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Effect of Operating Parameters and Energy Expenditure on the Biological Performance of Rotating Biological Contactor for Wastewater Treatment

Authors :
Muhammad Irfan
Sharjeel Waqas
Javed Akbar Khan
Saifur Rahman
Izabela Kruszelnicka
Dobrochna Ginter-Kramarczyk
Stanislaw Legutko
Marek Ochowiak
Sylwia Włodarczak
Krystian Czernek
Source :
Energies, Vol 15, Iss 10, p 3523 (2022)
Publication Year :
2022
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2022.

Abstract

The rotating biological contactor (RBC) is resistant to toxic chemical and shock loadings, and this results in significant organic and nutrient removal efficiencies. The RBC system offers a low-energy footprint and saves up to 90% in energy costs. Due to the system’s low-energy demand, it is easily operable with renewable energy sources, either solar or wind power. An RBC was employed to degrade pollutants in domestic wastewater through biodegradation mechanisms in this study. The high microbial population in the RBC bioreactor produced excellent biological treatment capacity and higher effluent quality. The results showed that the RBC bioreactor achieved an average removal efficiency of 73.9% of chemical oxygen demand (COD), 38.3% of total nitrogen (TN), 95.6% of ammonium, and 78.9% of turbidity. Investigation of operational parameters, disk rotational speed, HRT, and SRT, showed the biological performance impact. Disk rotational speed showed uniform effluent quality at 30–40 rpm, while higher values of disk rotational speed (>40 rpm) resulted in lower effluent quality in COD, TN, and turbidity. The longer hydraulic retention time and sludge retention time (SRT) facilitated higher biological performance efficiency. The longer SRTs enabled the higher TN removal efficiency because of the higher quantity of microbial biomass retention. The longer SRT also resulted in efficient sludge-settling properties and reduced volume of sludge production. The energy evaluation of the RBC bioreactor showed that it consumed only 0.14 kWh/m3, which is significantly lower than the conventional treatment methods; therefore, it is easily operable with renewable energy sources. The RBC is promising substitute for traditional suspended growth processes as higher microbial activity, lower operational and maintenance costs, and lower carbon foot print enhanced the biological performance, which aligns with the stipulations of ecological evolution and environment-friendly treatment.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
19961073
Volume :
15
Issue :
10
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Energies
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.05c219ec2fb3489f9bcfa1a129a91703
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/en15103523