Effects of impurities on oxygen transfer rates in diffused aeration systems

Experimental investigation and modeling on the supersaturated total dissolved gas (TDG) dissipation in aeration

Supersaturated total dissolved gas (TDG) generation in rivers poses great harm to aquatic organisms. In this paper, 30 groups of supersaturated TDG dissipation experiments with aeration were carried out. These results showed that aeration actively promoted the dissipation of supersaturated TDG. The aeration rate decreased by 34.94% from 1.0 m3/h to 5.0 m3/h, the reduced proportion of aeration aperture was 35.51% from 215 mm to 260 mm, whereas the aeration depth increased by 16.93% from 0.4 m to 1.2 m for the TDG dissipation time required, resulting in corresponding the variation of TDG dissipation coefficients were 86.26%, 23.74% and -5.39%, respectively. In general, the effect on TDG dissipation is that the aeration rate is the largest, followed by the aeration aperture, and the aeration depth is the smallest. A quantitative relationship was established between TDG dissipation coefficient and aeration conditions, and followed a power function, while the aeration depth inhibited its dissipation. Moreover, what matters was that a numerical model was presented for predicting the TDG dissipation in Eulerian-Eulerian. When the parameter was β = 10.52, the error between the original experimental data and the simulated of a multiphase TDG dissipation model was 0.2%. The study provides essential scientific data for mitigating the harms of supersaturated TDG.

Aeration Process in Bioreactors as the Main Energy Consumer in a Wastewater Treatment Plant. Review of Solutions and Methods of Process Optimization

Due to the key role of the biological decomposition process of organic compounds in wastewater treatment, a very important thing is appropriate aeration of activated sludge, because microorganisms have to be supplied with an appropriate amount of oxygen. Aeration is one of the most energy-consuming processes in the conventional activated sludge systems of wastewater treatment technology (may consume from 50% to 90% of electricity used by a plant), which makes it the most cost-generating process incurred by treatment plants. The paper presents the construction of aeration systems, their classification as well as parameters and factors that significantly affect the aeration process e.g., oxygen transfer efficiency, diffuser fouling, methods of dealing with diffuser fouling, diffuser selection. Additionally, there are briefly presented “smart control” systems in wastewater treatment and effect of application control strategy based on Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system connected with the decrease in the energy consumption for aeration of bioreactors with activated sludge. It is noted that before the process is optimized, the system should be equipped with suitable metering devices. Only when relevant data is available, the improvements can be carried out. However, it’s important, that the operator should regularly maintain good condition and high efficiency of diffusers.

Impact of fouling on the decline of aeration efficiency under different operational conditions at WRRFs

Biofilm formation influences the most energy-demanding process in the waste water treatment cycle. Biofilm growth on the surface of wastewater aeration diffusers in water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) can increase the energy requirements up to 50% in less than 2 years. The impact of biofilms in aeration diffusers was quantified and assessed for first time using molecular tools (i.e., Energy-dispersive X-ray, Ra and RMS and Pyrosequencing) and state-of-the-art techniques (i.e., EPS quantification, Hydrophobicity and DNA quantification). To provide a better understanding and quantitative connections between biological activity and aeration energy efficiency, two replicates of the most common diffusers were installed and tested in two different operational conditions (higher and lower organic loading rate processes) during 15 months. Different scenarios and conditions provided for first time comprehensive understanding of the major factors contributing to diffuser fouling. The array of analysis suggested that higher loading conditions can promote specialized microbial populations to halve aeration efficiency parameters (i.e., αF) in comparison to lower loading conditions. Biofilms adapted to certain operational conditions can trigger changes in diffuser membrane properties (i.e., biological enhanced roughness and hydrophobicity) and enhance EPS growth rates. Improved understanding of the effects of scaling, biofouling, aging and microbial population shifts on the decrease in aeration efficiency is provided.

Comparison of oxygen transfer parameters and oxygen demands in bioreactors operated at low and high dissolved oxygen levels

The proper design of aeration systems for bioreactors is critical since it can represent up to 50% of the operational and capital cost at water reclamation facilities. Transferring the actual amount of oxygen needed to meet the oxygen demand of the wastewater requires α- and β-factors, which are used for calculating the actual oxygen transfer rate (AOTR) under process conditions based on the standard oxygen transfer rate (SOTR). The SOTR is measured in tap water at 20°C, 1 atmospheric pressure, and 0 mg L^-1 of dissolved oxygen (DO). In this investigation, two 11.4-L bench-scale completely mixed activated process (CMAS) reactors were operated at various solid retention times (SRTs) to ascertain the relationship between the α-factor and SRT, and between the β-factor and SRT. The second goal was to determine if actual oxygen uptake rates (AOURs) are equal to calculated oxygen uptake rates (COURs) based on mass balances. Each reactor was supplied with 0.84 L m^-1 of air resulting in SOTRs of 14.3 and 11.5 g O₂ d^-1 for Reactor 1 (R-1) and Reactor 2 (R-2), respectively. The estimated theoretical oxygen demands of the synthetic feed to R-1 and R-2 were 6.3 and 21.9 g O₂ d^-1, respectively. R-2 was primarily operated under a dissolved oxygen (DO) limitation and high nitrogen loading to determine if nitrification would be inhibited from a nitrite buildup and if this would impact the α-factor. Nitrite accumulated in R-2 at DO concentrations ranging from 0.50 to 7.35 mg L^-1 and at free ammonia (FA) concentrations ranging from 1.34 to 7.19 mg L^-1. Nonsteady-state reaeration tests performed on the effluent from each reactor and on tap water indicated that the α-factor increased as SRT increased. A simple statistical analysis (paired t-test) between AOURs and COURs indicated that there was a statistically significant difference at 0.05 level of significance for both reactors. The ex situ BOD bottle method for estimating AOUR appears to be invalid in bioreactors operated at low DO concentrations (<1.0 mg L^-1).

Linking biofilm growth to fouling and aeration performance of fine-pore diffuser in activated sludge

Aeration is commonly identified as the largest contributor to process energy needs in the treatment of wastewater and therefore garners significant focus in reducing energy use. Fine-pore diffusers are the most common aeration system in municipal wastewater treatment. These diffusers are subject to fouling and scaling, resulting in loss in transfer efficiency as biofilms form and change material properties producing larger bubbles, hindering mass transfer and contributing to increased plant energy costs. This research establishes a direct correlation and apparent mechanistic link between biofilm DNA concentration and reduced aeration efficiency caused by biofilm fouling. Although the connection between biofilm growth and fouling has been implicit in discussions of diffuser fouling for many years, this research provides measured quantitative connection between the extent of biofouling and reduced diffuser efficiency. This was clearly established by studying systematically the deterioration of aeration diffusers efficiency during a 1.5 year period, concurrently with the microbiological study of the biofilm fouling in order to understand the major factors contributing to diffuser fouling. The six different diffuser technologies analyzed in this paper included four different materials which were ethylene-propylene-diene monomer (EPDM), polyurethane, silicone and ceramic. While all diffusers foul eventually, some novel materials exhibited fouling resistance. The material type played a major role in determining the biofilm characteristics (i.e., growth rate, composition, and microbial density) which directly affected the rate and intensity at what the diffusers were fouled, whereas diffuser geometry exerted little influence. Overall, a high correlation between the increase in biofilm DNA and the decrease in αF was evident (CV < 14.0 ± 2.0%). By linking bacterial growth with aeration efficiency, the research was able to show quantitatively the causal connection between bacterial fouling and energy wastage during aeration.

Integration of a microbial fuel cell with activated sludge process for energy-saving wastewater treatment: taking a sequencing batch reactor as an example

In the research and application of microbial fuel cell (MFC), how to incorporate MFCs into current wastewater infrastructure is an importance issue. Here, we report a novel strategy of integrating an MFC into a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) to test the energy production and the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal. The membrane-less biocathode MFC is integrated with the SBR to recover energy from the aeration in the form of electricity and thus reduce the SBR operation costs. In a lab-scale integrated SBR-MFC system, the maximum power production of the MFC was 2.34 W/m(3) for one typical cycle and the current density reached up to 14 A/m(3) . As a result, the MFC contributed to the 18.7% COD consumption of the integrated system and also recovered energy from the aeration tank with a volume fraction of only 12% of the SBR. Our strategy provides a feasible and effective energy-saving and -recovering solution to upgrade the existing activated sludge processes.

Oxygen transfer in membrane bioreactors treating synthetic greywater

Mass transfer coefficients (k(L)a) were studied in two pilot scale membrane bioreactors (MBR) with different setup configurations treating 200L/h of synthetic greywater with mixed liquor suspended solids' (MLSS) concentrations ranging from 4.7 to 19.5g/L. Besides the MLSS concentration, mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSS), total solids (TS), volatile solids (VS), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and anionic surfactants of the sludge were measured. Although the pilot plants differed essentially in their configurations and aeration systems, similar alpha-factors at the same MLSS concentration could be determined. A comparison of the results to the published values of other authors showed that not the MLSS concentration but rather the MLVSS concentration seems to be the decisive parameter which influences the oxygen transfer in activated sludge systems operating at a high sludge retention time (SRT).