Integration between chemical oxidation and membrane thermophilic biological process

Abstract

Full scale applications of activated sludge thermophilic aerobic process for treatment of liquid wastes are rare. This experimental work was carried out at a facility, where a thermophilic reactor (1,000 m(3) volume) is operated. In order to improve the global performance of the plant, it was decided to upgrade it, by means of two membrane filtration units (ultrafiltration -UF-, in place of the final sedimentation, and nanofiltration -NF-). Subsequently, the integration with chemical oxidation (O(3) and H(2)O(2)/UV processes) was taken into consideration. Studied solutions dealt with oxidation of both the NF effluents (permeate and concentrate). Based on experimental results and economic evaluation, an algorithm was proposed for defining limits of convenience of this process.

Treatment of sewage sludge in a thermophilic membrane reactor (TMR) with alternate aeration cycles

“…Once the temperature reached 47e50 C, the VSS TSS À1 average ratio of the pilot plant biomass was getting close to the typical values of the thermophilic sludge in the real scale plant (VSS TSS À1~2 8%) (Bertanza et al, 2010).…”

“…In order to verify the "degree" of conversion of the biomass, the VSS TSS À1 ratio and SVI were measured and then compared to the values measured in a thermophilic biomass of a full-scale plant, which was considered as a reference for this research (Bertanza et al, 2010).…”

“…The thermophilic membrane reactor (TMR) was engineered by scaling-down the real scale plant which is in operation in a facility (located in the North of Italy) were industrial wastewater is processed (Bertanza et al, 2006). This technology has proven to be extremely stable and able to treat industrial wastewater of different nature (Bertanza et al, 2010;Collivignarelli et al, 2014). In addition to the achievable sludge reduction, the driving factors that pushed the authors to study this process were: the expected suitability for treatment of industrial sludge and/or sludge with high content of heavy metals and specific pollutants; the possibility to run the process in a single and compact reactor so that the implementation in an existing sludge line is simpler; the expected high biodegradability of the permeate, which could be recovered as external carbon source for denitrification process.…”

How far are we from closing the loop of sewage resource recovery? A real picture of municipal wastewater treatment plants in Italy

“…They represent proper indicators of the current scenario, although the scientific literature is proposing some promising alternatives. For instance, the authors are currently carrying out a study aimed at recovering nutrients from sludge (Collivignarelli et al, 2015a) by running a thermophilic membrane reactor; this process has led to promising results indeed in liquid wastes treatment (Bertanza et al, 2010a;Collivignarelli et al, 2015b).…”

H2O2 Based Oxidation Processes for the Treatment of Real High Strength Aqueous Wastes

“…This poses a challenge for their treatment, there being three alternatives: (a) advanced biological processes, which may be able to treat high organic loads with a typical operational stability [1-3] and a very low sludge production [1,4]; (b) advanced chemical processes [5][6][7][8][9]; (c) or a combination of both [4,10,11]. In the past, chemical oxidation has been used for reducing the concentrations of residual organics, removing ammonia, controlling odors, and for disinfection purposes.…”