Carbon redirection in chemically enhanced primary treatment of domestic wastewater: A meta-analysis of laboratory to full-scale trials.

Increasing energy demands combined with local scarcities and rising prices make the valorisation of energy from domestic wastewater seen as a valuable resource. Chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT) enables an increased redirection of organic compounds into sludge in the primary stage of a wastewater treatment for a transformation into biogas (carbon capture). Traditionally used coagulants consist of metallic salts, but in the last two decades, the development of polymers, based on petroleum or synthesized from renewable sources such as plants, has been intensified.

Sidestream characteristics in water resource recovery facilities: A critical review.

This review compiles information on sidestream characteristics that result from anaerobic digestion dewatering (conventional and preceded by a thermal hydrolysis process), biological and primary sludge thickening. The objective is to define a range of concentrations for the different characteristics found in literature and to confront them with the optimal operating conditions of sidestream processes for nutrient treatment or recovery. Each characteristic of sidestream (TSS, VSS, COD, N, P, Al, Ca, Cl, Fe, Mg, K, Na, SO, heavy metals, micro-pollutants and pathogens) is discussed according to the water resource recovery facility configuration, wastewater characteristics and implications for the recovery of nitrogen and phosphorus based on current published knowledge on the processes implemented at full-scale.

A-Stage process - Challenges and drawbacks from lab to full scale studies: A review.

In response to the growing global resource scarcity, wastewater is increasingly seen as a valuable resource to recover and valorise for the benefit of the society rather than another waste that needs treatment before disposal. Conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) oxidise most of the organic matter present in wastewater, instead of recovering it as a feedstock for biomaterials or to produce energy in the form of biogas. In contrast, an A-Stage is capable of producing a concentrated stream of organic matter ready for valorisation, ideally suited to retrofit existing large plants.

Modelling gas-liquid mass transfer in wastewater treatment: when current knowledge needs to encounter engineering practice and vice versa.

Gas-liquid mass transfer in wastewater treatment processes has received considerable attention over the last decades from both academia and industry. Indeed, improvements in modelling gas-liquid mass transfer can bring huge benefits in terms of reaction rates, plant energy expenditure, acid-base equilibria and greenhouse gas emissions. Despite these efforts, there is still no universally valid correlation between the design and operating parameters of a wastewater treatment plant and the gas-liquid mass transfer coefficients.

Considering the plug-flow behavior of the gas phase in nitrifying BAF models significantly improves the prediction of NO emissions.

Nitrifying biologically active filters (BAFs) have been found to be high emitters of nitrous oxide (NO), a powerful greenhouse gas contributing to ozone layer depletion. While recent models have greatly improved our understanding of the triggers of NO emissions from suspended-growth processes, less is known about NO emissions from full-scale biofilm processes. Tertiary nitrifying BAFs have been modeled at some occasions but considering strong simplifications on the description of gas-liquid exchanges which are not appropriate for NO prediction.

Towards advanced aeration modelling: from blower to bubbles to bulk.

Aeration is an essential component of aerobic biological wastewater treatment and is the largest energy consumer at most water resource recovery facilities. Most modelling studies neglect the inherent complexity of the aeration systems used. Typically, the blowers, air piping, and diffusers are not modelled in detail, completely mixed reactors in a series are used to represent plug-flow reactors, and empirical correlations are used to describe the impact of operating conditions on bubble formation and transport, and oxygen transfer from the bubbles to the bulk liquid.

N2O emissions from full-scale nitrifying biofilters.

A full-scale nitrifying biofilter was continuously monitored during two measurement periods (September 2014; February 2015) during which both gaseous and liquid N2O fluxes were monitored on-line. The results showed diurnal and seasonal variations of N2O emissions. A statistical model was run to determine the main operational parameters governing N2O emissions.

Full-scale post denitrifying biofilters: sinks of dissolved N2O?

In this study, nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from a full-scale denitrifying biofilter plant were continuously monitored over two periods (summer campaign in September 2014 and winter campaign in February 2015). Results of the summer campaign showed that the major part (>99%) of N2O flux was found in the liquid phase and was discharged with the effluent. N2O emissions were highly variable and represented in average 1.

Rethinking wastewater characterisation methods for activated sludge systems - a position paper.

Increasingly stringent effluent limits and an expanding scope of model system boundaries beyond activated sludge has led to new modelling objectives and consequently to new and often more detailed modelling concepts. Nearly three decades after the publication of Activated Sludge Model No1 (ASM1), the authors believe it is time to re-evaluate wastewater characterisation procedures and targets. The present position paper gives a brief overview of state-of-the-art methods and discusses newly developed measurement techniques on a conceptual level.

Updated activated sludge model number 1 parameter values for improved prediction of nitrogen removal in activated sludge processes: validation at 13 full-scale plants.

The Activated Sludge Model number 1 (ASM1) is the main model used in simulation projects focusing on nitrogen removal. Recent laboratory-scale studies have found that the default values given 20 years ago for the decay rate of nitrifiers and for the heterotrophic biomass yield in anoxic conditions were inadequate. To verify the relevance of the revised parameter values at full scale, a series of simulations were carried out with ASM1 using the original and updated set of parameters at 20 degrees C and 10 degrees C.

Comparison of oxygen-transfer measurement methods under process conditions.

The objective of this paper is to compare the following four methods of measuring oxygen transfer in wastewater treatment plants under process conditions: the offgas, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), reaeration, and in situ oxygen uptake rate (OUR) methods. Comparative tests were performed under controlled conditions in a pilot column and in six full-scale oxidation ditches equipped with fine-bubble diffusers and slow-speed mixers. The offgas and H2O2 methods give similar results (differences between the oxygen-transfer coefficients under field conditions [k(L)a(f)] from each method lower than 10%).

Equilibrium temperature in aerated basins--comparison of two prediction models.

This note presents and compares two models to predict the equilibrium temperature in aerated basins. They differ by their degree of complexity and therefore by the input data they require. Both models were able to estimate the temperature of an industrial aerated lagoon, the more complex model giving, in addition, a complete breakdown of the heat exchanges.