Toward energy-neutral wastewater treatment: A high-rate contact stabilization process to maximally recover sewage organics

Meerburg, Francis; Boon, Nico; Winckel, Tim Van; Vercamer, Jensen A.R.; Nopens, Ingmar; Vlaeminck, Siegfried E.

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2014.12.018

Cited by 141 publications

(98 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…While the conventional activated sludge process has proven its merits in terms of reliability and performance, it suffers from drawbacks such as high operational costs and limited potential for resource recovery. In recent years, high-rate activated sludge processes have gained attention because of their potential use for recovery of energy and organics from sewage, owing to their high sludge yields and good digestion properties (Meerburg et al, 2015;Jimenez et al, 2015). High-rate systems are typically operated at a short sludge retention time (SRT) of less than 2 days and a high sludge-specific loading rate (SLR) above 2 g biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) per gram volatile suspended solids (VSS) per day (B€ ohnke et al, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-rate activated sludge communities have a distinctly different structure compared to low-rate sludge communities, and are less sensitive towards environmental and operational variables

et al. 2016

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High-rate activated sludge processes allow for the recovery of organics and energy from wastewaters. These systems are operated at a short sludge retention time and high sludge-specific loading rates, which results in a higher sludge yield and better digestibility than conventional, low-rate activated sludge. Little is known about the microbial ecology of high-rate systems. In this work, we address the need for a fundamental understanding of how high-rate microbial communities differ from low-rate communities. We investigated the high-rate and low-rate communities in a sewage treatment plant in relation to environmental and operational variables over a period of ten months. We demonstrated that (1) high-rate and low-rate communities are distinctly different in terms of richness, evenness and composition, (2) high-rate community dynamics are more variable and less shaped by deterministic factors compared to low-rate communities, (3) sub-communities of continuously core and transitional members are more shaped by deterministic factors than the continuously rare members, both in high-rate and low-rate communities, and (4) high-rate community members showed a co-occurrence pattern similar to that of low-rate community members, but were less likely to be correlated to environmental and operational variables. These findings provide a basis for further optimization of high-rate systems, in order to facilitate resource recovery from wastewater.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-rate activated sludge communities have a distinctly different structure compared to low-rate sludge communities, and are less sensitive towards environmental and operational variables

et al. 2016

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“…This would ensure the conversion of the largest possible portion of soluble biodegradable COD into biomass. Recent research efforts have attempted to promote the contact stabilization process as the most promising AS scheme for maximum sludge generation . Unfortunately, the evaluation provided in this study clearly proved the opposite.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 65%

“…(iii) As indicated in Fig. , two of the experimental runs by Meerburg et al . yielded no observable yield ( Y OBS ; Y OBS * = 0), meaning no measurable sludge generation in the reactor.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Selected studies could be differentiated into two groups in terms of the adopted AS configurations. The first group of studies is of high‐rate systems reliant on gravity settling . These studies tested the performance of CAS systems, high‐rate contact stabilization systems (HiCS), high‐rate AS systems (HiCAS) and plug flow systems, mostly for promoting high‐rate contact stabilization as the ideal/novel process most suited for maximum energy conservation in sludge.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The first group of studies is of high-rate systems reliant on gravity settling. [7][8][9][10] These studies tested the performance of CAS systems, high-rate contact stabilization systems (HiCS), high-rate AS systems (HiCAS) and plug flow systems, mostly for promoting high-rate contact stabilization as the ideal/novel process most suited for maximum energy conservation in sludge. The second group comprises studies of high-rate systems utilizing membranes for biomass separation -high-rate (super fast) membrane bioreactors (SFMBRs).…”

Section: Evaluation Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Which activated sludge configurations qualify for maximizing energy conservation – Why?

Orhon

Allı

Sözen

2018

J of Chemical Tech & Biotech

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BACKGROUND This paper aimed to provide a critical appraisal on maximizing sludge generation and energy conservation in high‐rate activated sludge (AS) configurations. The role of gravity settling and the positive attributes of high rate membrane bioreactors were emphasized. The appraisal covered data reported in the literature on 40 different experiments testing high‐rate AS configurations for sludge generation and energy conservation. RESULTS In systems with gravity settling, effluent chemical oxygen demand (COD) was higher than 125 mg L−1 in 60% of the experiments, with similarly high effluent soluble COD values. In high‐rate MBR systems, permeate COD fluctuated around 12–18 mgCOD L−1; in gravity systems, COD loss in the effluent was higher than 200 mg L−1 in 17 runs (65%) and 300 mg L−1 in 12 runs (46%). Corresponding observed yields were only 9–43%. Membrane systems consistently yielded much higher observed yields of 50–60%. CONCLUSION For energy recovery, AS systems require a major transition, reducing the sludge age to 1.0–2.0 d; only high‐rate systems are capable of maximizing energy conservation. This argument does not apply to the contact stabilization process, which is inherently unsuitable for energy recovery. A transition is also needed to replace gravity settling by membrane systems for effective control of particulate and soluble COD components. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry

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Anatomy of super‐fast activated sludge process with gravity settling for biodegradation and energy recovery potential ‐ a review

Orhon

Sözen

Çokgör

et al. 2022

J of Chemical Tech & Biotech

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This study reviewed the conceptual basis and the application of extremely high rate activated sludge configurations with gravity settling. It evaluated the modified aeration process, as the historical pioneering development, and the A process (adsorption), which was inspired by the traditional AB process (adsorption/biological oxidation) promulgated in the seventies. For this purpose, a modelling framework was established to simulate the expected performance and the energy recovery potential of these processes using the currently applicable data base. The model evaluation was also extended to cover the Yenikapı plant in Istanbul as a current case study. The modelling results were discussed in view of the handicaps of gravity settling and the merit of high‐rate membrane bioreactors where gravity settling would be replaced by membrane filtration. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).

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Toward energy-neutral wastewater treatment: A high-rate contact stabilization process to maximally recover sewage organics

Cited by 141 publications

References 25 publications

High-rate activated sludge communities have a distinctly different structure compared to low-rate sludge communities, and are less sensitive towards environmental and operational variables

High-rate activated sludge communities have a distinctly different structure compared to low-rate sludge communities, and are less sensitive towards environmental and operational variables

Which activated sludge configurations qualify for maximizing energy conservation – Why?

Anatomy of super‐fast activated sludge process with gravity settling for biodegradation and energy recovery potential ‐ a review

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