Determination of kinetic parameters in a pilot scale BNR system treating municipal wastewater
Kinetics for the biological processes of nitrification, denitrification and carbon oxidation were studied in the aerobic and anoxic phases of a pilot scale Biological Nutrient Removal (BNR) plant treating municipal wastewater. The configuration of the treating system is based on the combination of the UCT (University of Cape Town) design and the step feeding process in a cascade denitrification. In order to study the process kinetics and to obtain reliable values for the investigated kinetic parameters batch experiments were performed. For this purpose, continuous feeding of the treating system was interrupted for a given period of time and the pilot plant was turned into a batch mode of operation. Thereafter, addition of NO3 --N and NH4 +-N into the anoxic and aerobic compartments of the treating plant, respectively, followed, whereas adequate initial concentration of a carbon source (municipal wastewater or synthetic substrate) was ensured in the mixed liquor. Experimental data indicated that the examined biological processes followed saturation kinetics. The maximum specific denitrification rate, qDN,max , was found to obtain values, depending on the type of the carbon source, between 0,045 and 0,390 gNO3 --N/(gXHET·d), whereas the extremely low value of the half saturation constant for the denitrification process (Km,NO3-N << 1mgN/l) indicated its description by zero order kinetics. The maximum specific nitrification rate, qN,max, was determined to vary in a narrow frame, between 1,28 and 1,60 gNH4 +- N/(gXAO·d). The half saturation constant for the nitrification process, Km,NH4-N, was estimated graphically at 3,1 – 6,1 gNH4 +-N l-1, corresponding to 62 – 122 μgNH3-N l-1. These values are considered to be in good agreement with the literature. The determination of kinetic parameters can be considered as a useful tool for the process design, operation and improvement of wastewater treatment plants. Furthermore, the study of the biological process kinetics contributes to the better understanding and outline of the complicated biological processes that contemporarily take place within the various phases of BNR wastewater treatment plants.