Co-Treatment of Leachate and Domestic Sewage and Its Influence on Nitrogen Removal

Abstract

This research investigated the performance of two pilot-scale treatment plants: an activated sludge and a hybrid model type IFAS (Integrated Fixed-Film Activated Sludge), combining sanitary landfill leachate with domestic sewage treatment with the objective of removing organic substances. In order to assess the possible impacts on the treatment, three experimental phases were developed with leachate inputs in the influent composition: 5%, 10% and 20% of the total load of BOD. As can be seen from the results, even with the highest levels of leachate input, there were no significant changes in the behavior of the biological processes. Regarding the oxidation of nitrogen compounds, expressed in terms of TKN, approximately 90% removals were observed for the IFAS process in all the phases. In the Activated Sludge process, removal rates during the study were approximately 70%, indicating poor performance. The kinetic coefficients for the autotrophic metabolism related to the Activated Sludge process remained stable, while a progressive decrease was observed for each stage in the IFAS process. In general, the IFAS process presented better performance than the Activated Sludge process in terms of removal efficiency of nitrogen matter, as well as higher operating stability.

Statistical modelling and assessment of landfill leachate emission from fresh municipal solid waste: A laboratory-scale anaerobic landfill simulation reactor study

“…sludge (Campos et al, 2019), and membrane bioreactor treatment are effective processes in the treatment of high-strength wastewater (Hashisho and El-Fadel, 2016;Tałałaj et al, 2019).…”