Integrated control strategy for dual sludge ages in the high-concentration powder carrier bio-fluidized bed (HPB) technology: Enhancing municipal wastewater treatment efficiency

Chengxian Wang; Xiaoli Chai; Bin Lu; Wei Lu; Hongbo Han; Yue Mu; Qun Gu; Boran Wu

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119890

Integrated control strategy for dual sludge ages in the high-concentration powder carrier bio-fluidized bed (HPB) technology: Enhancing municipal wastewater treatment efficiency

J Environ Manage. 2024 Feb:351:119890. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119890. Epub 2023 Dec 30.

Authors

Chengxian Wang¹, Xiaoli Chai¹, Bin Lu¹, Wei Lu², Hongbo Han³, Yue Mu³, Qun Gu³, Boran Wu⁴

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai, 200092, China.
² Shanghai Key Lab. of D&A for Metal-Functional Materials, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 201804, China.
³ Hunan Sanyou Environmental Protection Co. Ltd., Changsha, 410205, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai, 200092, China. Electronic address: boranwu@tongji.edu.cn.

PMID: 38160542
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119890

Abstract

The high-concentration powder carrier bio-fluidized bed (HPB) technology is an emerging approach that enables on-site upgrading of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). HPB technology promotes the formation of biofilm sludge with micron-scale composite powder carriers as the core and suspended sludge mainly composed of flocs surrounding the biofilm sludge. This study proposed a novel integrated strategy for assessing and controlling the sludge ages in suspended/bio-film activated sludge supported by micron-scale composite powder carrier. Utilizing the cyclone unit and the corresponding theoretical model, the proposed strategy effectively addresses the sludge ages contradiction between denitrifying bacteria and polyphosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs), thereby enhancing the efficiency of municipal wastewater treatment. The sludge age of the suspended (25 d) and bio-film (99 d) sludge, calculated using the model, contribute to the simultaneous removal of nitrogen and phosphorus. Meanwhile, the model further estimates distinct contributions of suspended and bio-film sludge to chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total nitrogen (TN), which are 55% and 42% for COD, 20% and 57% for TN of suspended sludge and bio-film sludge, respectively. This suggests that the contribution of suspended sludge and bio-film sludge to COD and TN removal efficiency can be determined and controlled by the operational conditions of the cyclone unit. Additionally, the simulation values for COD, ammonia nitrogen (NH₄⁺-N), TN and total phosphorus (TP) closely align with the actual values of WWTPs over 70 days (p < 0.001) with the correlation coefficients (R²) of 0.9809, 0.9932, 0.9825, and 0.837, respectively. These results support the theoretical foundation of HPB technology for simultaneous nitrogen and phosphorus removal in sewage treatment plants. Therefore, this model serves as a valuable tool to guide the operation, design, and carrier addition in HPB technology implementation.

Keywords: Bio-film sludge; Denitrification and phosphorus removal; HPB technology; Suspended sludge; Theoretical model.

MeSH terms

Bioreactors / microbiology
Denitrification
Nitrogen
Phosphorus
Powders
Sewage* / chemistry
Waste Disposal, Fluid / methods
Wastewater
Water Purification*

Substances

Sewage
Wastewater
Powders
Phosphorus
Nitrogen