Performance Assessment of the Vertical Flow Constructed Wetlands Treating Effluent from the UASB Reactor – A Demonstration in a Tropical Climatic Region

This paper presents the performance of the vertical flow constructed wetlands (VF-CWs) that has been investigated at a demonstration-scale level for the treatment of effluent from the anaerobic digestor (up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket) for municipal wastewater. The area of the bed is 480m2 with a depth of 1.0m, having dual media. The macrophytes (vegetation) used in the VF-CWs is phragmites australis. The performance efficiency of the system was measured for different parameters like BOD, COD, TSS, TKN, and TC. The result indicates that the combination of UASB & VF-CWs offers a very promising way to deal with the municipal wastewater within cost-effective and sustainable approaches, particularly in the developing countries in a tropical climatic regions. The overall removal efficiency from UASB and VFCW for COD, BOD, TSS, TKN is 80.8%, 91%, 88.23% and 92.25% respectively. The total coliforms removal has been observed from 1E+06 to 1E+04 CFU/100ml

Modelling mesophilic-thermophilic temperature transitions experienced by an aerobic membrane bioreactor treating furfural plant effluent

A mathematical model was developed of an aerobic membrane bioreactor (MBR) treating effluent from a by-products facility at a sugar mill producing furfural, based on measurements of microbial kinetics and stoichiometry at different temperatures. The model was calibrated and validated against plant data using volumetric flow into the MBR and volumetric sludge wasting from the MBR as inputs. The model is able to predict steady-state and unsteady-state operation of the MBR under both mesophilic and thermophilic conditions, and the transitions between the two regimes. Comparison of model simulations and plant data suggests that thermophilic operation is advantageous, but it is less stable than mesophilic operation and frequent feed disruptions can have detrimental effects on MBR operation.

The application of ceramic membranes for treating effluent water from closed-circuit fish farming

The aim of the study was to analyze and assess the possibility of using a two-stage filtration system with ceramic membranes: a 3-tube module with 1.0 kDa cut-off (1st stage) and a one-tube module with 0.45 kDa cut-off (2nd stage) for treating effluent water from a juvenile African catfish aquaculture. The study revealed that during the 1st filtration stage of the effluent water, the highest degrees of retention were obtained with respect to: suspended solids SS (rejection coefficient RI=100%), turbidity (RI=99.40%), total iron (RI=89.20%), BOD5 (RI=76.0%), nitrite nitrogen (RI=62.30%), and CODCr (RI=41.74%). The 2nd filtration stage resulted in a lower reduction degree of the tested indicators in comparison to the 1st filtration stage. At the 2nd stage, the highest values of the rejection coefficient were noted in for the total iron content (RIV=100%), CODCr (RIV=59.52%; RV=64.28%, RVI=63.49%) and turbidity (RIV and RV = 45.0%, RVI=50.0%). The obtained results indicate that ceramic membranes (with 1.0 and 0.45 kDa cut-offs) may be used in recirculation aquaculture systems as one of the stages of effluent water treatment.

Integrating the Anaerobic Process with Ultrafiltration in Meat Industry Wastewater Treatment

The aim of this paper was to study meat industry wastewater treatment efficiency during fermentation process in ASBR reactor and post-treatment in UF process. The anaerobic process obtained a considerable degree of the removal of organic pollutants from raw wastewater designated as COD (73.3%), BOD (71.4%) and TOC (83.2%). The concentrations of COD and BOD were 435 and 443 mg/dm3, respectively. The value of TOC reached a level of 136 mg/dm3. Generated biogas in the methane fermentation process of wastewater from meat industry plants was characterized by high methane content (80.9% vol.). In the final part of the experiment, the UF process was used in order to post-treating effluent from ASBR reactor. During the UF process, COD, BOD and TOC parameters were removed at 67.2%, 68% and 70.4%, respectively.