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Stringent water treatment criteria and rapidly growing pollutant loads provoke the demand for retrofitting wastewater treatment plants towards a higher capacity. In this study, we assess a two stage alternating aeration (AA) bioreactor equipped with electroflotation (EF) clarifier, for nitrogen removal within a short hydraulic retention time (HRT). The EF under steady solids loading required a minimum unit height and gas: solids ratio of 0.006 for efficient clarification. The separated sludge blanket was further thickened with retaining stability when the cyclic solids loading was smaller than 1.0 kg m(-2). In the continuous operation of the bioreactor, the returned activated sludge concentration increased to more than 18,000 mg L(-1), while the effluent suspended solids concentration was lowered below 5 mg L(-1). Under influent chemical oxygen demand (COD)/total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) concentration of 300/30 mg L(-1), the TIN removal efficiency was near 70% with cycle time ratios of 0.17 and 0.27. Under higher influent COD concentration of 500mg L(-1), TIN removal efficiency was found to be 73.4% at a carbon:nitrogen (C:N) ratio of 10 and even higher (80.4%) at a C:N ratio of 16.6. The increased mixed liquor suspended solids concentrations (> 6000 mg L(-1)) under the high COD loading were efficiently maintained by using the EF clarifier. The results of this study demonstrate that an EF clarifier with a HRT of less than 1 h can support reliable nitrogen removal in the AA process that has a HRT of 6 h, even under increasing influent loadings.

A modified ludzack ettinger reactor (MLE) combined with a post-denitrification reactor (PDMLE) using electroflotation (EF) as a secondary clarifier was investigated on its feasibility and process performance. Results indicated that higher mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentrations in bioreactor (5,350 ± 352 mg L(-1)) were maintained via the highly concentrated return sludge (16,771 ± 991 mg L(-1)) from the EF clarifier and the effluent suspended solids (SS) concentrations continued relatively low, representing effluent SS concentration of 1.71 ± 1.16 mg L(-1), compared with GS-A2O process during the operation of four months. The denitrification was improved by combining MLE process with post-denitrification based on endogenous decay (i.e. no additional carbon source was added), resulting in the removal efficiencies of TN were about 91 and 59% for the influent C/N ratio of 10 and 5, respectively, revealing relatively high nitrogen removal as compared with EF-A2O and gravity settling (GS)-A2O processes as a control. The nitrogen balance analysis indicates that pre-denitrification and post-denitrification contributed to 78 and 22% of TN removed, respectively.

Electroflotation (EF) was investigated as a final clarification of an activated sludge process, to intensify its novel clarification and thickening efficiency. During operation of a biological reactor combined with an EF clarifier, deterioration of clarification efficiency was observed. Scale deposition on electrodes caused a coarse electrode surface, significantly increasing the size of the electrolytic bubbles. The average bubble size was initially 34 microm and increased to 80 microm after bulk cell electrolysis for 150 h. X-ray diffractometry and scanning electron microscopy further characterized the scale deposition as a cluster of calcite (CaCO(3)) and brucite (Mg(OH)(2)). Switching the polarity of electrical current clearly alleviated the increase of bubble size, when applied before scale growth. Under the control of scale deposition, excellent clarification was observed, with the effluent turbidity consistently lower than 2 NTU. An efficient thickening, with the concentration of return activated sludge higher than 15 g L(-1), was additional advantage of the EF clarifier., (Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this study, electroflotation (EF) has been applied as a secondary clarification in the activated sludge process to improve the efficiency of the solids-liquid separation, which is essential in maintaining effluent quality. The effects of sludge settleability were examined through a series of batch and semi-continuous experiments. The results of the batch experiments revealed that thickening efficiencies using EF were 2.6 to 9.2 times higher than those with gravity settling (GS). In addition, clarification efficiencies were not significantly influenced by sludge settling properties, as compared with GS as a control. In the semi-continuous EF experiments, the concentrations of solids in the float layer were maintained above 10 g L(-1) during flotation, regardless of variations in sludge settleability. Furthermore, the volumetric gas proportion in the float layer increased as the gas to solids (G/S) ratio rose. This allowed the float layer to be more stably suspended against gravity at the top of the reactor. Based on the results obtained from these batch and semi-continuous experiments, an anoxic/oxic (AO) reactor combined with EF clarifier remained in successful continuous operation for four months. In comparison with conventional AO processes using a GS clarifier, enhanced clarification and thickening efficiencies were achieved through the EF-AO system. In addition, higher mixed liquor suspended solids concentrations (averaging 5300 mg L(-1)) in the bioreactor (EF-AO) were maintained via the return of highly concentrated sludge (averaging 16,400 mg L(-1)) from the EF clarifier. These findings suggest that EF could be a promising and effective alternative for the solids-liquid separation of poorly settling sludge.

An automated image analysis procedure was developed to determine extended filaments length and floc area to evaluate settling characteristics of activated sludge. Digitized image obtained by Gram staining granted the first step of algorithm, segmentation, to be extremely clear and simple. The image analysis work could become more accurate and less time consuming one to be required only 1 minute of operation time per image. Filamentous bulking phenomenon of the biological sludge was induced in a laboratory-scale bioreactor system under an extreme operational condition, and the non-bulking and filamentous bulking sludge samples captured were examined with image analysis as well as traditional settling test. There existed a linear relationship between DSVI (Diluted Sludge Volume Index) and the extended filaments length. Similar results were also obtained with the extended filaments per floc area. The arithmetic mean extended filaments length showed an excellent linearity with the DSVI. It is believed that the image analysis algorithm developed in this study can be utilized for estimation of the extended filaments length and for evaluation of the settling characteristics of activated sludge effectively.

The objective of this study is to investigate solids concentration and extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) effects on the membrane fouling in the submerged membrane bioreactor. The relationship between the solids retention time (SRT) and the amount of EPS is observed in three lab-scale MBRs. Additionally, the EPS effect on membrane fouling is quantified by calculating the specific cake resistance (alpha) using an unstirred batch cell test. By observing the sludge over a long period under various SRT scenarios, a wide range of EPS and membrane fouling data is obtained. These observations provide sufficient evidence of the functional relationship between SRT, EPS and alpha. As SRT decreases, the amount of EPS bound in sludge floc becomes higher in the high MLSS condition (> 5,000 mg/L). The amount of EPS in the sludge floc has positive influence on alpha. A sigmoid trend between EPS and alpha is observed and the functional relationship obtained by dimensional analysis is consistent with the experimental results.

An upflow anaerobic reactor operated with a sequencing batch mode to enhance high rate digestion of raw and thermally disintegrated waste activated sludge with formation of granules. The gas production rate doubled when disintegrated waste activated sludge was introduced. Gradual granulation took place and the dispersed particles become coarse granulation as the operation continued. The granular sludge showed relatively higher specific methanogenic activity than the dispersed sludge. Bacterial morphology by a scanning electron microscope showed diversity of bacteria such as filamentous, rod and spherical shape in the section of granules. Filamentous bacteria, which might support the frame of a granule, were observed as long chains at the outer surface. Meanwhile, rod and spherical bacteria, which might play a role in the initial stage of granule formation, were observed from the inner surface of the granule. High rate digestion of sludge along with efficient liquid-solids separation was achieved due mainly to development of sludge granules within the upflow reactor.

Food waste can be a valuable carbon source in biological nutrient removal (BNR) systems because of the high C/N and C/P ratio. However, pretreatment is necessary to promote hydrolysis of food waste because of the high concentration of volatile solids associated with organic matter. The influence of the enzymatic pretreatment on acid fermentation of food waste was investigated in this study. Solubilization of particulate matter in food waste was carried out using commercial enzymes. The acidification efficiency and the volatile fatty acid (VFA) production potential of enzymatically pretreated food waste were examined. The highest volatile suspended solid (VSS) reduction was obtained with an enzyme mixture ratio of 1:2:1 for carbohydrase: protease: lipase. An optimum enzyme dosage for solubilization of food waste was 0.1% (V/V) with the enzyme mixture ratio of 1:2:1. In the acid fermentation of enzymatically pretreated food waste, the maximum VFA production and the highest VFA fraction in soluble COD (SCOD) were also achieved at 0.1% (V/N) of total enzyme dosage. Increase in VFA production at this level of enzyme dosage was over 300% compared with the control fermenter. The major form of VFA produced by fermentation was n-butyrate followed by acetate.

Effects of humus soil particles on the dewaterability of activated sludge were investigated. Cations leaching increased proportionally with the dosage of humus soil, and the leaching was not significant after 2 h. Divalent cations, Ca2+ and Mg2+, leaching from the humus soil played an important role in improving dewaterability of the biological sludge. On the contrary, dewaterability was not affected or slightly deteriorated by the monovalent cations, K+ and Na+ leached from the humus soil. Improvement in dewaterability of the sludge by addition of humus soil was higher than that of equivalent cations mixture. It seemed that the decrease of supracolloidal bio-particles (1 to 100 microm in diameter) resulted in diminishing of the blinding effect on cake and filter medium. SRF (specific resistance to filtration) of the humus soil added sludge varied in parallel with the M/D (monovalent to divalent cation) ratio, and the M/D ratio could be utilized as a useful tool for evaluation of the sludge dewatering characteristics. Long-term effects of humus soil on the improvement of activated sludge dewaterability were clearly identified by continuous operation results of a bench-scale MLE (Modified Ludzack Ettinger) system combined with a humus soil contactor. On the other hand, dewaterability of the control sludge was only slightly improved by a decrease in M/D ratio of the wastewater influent.

Laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the performance of an anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (ASBR) process for night soil treatment. Performances of the reactors were evaluated at an equivalent hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 10 days with an equivalent loading rate of 2.6 kgVS/m3/d (3.1 kgCOD/m3/day) at 35 degrees C. Digestion of a night soil was possible using the ASBR at an HRT of 10 days in spite of high concentration of ammonia nitrogen and settleable solids. Solids were accumulated rapidly in the ASBRs, and their concentrations were 2.3-2.4 times higher than that in a completely mixed control reactor. Remarkable increases in gas production were observed in the ASBRs compared with the control reactor. Average increases in equivalent daily gas production from the ASBRs were 205-220% compared with that from the control run. The ASBR with reaction period/thickening period ratio (R/T ratio) of 1 showed a little higher gas production and organic removal efficiency than that with R/T ratio of 3. Volatile solids removals based on supernatant of the ASBRs were 12-14% higher than that of the control reactor. Thus, the ASBR was a stable and effective process for the treatment of night soil having high concentration of settleable organics and ammonia nitrogen.