Leveraging Primary Effluent- and Glycerol-Driven Partial Denitrification-Anammox within a Pilot-Scale Tertiary Step-feed Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor Treating High-Rate Activated Sludge Systems Effluent
Yewei Sun, Mojtaba Farrokh Shad, Bruce Mansell, Michael Liu, Patricia Hsia, Ariana Coracero, Raymond Tsai, Bryce Danker, Yian Sun, Zhangtong Liao, Zhi-Wu Wang, Wendell Khunjar, Paul Pitt, Ron Latimer
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
This study investigated the possibility of utilizing primary effluent (PE) carbon as an internal carbon source to drive tertiary partial denitrification-anammox (PdNA) for treating high-rate activated sludge (HRAS) system effluent, so as to offset the consumption of external carbon such as glycerol. This pilot study was conducted in a tertiary step-feed moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) over 478 days, using full-scale HRAS secondary effluent as the influent. Unlike most PdNA applications that rely on the expensive supplemental carbon like methanol or glycerol, this study is the first to demonstrate that PE carbon can be utilized as a naturally available carbon source within wastewater to drive PdNA. By taking advantage of this free internal carbon source to driven PdNA, 63% to 74% savings in PE carbon consumption and ∼36% offset in glycerol consumption were achieved. Additionally, glycerol-driven PdNA further reduced both supplemental carbon and aeration energy demands by 70% and 18%. Mechanistic insights from in-situ and ex-situ batch tests revealed that the PE-driven PdNA was facilitated by an anammox-driven nitrite sink, a novel observation that allowed stable PdNA performance without nitrite accumulation. Furthermore, batch tests indicated that endogenous respiration could support PdNA. These findings highlight the potential of applying PE-driven PdNA in full-scale facilities, ushering in a new era of mainstream anammox applications in wastewater treatment, as PdNA is no longer reliant on costly external carbon addition.
期刊介绍:
Water Research, along with its open access companion journal Water Research X, serves as a platform for publishing original research papers covering various aspects of the science and technology related to the anthropogenic water cycle, water quality, and its management worldwide. The audience targeted by the journal comprises biologists, chemical engineers, chemists, civil engineers, environmental engineers, limnologists, and microbiologists. The scope of the journal include:
•Treatment processes for water and wastewaters (municipal, agricultural, industrial, and on-site treatment), including resource recovery and residuals management;
•Urban hydrology including sewer systems, stormwater management, and green infrastructure;
•Drinking water treatment and distribution;
•Potable and non-potable water reuse;
•Sanitation, public health, and risk assessment;
•Anaerobic digestion, solid and hazardous waste management, including source characterization and the effects and control of leachates and gaseous emissions;
•Contaminants (chemical, microbial, anthropogenic particles such as nanoparticles or microplastics) and related water quality sensing, monitoring, fate, and assessment;
•Anthropogenic impacts on inland, tidal, coastal and urban waters, focusing on surface and ground waters, and point and non-point sources of pollution;
•Environmental restoration, linked to surface water, groundwater and groundwater remediation;
•Analysis of the interfaces between sediments and water, and between water and atmosphere, focusing specifically on anthropogenic impacts;
•Mathematical modelling, systems analysis, machine learning, and beneficial use of big data related to the anthropogenic water cycle;
•Socio-economic, policy, and regulations studies.