Optimizing IFAS and MBBR Designs Using Full-Scale Data

Abstract

Powerful models and a wealth of full-scale data are available for designing integrated fixed film activated sludge (IFAS) and moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) facilities today that were not available ten years ago. The question now is not "how much media is needed?" but "how can we minimize costs and maximize plant capacity by placing the right amount of media in the right place?" The IFAS facility in Broomfield, Colorado, and the MBBR facility at the Williams Monaco Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in South Adams County, Colorado, have been in service for over four years. Operators have documented biomass quantities and nutrient profiles within individual zones over the years, and this full-scale data, coupled with pilot-scale and bench-scale test results, has been key to optimizing the plant expansions. The Broomfield Phase 2 expansion is currently under construction, and the Williams Monaco expansion is in the study phase.

Comparative modeling of biological nutrient removal from landfill leachate using a circulating fluidized bed bioreactor (CFBBR)

“…One-dimensional (1-D) fully dynamic and steady-state simulation models are widely used to simulate the full-scale wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) such as the stratified dynamic multi-species model introduced and implemented in the AQUASIM software [13,[15][16][17][18] and Activated Sludge Models (ASM1, ASM2, ASM2d, ASM3) introduced by International Water Association (IWA) [19]. The IWA model is available in several user-friendly forms, the most common of which are the Simba ® (Ifak GmbH, Magdeburg, Germany), ASIM ® (EAWAG, Switzerland), EFOR ® (DHI Inc., Denmark), BioWin ® (Envirosim Associates Ltd., Burlington, ON), GPS-X ® (Hydromantis Inc., BioWin ® and AQUIFAS ® developed a fixed film model and successfully simulated the integrated fixed-film activated sludge (IFAS) process, moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR), and biological aerated filter (BAF) systems for municipal wastewater treatment plants using a wide range of BOD loadings and biofilm thicknesses [20][21][22][23][24][25]. The developed models improved the accuracy of diffusional models by evaluating results against semi-empirical data based on experimental measurements from different full-scale WWTPs.…”

Piloting Program to Optimize Design and Operation of Innovative MBBR Treatment Strategy

“…Uncalibrated models can also show BOD removal and nitrification occur simultaneously, whereas field studies have shown that nitrification kicks in only after most of the BOD has been removed from the system. Bench-scale nitrification rate tests conducted at South Adams County, Colorado Williams Monaco WWTP, with variable organic loadings showed a 30% decrease in nitrification rate when soluble COD was increased from 0 to 100 mg/L (Phillips, 2008). To address these challenges in modeling, the results from the piloting program were applied to calibrate the process simulation model for the Fort Myers MBBR project to allow for accurate definition of facility requirements and to define the operational control parameters for the targeted treatment objectives.…”