Investigation on Simultaneous Nitrification/Denitrification and Fouling of an Aerobic Granular Membrane Airlift Bioreactor Ms. V. Prashanthini May 14, 2008 Environmental Engineering and Management School of Environment, Resource and Development

Thesis Competition 2/16 Contents Background Objectives of the Study Contribution to the field Results and Discussion

Thesis Competition 3/16 Background Aerobic Granulation + Membrane Technology Conventional Treatments Membrane Technology - Not good effluent quality - High retention time - Large area requirement -Good effluent quality - Small area requirement - Fouling - Expensive -Good effluent quality - Small area requirement - Low fouling -Good settling of sludge

Thesis Competition What is Aerobic granule ? Will form thin biofilm layer The growth of micro organisms like Rotifers, protozoa, nematodes Which will lead to formation of initial granules Shell Carrier Seed Sludge 4/16

Thesis Competition Stage 1 the anoxic zone will be introduced in the core of the granules Once the granule become big and mature Bulk Liquid DO Distance Concentration Anoxic Aerobic 5/16

Thesis Competition Stage 2 With long sludge retention time Finally, anaerobic zone will cause cell breakage Bulk Liquid DO Distance Concentration Anaerobic Aerobic Anoxic due to limited diffusion of substrate and oxygen into the core 6/16

Thesis Competition Why Aerobic Granular Sludge ? 7/16 Activated SludgeGranular Sludge Aerobically treated Nitrification only Low biomass Can treat low organic loading Weak settling ability (SVI = 150 mL/g) Both aerobic and anoxic zone exists Simultaneous nitrification/ denitrification (SND) High biomass due to compact structure Can treat high organic loading Excellent settling ability (SVI = 22 mL/g)

Thesis Competition 8/16 3.To study the membrane fouling behavior of membrane by sending the granulation supernatant through MABR system Objectives of the Research 1.To study the simultaneous nitrification and denitrification in MABR 2.To study the organic and nitrogen removal patterns in the batch granulation MABR system Page 2

Thesis Competition 9/16 SBAR MABR Aerobic Granular Membrane Airlift Bioreactor

Thesis Competition 10/16 What is MABR ? When the water 1 When the water 2 MBR 1 2 MABR Aerobic Condition in the reactor Nitrification Aerobic Condition in the reactor Denitrification Anoxic Condition in the reactor

Thesis Competition 11/16 Results and Discussion Sludge Characteristics ParameterUnitMABR Sludge Granular Sludge Conventional MBR Sludge * MLSSmg/L SVImL/g CSTs Settling Velocitym/s< 10140<10 Sizemm * Source : Munasinghe (2008) Page 61 SVI M > SVI G Excellent settling of Granular Sludge

Thesis Competition 12/16 Results and Discussion Organic and Nitrogen Removal ParameterUnitSBARMABRAGMABRConventional MBR* TOC % mgTOC/gVSS.h TN % mgTN/gVSS.h Denitrification % mgDN/gVSS.h MLVSS mgVSS/L AGMABR Showed better removal than Conventional MBR * Source : Munasinghe (2008) Page 63 Limiting factors: Granule size & Electron donor

Thesis Competition 13/16 Results and Discussion Fouling Behavior AGMABR can treat high OLR with low fouling OLR of AGMABR is 2 fold higher than MBR Page 45 Air flow rate in MBR was 2.2 fold higher than MABR

Thesis Competition 14/16 Benefits of MABR Membrane Bioreactor Membrane Airlift Bioreactor Aerobic zone only High aeration Requirement (9.6 m 3 /m 2.h) Nitrification only Direct contact with substrate (High MLSS) Fouling frequency 70 days with OLR 2.4 kgCOD/m 3.d Both aerobic and anoxic zones Low aeration Requirement (4.2 m 3 /m 2.h) Simultaneous nitrification/ denitrification (SND) No direct contact with substrate (Low MLSS) Fouling frequency 70 days with OLR 4 kgCOD/m 3.d

Thesis Competition Contribution to the Field An efficient treatment system for high organic and nitrogen strength wastewaters with,  High removal efficiency  Small land requirement  Low fouling  Low energy requirement Which creates an attractive alternative option for the water reuse 15/16

Thesis Competition 16/16