Conceptual Modelling and Data Based Techniques to Understand Urban Water Use and Wastewater Production

A systems approach is used to describe the generation and variation of wastewater in an urban area. This is a multivariable system and its combined response at the outlet of this system, which is usually the entrance ofa wastewater treatment plant, depends on a number of environmental （precipitation and temperature） as well as social （size of the urban area, population changes, water consumption per capita） variables. There is a large number of available models and tools for describing the urban water system, however, the interactions between the individual components are rarely considered within the same modelling framework. In this paper a parsimonious methodology is proposed in order to understand and estimate the wastewater generation and its characteristics in an urban area using any information provided by the available data. The model incorporates both the flows of stormwater discharge and wastewater production that arrive to the wastewater treatment plant. A state dependent variable is introduced to simulate the consumptive uses in the urban area. Data availability and system＇s complexity affect the ability to achieve enhanced model performance, however, in the presented case study, preliminary results from the application of the presented model in the Greater Athens Area illustrate the potential of the conceptual modelling approach.

A Combined System for Biological Removal of Nitrogen and Carbon from Nylon-6 Production Wastewater

A combined system consisting of hydrolysis acidification, denitrification and nitrification reactors was used to remove carbon and nitrogen from the nylon - 6 production wastewater, which was characterized by good biodegradability and high nitrogen concentration. The influences of Chemical Oxygen Demand （COD） in the influent, recirculation ratio, Hydraulic Residence Time （HRT） and Dissolved Oxygen （DO） concentration on the system performances were investigated. From results it could be seen that good performances have been achieved during the overall experiments periods, and COD, Total Nitrogen （TN）, NH^＋ -N and Suspended Solids （SS） in the effluent were 53, 16, 2 and 24 mg· L^-1, respectively, which has satisfied the first standard of wastewater discharge established by Environmental Protection Agency （EPA） of China. Furthermore, results showed that operation factors, viz. COD in the influent, recirculation ratio, HRT and DO concentration, all had important influences on the system performances.

Pretreatment of apramycin wastewater by catalytic wet air oxidation

The pretreatment technology of wet air oxidation(WAO) and coagulation and acidic hydrolysis for apramycin wastewater was investigated in this paper. The COD, apramycin, NH^+_4 concentration, and the ratio of BOD_5/COD were analyzed, and the color and odor of the effluent were observed. WAO of apramycin wastewater, without catalyst and with RuO_2/Al_2O_3 and RuO_2-CeO_2/Al_2O_3 catalysts, was carried out at degradation temperature of 200℃ and the total pressure of 4 MPa in a 1 L batch reactor. The result showed that the apramycin removals were respectively 50 2% and 55 0%, COD removals were 40 0% and 46 0%, and the ratio of BOD_5/COD was increased to 0 49 and 0 54 with RuO_2/Al_2O_3 and RuO_2-CeO_2/Al_2O_3 catalysts in catylytic wet air oxidation(CWAO) after the reaction of 150 min. With the pretreatment of coagulation and acidic hydrolysis, COD and apramycin removals were slight decreased, and the ratio of BOD_5/COD was increased to 0 45, and the effluents was not suitable to biological treatment. The color and odor of the wastewater were effectively controlled and the reaction time was obviously shortened with WAO. HO_2· may promote organic compounds oxidized in WAO of the apramycin wastewater. The addition of CeO_2 could promote the activity and stability of RuO_2/Al_2O_3 in WAO of apramycin wastewater.

Nitrification characteristics of nitrobacteria immobilized in waterborne polyurethane in wastewater of corn-based ethanol fuel production

A technology to achieve stable and high ammonia nitrogen removal rates for corn distillery wastewater （ethanol fuel production） treatment has been designed.The characteristics of nitrifying bacteria entrapped in a waterborne polyurethane （WPU） gel carrier were evaluated after acclimation.In the acclimation period,nitrification rates of WPU-immobilized nitrobacteria were monitored and polymerase chain reaction （PCR） was also carried out to investigate the change in ammonium-oxidizing bacteria.The results showed that the pellet nitrification rates increased from 21 to 228 mg-N/（L-pellet·hr） and the quantity of the ammonia oxidation bacteria increased substantially during the acclimation.A continuous ammonia removal experiment with the anaerobic pond effluent of a distillery wastewater system was conducted with immobilized nitrifying bacteria for 30 days using an 80 L airlift reactor with pellets at a fill ratio of 15% （V/V）.Under the conditions of 75 mg/L influent ammonia,hydraulic retention time （HRT） of 3.7-5.6 hr,and dissolved oxygen （DO） of 4 mg/L,the effluent ammonia concentration was lower than 10 mg/L and the ammonia removal efficiency was 90%.While the highest ammonia removal rate,162 mg-N/（L-pellet·hr）,was observed when the HRT was 1.3 hr.

Effects of hydraulic retention time on net present value and performance in a membrane bioreactor treating antibiotic production wastewater

A cost sensitivity analysis was performed for an industrial membrane bioreactor to quantify the effects of hydraulic retention times and related operational parameters on cost.Different hydraulic retention times(72-24 h)were subjected to a flat-sheet membrane bioreactor updated from an existing 72 h oxidation ditch treating antibiotic production wastewater.Field experimental data from the membrane bioreactor,both full-scale(500 m/d)and pilot(1.0 m3/d),were used to calculate the net present value(NPV),incorporating both capital expenditure(CAPEX)and operating expenditure.The results showed that the tank cost was estimated above membrane cost in the 38.2%,where capital expenditure contributed 24.2%more than operational expenditure.Tank construction cost was decisive in determining the net present value contributed 62.1%to the capital expenditure.The membrane bioreactor has the advantage of a longer lifespan flat-sheet membrane,while flux decline was tolerable.The antibiotics decreased to 1.87±0.33 mg/L in the MBR effluent.The upgrade to the membrane bioreactor also benefited further treatments by 10.1%-44.7%lower direct investment.

An advanced anaerobic biofilter with effluent recirculation for phenol removal and methane production in treatment of coal gasification wastewater

An advanced anaerobic biofilter（AF） was introduced for the treatment of coal gasification wastewater（CGW）,and effluent recirculation was adopted to enhance phenol removal and methane production.The results indicated that AF was reliable in treating diluted CGW,while its efficiency and stability were seriously reduced when directly treating raw CGW.However,its performance could be greatly enhanced by effluent recirculation.Under optimal effluent recirculation of 0.5 to the influent,concentrations of chemical oxygen demand（COD） and total phenol in the effluent could reach as low as 234.0 and 14.2 mg/L,respectively.Also,the rate of methane production reached 169.0 m L CH_4/L/day.Though CGW seemed to restrain the growth of anaerobic microorganisms,especially methanogens,the inhibition was temporary and reversible,and anaerobic bacteria presented strong tolerance.The activities of methanogens cultivated in CGW could quickly recover on feeding with glucose wastewater（GW）.However,the adaptability of anaerobic bacteria to the CGW was very poor and the activity of methanogens could not be improved by long-term domestication.By analysis using the Haldane model,it was further confirmed that high effluent recirculation could result in high activity for hydrolytic bacteria and substrate affinity for toxic matters,but only suitable effluent recirculation could result in high methanogenic activity.

A syntrophic propionate-oxidizing microflora and its bioaugmentation on anaerobic wastewater treatment for enhancing methane production and COD removal

Methane fermentation process can be restricted and even destroyed by the accumulation of propionate because it is the most difficult to be anaerobically oxidized among the volatile fatty acids produced by acetogenesis. To enhance anaerobic wastewater treatment process for methane production and COD removal, a syntrophic propionate-oxidizing microflora B83 was obtained from an anaerobic activated sludge by enrichment with propionate. The inoculation of microflora B83, with a 1：9 ratio of bacteria number to that of the activated sludge, could enhance the methane production from glucose by 2.5 times. With the same inoculation dosage of the microflora B83, COD removal in organic wastewater treatment process was improved from 75.6% to 86.6%, while the specific methane production by COD removal was increased by 2.7 times. Hydrogen-producing acetogene_sis.appeared to be a rate-limiting step in methane termentation, and the enhancement orhydrogen-producing acetogens in the anaerobic wastewater treatment process had improved not only the hydrogen-producing acetogenesis but also the acidogenesis and methanogenesis.

Impact of food to microorganism ratio and alcohol ethoxylate dosage on methane production in treatment of low-strength wastewater by a submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor

The effects of food to microorganism （FIM） ratio and alcohol ethoxylate （AE） dosage on the methane production potential were investigated in treatment of low-strength wastewater by a submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor （SAnMBR）. The fate of AE and its acute and/or chronic impact on the anaerobic microbes were also analyzed. The results indicated that AE had an inhibitory effect to methane production potential （lag-time depends on the AE dosage） and the negative effect attenuated subsequently and methane production could recover at FIM ratio of 0.088-0.357. VFA measurement proved that AE was degraded into small molecular organic acids and then converted into methane at lower FIM ratio （FIM 〈 0.158）. After long-term acclimation, anaerobic microbe could cope with the stress of AE by producing more EPS （extracellular polymeric substances） and SMP （soluble microbial products） due to its self-protection behavior and then enhance its tolerance ability. However, the methane production potential was considerably decreased when AE was present in wastewater at a higher FIM ratio of 1.054. Higher AE amount and FIM ratio may destroy the cell structure of microbe, which lead to the decrease of methane production activity of sludge and methane production potential.

CH_4 emission and conversion from A^2O and SBR processes in full-scale wastewater treatment plants

Wastewater treatment systems are important anthropogenic sources of CH4 emission. A full-scale experiment was carried out to monitor the CH4 emission from anoxic/anaerobic/oxic process （A2O） and sequencing batch reactor （SBR） wastewater treatment plants （WWTPs） for one year from May 2011 to April 2012. The main emission unit of the A2O process was an oxic tank, accounting for 76.2% of CH4 emissions; the main emission unit of the SBR process was the feeding and aeration phase, accounting for 99.5% of CH4 emissions. CH4 can be produced in the anaerobic condition, such as in the primary settling tank and anaerobic tank of the A2O process. While CH4 can be consumed in anoxic denitrification or the aeration condition, such as in the anoxic tank and oxic tank of the A2O process and the feeding and aeration phase of the SBR process. The CH4 emission flux and the dissolved CH4 concentration rapidly decreased in the oxic tank of the A2O process. These metrics increased during the first half of the phase and then decreased during the latter half of the phase in the feeding and aeration phase of the SBR process. The CH4 oxidation rate ranged from 32.47% to 89.52% （mean： 67.96%） in the A2O process and from 12.65% to 88.31% （mean： 47.62%） in the SBR process. The mean CH4 emission factors were 0.182 g/ton of wastewater and 24.75 g CH4/（person.year） for the A2O process, and 0.457 g/ton of wastewater and 36.55 g CH4/（person.year） for the SBR process.