性污泥浓度X,确定污泥停留时间ts和不排泥条件下反应器内的最大活性污泥浓度Xmax,试验中以啤酒厂废水为例,对模型进行了验证,试验结果与模型计算结果基本一致．     

Bioaugmentation with Gordonia strain JW8 in treatment of pulp and paper wastewater

The Gordonia strain JW8 was successfully isolated, characterized, and tested for bioaugmentation of pulp and paper wastewater. With significant degradation of alkaline lignin, JW8 has the potential to render pulp and paper wastewater more biodegradable, which is of much interest to wastewater treatment. The sequencing batch reactor (SBR) inoculated with JW8 significantly enhanced the organic pollutants removal of pulp and paper wastewater compared to the control, achieving the best removal rates of 96.4% and 87.8% for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD), respectively. A considerable decrease of BOD/COD ratio in wastewater was also achieved in the bioaugmented SBR. However, a drawback caused by JW8 inoculation was the resultant high sludge volume index and biological foaming and bulking, which can be controlled by food/mass adjustment. The denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis suggested that bioaugmentation with JW8 had a slight effect on the microbial dynamics, but more research is needed to understand the relationship between the microbial dynamics and pollutant removal.     

AnMBR处理活性黑KN-B印染废水

实验对厌氧膜生物反应器(AnMBR)处理活性黑KN-B印染废水进行了探讨.研究了厌氧反应器内活性污泥的驯化培养状况,考察了厌氧反应器与管式超滤膜对印染废水BOD5,COD的去除作用,并对厌氧反应器产气量、出水的碳酸氢盐碱度和VFA进行了分析,通过UV-Vis光谱图分析了AnMBR对活性黑KN-B的脱色效果.结果表明,液流较低的低负荷启动方式使该AnMBR活性污泥的驯化培养顺利进行,厌氧反应器污泥床区域的污泥浓度培养至35 g/L;AnMBR对废水BOD5和COD的去除率分别达到90%和85%以上;该厌氧反应器的活性污泥体系和缓冲体系相对稳定,出水的碳酸氢盐碱度和VFA分别在16~18mmol/L与1.0~3.5 mmol/L的范围内波动,pH稳定在7.70~8.00之间;AnMBR对500mg/L的活性黑KN-B废水的脱色率能达到90%以上.     

厌氧膜生物反应器在食品废水处理中的应用研究

分别采用小试规模(50 L/d)外置错流管式厌氧膜生物反应器和中试规模(20 t/d)浸没式厌氧旋转膜生物反应器进行了食品厂废水的处理实验研究.结果表明,加入超滤膜单元提高了厌氧系统的总有机物去除率及甲烷产量,使系统出水水质更加稳定;外置错流式超滤膜随运行时间的延长通量明显下降,而旋转式超滤膜可通过膜片旋转速度提高和保持膜通量;浸没式旋转膜组件的运行能耗较外置管式膜组件至少降低30%;但不同形式的厌氧膜生物反应器对氨氮和总磷去除能力有限,需进一步处理.     

超滤膜生物反应器处理生活污水的试验研究

用外压一体化中空纤维超滤膜生物反应器（ＵＭＢＲ）进行了处理生活污水的试验．结果表明,当水力停留时间（ＨＲＴ）为５ｈ、膜通量在４４２～１１０Ｌ／ｈ时,ＵＭＢＲ对生活污水中ＣＯＤ、浊度、ＳＳ的去除率分别可达９０％、９８％、１００％,出水ＣＯＤ＜６０ｍｇ／Ｌ、浊度＜３、ＳＳ为０,污泥质量浓度ρＭＬＳＳ、污泥负荷Ｆｒ、反应器容积负荷ＦＷ分别为６２ｋｇ／ｍ３、０４６ｋｇ／（ｋｇ·ｄ）、１８２ｋｇ／（ｍ３·ｄ）．初步探讨了超滤膜的堵塞机理,通过杀菌清洗可使超滤膜通透能力恢复到新膜的９７％以上．ＵＭＢＲ出水浊度低,水质稳定,宜于回用     

Unhairing effluents treated by an activated sludge system

Leather tannery effluents are a source of severe environmental impacts. In particular, the unhairing stage, belonging to beamhouse processes, generates a significantly toxic, alkaline wastewater with high concentrations of organic matter, sulphides, suspended solids and salts. The objective of this work was to evaluate the biodegradability and toxicity of diluted unhairing wastewater after being treated by an activated sludge (AS) system. The biomass activity of the AS was also evaluated. The AS system was fed for 180 days with diluted unhairing effluent. The operation strategy increased the organic load rate (OLR) from 0.23 to 2.98 g COD/l per day while the HRT was variable until operation day 113, when the HRT was near 1.1 days. Results show that when the organic load rate was lower than 2 g COD/l per day, the biological oxygen demand (BOD5) efficiency was 99%, whereas the chemical oxygen demand (COD) was around 80%. The reactor operation was stable until 2 g COD/l per day. For higher values, the system was less efficient (COD and BOD5 removal rate lower than 40%) and the relation of food/micro-organisms (F/M) was higher than 0.15. Biomass evaluations through oxygen utilisation coefficients show that the specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR) decreased from 1.11 to 0.083 g O2/g MLVSS per day, in the same way the endogenous oxygen coefficient decreased from 0.77 to 0.058 per day. The reduction of biomass activity (measured as oxygen respiration) could be attributable to the inorganic compound content (ammonia and chloride) in the unhairing effluent. Also, the bioassays with Daphnia magna and Daphnia pulex showed that with these compounds, only between 24 and 31% of the toxicity of the aerobic-treated effluent can be removed. On the other hand, ultrafiltration (UF) analysis indicated that a COD fraction is recalcitrant to the aerobic treatment, principally those above 10,000 Da (around 55% of total unhairing influent COD).     

膜生物反应器用于城市污水处理与回用的试验研究

采用规模为40m^3／d的膜生物反应器对城市污水处理回用进行了试验研究．试验结果表明：膜生物反应器具有较强的抗冲击负荷能力，活性污泥对污染物的去除起主要作用，膜分离对维持稳定的出水起重要作用．膜生物反应器出水稳定，水质良好，优于生活杂用水水质标准(CJ25．1—89)．     

Biological treatability of raw and ozonated penicillin formulation effluent

In the present study, oxidative pre-treatment of pharmaceutical wastewater originating from the formulation of the penicillin Sultamycillin Tosylate Diydrate via ozonation at varying pH and ozone feed rates was investigated. Biological treatability studies were performed with a synthetic wastewater alone and supplemented with raw and ozonated penicillin formulation effluents. The highest COD (34%) and TOC (24%) removal efficiencies were obtained at pH 11.0, whereas the BOD5 value increased from 16 mg l(-1) to 128 mg l(-1) after 40 min of ozonation, corresponding to an applied ozone dose of 1670 mg l(-1) and 33% relative ozone absorption. The studies showed that no degradation of raw penicillin fraction (30% of total COD) occurred, and degradation of the synthetic wastewater being completely treatable without penicillin addition, was inhibited by 7%. Upon 40 min ozonation, the synthetic wastewater could be completely oxidized and at the same time 35% of ozonated penicillin wastewater removal was obtained. Respirometric studies were conducted in parallel and produced results indicating a 22% decrease in the total oxygen consumption rate established for raw penicillin formulation effluent compared to the results obtained from the aerobic batch reactor. No inhibition of the synthetic fraction was observed for the 40 min-ozonated penicillin formulation effluent, biodegradability of the 60 min-ozonated penicillin effluent decreased possibly due to recalcitrant oxidation product accumulation. The modeling study provided experimental support and information on inhibition kinetics in activated sludge model no. 3 (ASM3) by means of respirometric tests for the first time.     

Performance and dye-degrading bacteria isolation of a hybrid membrane process

Textile dyeing wastewater contains harmful compounds, which are toxic to both marine organisms and human beings if it discharged into an aquatic environmental without suitable treatment. In this study, the wastewater containing the azo dye, Reactive Black 5 (RB5), was partially treated in an anaerobic sequencing batch reactor which was further treated either in an aerobic membrane bioreactors (AOMBR) or in combined aerobic membrane bioreactor/reverse osmosis (AOMBR/RO) process. The results showed that in the anaerobic sequencing batch reactor the RB5 dye was degraded to form aromatic amine intermediate metabolites, which were further mineralized in the AOMBR. It was also observed that although all effluents from the AOMBR and AOMBR/RO processes met the Taiwan EPA's effluent criteria, irrespective of which membranes were used in the aerobic tank, the effluent from the AOMBR/RO process met the criteria for reuse for toilet flushing, landscaping, irrigation, and cooling water purposes, where as the AOMBR effluent only met the criteria for cooling water due to incomplete color removal. Five anaerobic high dye-degrading bacteria were isolated, which were identified to be the same species of Lactococcus lactis by 16S rRNA sequencing. The L. lactis showed complete degradation of RB5 and further studies showed that it can also able to degrade Reactive Red 120 and Reactive Yellow 84 efficiently within 6 h.     

膜生物反应器脱氮除磷工艺处理城市污水的工程应用

为强化城市污水脱氮除磷,研发了厌氧/缺氧/好氧/缺氧-膜生物反应器(A2/O/A-MBR)新工艺,并建设了设计处理规模为2万m3/d实际工程.对该工程的长期监测表明,出水C()D、TN、NH4+-N和TP的平均浓度分别为20.6、6.67、1.05、0.19 mg/L,优于《城镇污水处理厂污染物排放标准》中的一级A标准...     

Biofilm photobioreactors for the treatment of industrial wastewaters

A flat plate and a tubular packed-bed photobioreactor with an algal-bacterial biofilm attached onto Poraver beads carriers, a flat plate and a tubular photobioreactor with the biofilm attached onto the reactor walls, and an algal-turf reactor were compared in terms of BOD removal efficiencies, elimination capacities, and stability. A control column photobioreactor with suspended algal-bacterial biomass was also tested to compare the performance of biofilm photobioreactors with conventional algal-based processes. When the algal-bacterial biomass was immobilized onto Poraver the process never reached a steady state due to a poor homogenization in the bioreactor. When the biofilm was formed onto the reactor wall (or reactor base) the process was stable. A maximum degradation rate of 295mg BODl(-1)h(-1) was achieved in the algal-turf reactor although control experiments performed in the dark showed atmospheric O2 diffusion represented 55% of the oxygenation capacity in this system. BOD removal rates of 108, and 92mg BODl(-1)h(-1) were achieved in the tubular and flat plate biofilm reactors, respectively, compared to 77mg BODl(-1)h(-1) in the control suspended bioreactor. In addition, all biofilm photobioreactors produced an easily settleable biomass. Evidence was found that biomass attachment to the reactor's wall improved stability.     

Removal turbidity and separation of heavy metals using electrocoagulation-electroflotation technique A case study

The electrocoagulation (EC) process was developed to overcome the drawbacks of conventional wastewater treatment technologies. This process is very effective in removing organic pollutants including dyestuff wastewater and allows for the reduction of sludge generation. The purposes of this study were to investigate the effects of the operating parameters, such as pH, initial concentration (C(0)), duration of treatment (t), current density (j), interelectrode distance (d) and conductivity (kappa) on a synthetic wastewater in the batch electrocoagulation-electroflotation (EF) process. The optimal operating conditions were determined and applied to a textile wastewater and separation of some heavy metals. Initially a batch-type EC-EF reactor was operated at various current densities (11.55, 18.6, 35.94, 56.64, 74.07 and 91.5mA/cm(2)) and various interelectrode distance (1, 2 and 3cm). For solutions with 300mg/L of silica gel, high turbidity removal (89.54%) was obtained without any coagulants when the current density was 11.55mA/cm(2), initial pH was 7.6, conductivity was 2.1mS/cm, duration of treatment was 10min and interelectrode distance was 1cm. The application of the optimal operating parameters on a textile wastewater showed a high removal efficiency for various items: suspended solid (SS) 86.5%, turbidity 81.56%, biological oxygen demand (BOD(5)) 83%, chemical oxygen demand (COD) 68%, and color over 92.5%. During the EC process under these conditions, we have studied the separation of some heavy metal ions such as iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) with different initial concentrations in the range of 50-600mg/L and initial pH between 7.5 and 7.8. This allowed us to show that the kinetics of electrocoagulation-electroflotation is very quick (<15min), and the removal rate reaches 95%.     

Effects of ozonation process on lignin-derived compounds in pulp and paper mill effluents

The effect of ozonation process on pulp and paper mill effluents was investigated. The objectives were to: (1) identify various compounds in wastewater from a pulp and paper mill, (2) evaluate decolorization and organic removal efficiency by conventional bubble reactor and (3) evaluate the biodegradability at various progressive stages of ozonation. The qualitative GC/MS analyses were performed before and after the biological treatment and ozonation process. Two groups of compounds were observed in this wastewater: lignin-derived compounds and aliphatic compounds used in the pulp and paper production process (i.e. n-alkanes, fatty alcohols, fatty acid and ester). Treatment efficiency was measured by decolorization and TOC removal rates. Additionally, the utilization coefficient (k) and BOD/COD ratio were determined to observe the biodegradability of ozonized effluents. The results indicated that after 45 min, the ozonation of effluents yielded almost colorless effluent with over 90% decolorization efficiency and with corresponding ozone capacity rate of 20.0 mg O(3)L(-1). This decolorization was not always accompanied by the mineralization of the organic matters therefore ozonation was not related to TOC removal rates. The BOD/COD ratio increased from 0.10 to a maximum value of 0.32 with ozone flow rate (O/F) of 4.0 L min(-1). It was confirmed by the utilization coefficient as first order BOD equation, the magnitude k value increased from 0.21 day(-1) to maximum value of 0.47 day(-1) as the ozonation time was raised to 60 min with O/F 4.0 L min(-1).     

Remedy of dye manufacturing process effluent by UV/H2O2 process

The effluent from dye manufacturing industry is more difficult to be treated than laboratory synthesized wastewater according to high variability of composition and color intensity. Thus, this study aimed to propose the method for remedying industrial effluent by UV/H2O2 process in a recirculated batch reactor system while considering the effects on hydrogen peroxide dosage, UV power and wastewater intensity for the removal of color and COD. From the experimental results, it was feasibly treated that the distinguished removal of color and COD by increasing the hydrogen peroxide dosage and UV power, but not by the strong intensity of industrial effluent. Therefore, UV/H2O2 process of the developed reactor was a positively superior treatment or pre-treatment for dye manufacturing plant effluent to comply the regulated requirements.