Improvement of nitrogen removal and reduction of operating costs in an activated sludge process with feedforward–cascade control strategy

In this paper, a feedforward–cascade controller for dissolved oxygen concentration in an activated sludge process is designed in order to meet stricter effluent quality standards at a minimum cost. Conventional proportional and integral (PI) constant dissolved oxygen set-point control and feedforward–cascade dissolved oxygen set-point control are evaluated using the reduced model of activated sludge model no. 1 and reduced IWA simulation benchmark. The feedforward–cascade control has been based on a hierarchical structure where a high level or cascade control selects the set-point of the low level or conventional controller and low level directly control dissolved oxygen concentration. And feedforward control is introduced in the control system for preventing the influent loading from influencing the system. Simulation results show that feedforward–cascade control of the activated sludge process is more successful than conventional PI control in meeting the effluent standards and reducing operational costs. This control strategy can be expected to be accepted by the operating personnel in wastewater treatment plants.     

Nitrogen removal from slaughterhouse wastewater in a sequencing batch reactor under controlled low DO conditions

The aim of this study was to examine nitrogen removal from slaughterhouse wastewater in a laboratory-scale sequencing batch reactor (SBR) operated at low dissolved oxygen (DO) levels under two aeration strategies: intermittent aeration (IA) and continuous aeration (CA). Under the IA strategy, during the aeration periods, the maximum DO was controlled at 10% saturation; under the CA strategy, in the first hour of the react phase, the DO was maintained at 10% saturation, and then it was kept at 2–3% saturation in the remaining react phase. Total nitrogen removals of up to 95 and 91% were achieved under the IA and CA aeration strategies, respectively. It is proposed that in situ measurement of oxygen utilization rates can be used to control the operation of SBRs for nitrogen removal.     

N-removal performance and underlying bacterial taxa of upflow filter bioreactor system under different dissolved oxygen and internal recycle conditions

Biological N-removal treatment of piggery wastewater in the upflow anaerobic–anoxic–aerobic floating filter (UA³FF) bioreactor based on the concept of nitritation–denitritation was studied along with the changes in internal recycle ratio and dissolved oxygen concentration (DO). Consecutive changes in the recirculation ratio between the anoxic and aerobic reactors has resulted in abundance and composition shifts of N-cycling bacteria as well as other bacterial groups, reflecting different survival strategies across (bio/physico)chemical milieu. The DO concentration was optimized to achieve nitritation in the aerobic reactor and denitritation in the anoxic reactor. Optimal nitritation–denitritation (270 and 130 g NO₂ ⁻–N produced or reduced/m³ filter media/day) was obtained at DO of 1.0–1.5 mg/l, inter-reactor recirculation ratio of 1:1–2:1, HRT of 24 h, pH of 7.6 ± 0.3, and temperature of 28 ± 4 °C. Since only well known nitrifying and denitrifying taxa were found, nitritation–denitritation was likely carried out by these bacteria rather than the yet unidentified novel taxa. Archaeal nitrifiers recently discovered to be important in the global N-cycle were not detected.     

Short-cut nitrification of domestic wastewater in a pilot-scale A/O nitrogen removal plant

The feasibility of nitrite accumulation in a pilot-scale A/O (anoxic/oxic) nitrogen removal plant treating domestic wastewater was investigated at various dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations and pH levels. The results showed that the pH was not a useful operational parameter to realize nitrite accumulation. Significant nitrite accumulation was observed at the low DO concentration range of 0.3–0.8 mg/l and the maximum nitrite accumulation ratio of about 90% occurred at a DO concentration of 0.6 mg/l. This suggests a reduction of 22% in the oxygen consumption, and therefore a considerable saving in aeration. However, the nitrite accumulation was destroyed at the high DO concentration and the resumption was very slow. In addition, the average ammonia removal efficiency reached as high as 93% at the low DO level. Moreover, experimental results indicated that nitrogen could be removed by simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND) via nitrite in the aerobic zones at the low DO concentration, with the efficiency of 6–12%.     

Biological nitrogen removal with nitrification and denitrification via nitrite pathway

Presently, the wastewater treatment practices can be significantly improved through the introduction of new microbial treatment technologies. To meet increasingly stringent discharge standards, new applications and control strategies for the sustainable removal of ammonium from wastewater have to be implemented. Partial nitrification to nitrite was reported to be technically feasible and economically favorable, especially when wastewater with high ammonium concentrations or low C/N ratios is treated. For successful implementation of the technology, the critical point is how to maintain partial nitrification of ammonium to nitrite. Partial nitrification can be obtained by selectively inhibiting nitrite oxidizing bacteria through appropriate regulation of the system’s DO concentration, microbial SRT, pH, temperature, substrate concentration and load, operational and aeration pattern, and inhibitor. The review addressed the microbiology, its consequences for their application, the current status regarding application, and the future developments.     

Efficient COD removal and nitrification in an upflow microaerobic sludge blanket reactor for domestic wastewater

The treatment performance of an upflow microaerobic sludge blanket reactor (UMSB) for synthetic domestic wastewater was investigated at two dissolved oxygen (DO) levels, 0.3–0.5 and 0.7–0.9 mg l⁻¹, focusing on nitrification performance. The higher DO level induced complete nitrification of ammonia nitrogen (NH₃–N), achieving chemical oxygen demand and NH₃–N removals of 97 and 92%, respectively. There were consistently significantly higher nitrate nitrogen (NO₃–N) and nitrite nitrogen (NO₂–N) levels in the effluent, with ~66% of newly-produced oxidised nitrogen as NO₂–N. Despite the high nitrification efficiency, only about 23% of the removed NH₃–N amount from the influent was ultimately transformed into oxidised nitrogen due to the simultaneous nitrification-denitrification. Sludge blanket development and granulation occurred simultaneously in the UMSB.     

Foaming control by automatic carbon source adjustment using an ORP profile in sequencing batch reactors for enhanced nitrogen removal in swine wastewater treatment

Incomplete denitrification and ammonia accumulation were found to cause proliferation of filamentous microorganisms in sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) for swine wastewater treatment. Foaming was observed in response to the accumulation of 115.2 and 12.2 mg/L of nitrate and ammonia, respectively. The mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) level in SBRs was decreased to 2,000 mg/L and the suspended solids in the effluent reached 200 mg/L when foaming appeared. However, the use of swine waste as an external carbon source for enhanced biological nitrogen removal was found to effectively control the foaming caused by filamentous microorganisms. Therefore, an optimum strategy for the addition of swine waste was designed using integrated real-time control to provide pulse input control of slurry based on the “nitrate knee” in the oxidation–reduction potential profile. In this case, the MLSS concentration was maintained at an average value of approximately 7,550 mg/L, while the SS in the effluent was less than 30 mg/L.     

On-line optimization of glutamate production based on balanced metabolic control by RQ

In glutamate fermentations by Corynebacterium glutamicum, higher glutamate concentration could be achieved by constantly controlling dissolved oxygen concentration (DO) at a lower level; however, by-product lactate also severely accumulated. The results of analyzing activities changes of the two key enzymes, glutamate and lactate dehydrogenases involved with the fermentation, and the entire metabolic network flux analysis showed that the lactate overproduction was because the metabolic flux in TCA cycle was too low to balance the glucose glycolysis rate. As a result, the respiratory quotient (RQ) adaptive control based “balanced metabolic control” (BMC) strategy was proposed and used to regulate the TCA metabolic flux rate at an appropriate level to achieve the metabolic balance among glycolysis, glutamate synthesis, and TCA metabolic flux. Compared with the best results of various DO constant controls, the BMC strategy increased the maximal glutamate concentration by about 15% and almost completely repressed the lactate accumulation with competitively high glutamate productivity.     

ADD CONTROL: advanced control solutions for waste water treatment

Instrumentation, control, and automation (ICA) in wastewater treatment enables the improvement of treatment plant performance without structural modifications of the plant. Even for wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) meeting all criteria with respect to effluent concentrations and sludge disposal, ICA can be of interest as it can help to reduce energy consumption and operating costs of the plant. Simulations are a useful and cost-effective tool for designing and evaluating different control strategies. Simulation strategies developed with existing WWTP-specific simulation packages are based on ideal sensor and actuator behavior because signal noise and potential sensor and actuator failures are not considered. Real sensor and actuator behavior including failures, however, needs to be accounted for to ensure robust controller performance despite disturbances in sensor and actuator behavior. The ADD CONTROL project aims to design, implement, and validate a new simulation tool that allows for designing and testing “practical” control solutions. A multi-layer modeling architecture is proposed for the simulation tool to represent the hierarchical architecture for automation and control in full-scale WWTPs, and to separate mathematical modeling of components related to the treatment process from components describing instrumentation and actuation devices, and components related to automation and control. The developed simulation tool is implemented based on the TORNADO framework for modeling and virtual experimentation and the WEST^? product suite.     

Effect of stable weak magnetic field on Cr(VI) bio-removal in anaerobic SBR system

To study the impact of stable weak magnetic field on the Cr(VI) removal efficiency of predominated strains in ASBR system, the choice of the optimum magnetic density and its effect should be considered chiefly. At different magnetic densities, the growth and propagation rates of predominated strains in solid or liquid mediums and their capabilities of removing Cr(VI) were compared. The results showed that the optimum magnetic density was 6.0 mT. To meet the state first-class standard of effluent discharge, it took 2–5 h more in the plant wastewater treatment than in the synthetic wastewater treatment, but the presence of magnetic field made the reaction time up to par to decrease 1 and 2–3 h, respectively, compared with that of the control. The magnetized magnetic powder could improve the sludge sedimentation capability, turbidity of outflow water and efficiency of bio-system.     

UASB/Flash aeration enable complete treatment of municipal wastewater for reuse

A simple, efficient and cost-effective method for municipal wastewater treatment is examined in this paper. The municipal wastewater is treated using an upflow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) reactor followed by flash aeration (FA) as the post-treatment, without implementing aerobic biological processes. The UASB reactor was operated without recycle, at hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 8 h and achieved consistent removal of BOD, COD and TSS of 60-70% for more than 12 months. The effect of FA on UASB effluent post-treatment was studied at different HRT (15, 30 and 60 min) and dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations (low DO = 1-2 mg/L and high DO = 5-6 mg/L). The optimum conditions for BOD, COD and sulfide removal were 30-60 min HRT and high DO concentration inside the FA tank. The final effluent after clarification was characterized by BOD and COD values of 28-35 and 50-58 mg/L, respectively. Sulfides were removed by more than 80%, but the fecal coliform only by ~2 log. The UASB followed by FA is a simple and efficient process for municipal wastewater treatment, except for fecal coliform, enabling water and nutrients recycling to agriculture.     

Anaerobic treatment of wastewater from a food-manufacturing plant with a low concentration of organic matter and regeneration of usable pure water

Wastewater from a food-manufacturing plant with a low concentration of organic matter below 100 mg/l TOC was first treated at 37°C in an anaerobic fluidized-bed reactor (AFBR) or in an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB). The TOC removal efficiency in both reactors decreased from 85% to 65% as the influent TOC concentration decreased from 100 to 35 mg/l at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 6 h. Treatment at an HRT of 4 h resulted in an effluent TOC concentration of 11 to 15 mg/l. The concentration of suspended solids in the effluent could be reduced to 20 mg/l, which corresponded to 7% of that of the influent. The effluent from both reactors was then treated anaerobically in a fixed-bed reactor system. The TOC concentration and optical density (OD) of the effluent from the aerobic treatment were reduced to 5 mg/l and 0.005, respectively, at an HRT of 2 h. When anaerobically or aerobically treated effluent was passed over an activated carbon column, the effluent TOC concentration was reduced to 2 to 3 mg/l. The conductivity of 1.3 mS/cm in raw wastewater, which was not removed through the above treatments, was reduced to 0.001 mS/cm on an ion-exchange resin column. An effluent quality corresponding to that of ultra-pure water for industrial use was finally attained by the treatment in this multi-step system.     

Microbial decolorization of reactive black-5 in a two-stage anaerobic–aerobic reactor using acclimatized activated textile sludge

A two-stage anaerobic–aerobic treatment process based on mixed culture of bacteria isolated from textile dye effluent was used to degrade reactive black 5 dye (RB-5). The anaerobic step was studied in more detail by varying the dye concentration from 100 to 3000 mg l⁻¹. The results showed that major decolorization was achieved during the anaerobic process. The time required for decolorization by > 90% increased as the concentration of the dye increased. It was also found that maintaining dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration below 0.5 mg l⁻¹ and addition of a co-substrate viz., glucose, facilitates anaerobic decolorization reaction remarkably. An attempt was made to identify the metabolites formed in anaerobic process by using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and UV–VIS spectrophotometry. A plate assay was performed for the detection of dominant decolorizing bacteria. Only a few bacterial colonies with high clearing zones (decolorization zones) were found. The results showed that under anaerobic condition RB-5 molecules were reduced and aromatic amines were generated. The aromatic amine metabolite was partly removed in subsequent aerobic bio-treatment. It was possible to achieve more than 90% decolorization and approximately 46% reduction in amine metabolite concentration through two-stage anaerobic–aerobic treatment after a reaction period of 2 days.     

Alginate production by Azotobacter vinelandii DSM576 in batch fermentation

The kinetics of growth and alginate production from glucose in a nitrogen and phosphate-rich medium by Azotobacter vinelandii DSM576 were studied in a laboratory fermenter at pH 7 and 35°C. Batch fermentations were carried out both without control of dissolved oxygen concentration (DO) and at 1, 2, 5 and 10% DO. Although growth was faster at higher DO, maximum biomass concentration was lower. No alginate was produced at 10% DO. Alginate production was faster at 5 and 2% DO but higher alginate concentrations and yields were obtained without DO control. Alginate production was growth-associated at 5% DO, but significant amounts of alginate were produced after growth had stopped at lower DO values. In fermentations without DO control the molecular weight of the polymer reached a maximum (11–17.6 × 10⁴) when specific growth rate was between 0.02 and 0.04 h⁻¹ and residual concentration of ammoniacal nitrogen was between 0.01 and 0.02 g L⁻¹ and then sharply decreased. Received 15 August 1997/ Accepted in revised form 08 January 1998     

Assessing Nitrification and Denitrification in the Seine River and Estuary Using Chemical and Isotopic Techniques

Downstream from metropolitan Paris (France), a large amount of ammonium is discharged into the Seine River by the effluents of the wastewater treatment plant at Achères. To assess the extent of nitrification and denitrification in the water column, concentrations and isotopic compositions of ammonium (δ¹⁵N–NH₄⁺) and nitrate (δ¹⁵N–NO₃⁻, δ¹⁸O–NO₃⁻) were measured during summer low-flow conditions along the lower Seine and its estuary. The results indicated that most of the ammonium released from the wastewater treatment plant is nitrified in the lower Seine River and its upper estuary, but there was no evidence for water-column denitrification. In the lower part of the estuary, however, concentration and isotopic data for nitrate were not consistent with simple mixing between riverine and marine nitrate. A significant departure of the nitrate isotopic composition from what would be expected from simple mixing of freshwater and marine nitrates suggested coupled nitrification and denitrification in the water, in spite of the apparent conservative behavior of nitrate. Denitrification rates of approximately 0.02 mg N/L/h were estimated for this part of the estuary.     

Factors influencing antibiotic resistance burden in municipal wastewater treatment plants

Municipal wastewater treatment plants are recognized reservoirs of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Three municipal wastewater treatment plants differing on the dimensions and bio-treatment processes were compared for the loads of amoxicillin-, tetracycline-, and ciprofloxacin-resistant heterotrophic bacteria, enterobacteria, and enterococci in the raw inflow and in the treated effluents. The sewage received by each plant, in average, corresponded to 85,000 inhabitant equivalents (IE), including pretreated industrial effluents (≤30%) in plant activated sludge, 105,000 IE, including pretreated hospital effluents (≤15%) in plant trickling filter, and 2,000 IE, exclusively of domestic sewage, in plant submerged aerated filter. The presence of pretreated industrial effluents or of pretreated hospital sewage in the raw inflow did not imply significantly higher densities (per milliliter or per IE) of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the raw wastewater. Longer hydraulic residence periods (24 h) corresponded to higher bacterial removal rates than shorter periods (12 and 9 h), although such efficiency did not imply significant average decreases in the antibiotic resistance prevalence of the treated effluent. The bacterial loads in the treated effluent could be ranked according to the treatment efficiency, suggesting that the characteristics of the raw inflow may have less relevance on the quality of the treated wastewater than other aspects, such as the inflow volume, the type of biological treatment, or the hydraulic residence time.     

Fuzzy neural network for the control of high cell density cultivation of recombinant Escherichia coli

A five-layer fuzzy neural network (FNN) was developed for the control of fed-batch cultivation of recombinant Escherichia coli JM103 harboring plasmid pUR 2921. The FNN was believed to represent the membership functions of the fuzzy subsets and to implement fuzzy inference using previous experimental data. This FNN was then used for compensating the exponential feeding rate determined by the feedforward control element. The control system is therefore a feedforward-feedback type. The change in pH of the culture broth and the specific growth rate were used as the inputs to FNN to calculate the glucose feeding rate. A cell density of 84 g DWC/l in the fed-batch cultivation of the recombinant E. coli was obtained with this control strategy. Two different FNNs were then employed before and after induction to enhance plasmid-encoded β-galactosidase production. Before induction the specific growth rate was set as 0.31 h⁻¹, while it was changed to 0.1 h⁻¹ after induction. Compared to when only one FNN was used, the residual glucose concentration could be tightly controlled at an appropriate level by employing two FNNs, resulting in an increase in relative activity of β-galactosidase which was about four times greater. The present investigation demonstrates that a feedforward-feedback control strategy with FNN is a promising control strategy for the control of high cell density cultivation and high expression of a target gene in fed-batch cultivation of a recombinant strain.     

Dynamic simulation of a WWTP operated at low dissolved oxygen condition by integrating activated sludge model and a floc model

While an aeration tank in an activated sludge process is often operated with high dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration to ensure organic degradation and nitrification, it may be operated at low DO concentration to reduce energy consumption and achieve desired denitrification. The ASM1 (Activated Sludge Model No. 1) can be used to describe the activated sludge process if the nitrification and denitrification occur either during different phases or in different tanks, but it may encounter problems in simulating the denitrification phenomenon caused by low DO concentration in the aeration tank. In the present work, we developed a model integrating the ASM1 kinetics and a biofloc model to account for the actual anoxic and aerobic rates. Oxygen was assumed the only substrate of both bio-kinetically and flux limiting in the flocs and its dispersion coefficient was estimated as 1.2 × 10⁻⁴ m² day⁻¹ by using a set of measured effluent qualities of a full-scale wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) operating at low DO concentration (∼0.80 mg L⁻¹) for 60 days. Simulation studies predicted the optimal DO level of 0.36 mg L⁻¹ which would lead to minimum total nitrogen of 15.7 mg N L⁻¹ and also showed the insignificance of the addition of carbon source for nitrogen removal for the operation under study. The developed model may be helpful for process engineers to predict the plant behaviors under various configurations or operating strategies.     

On-line load monitoring of wastewaters with a respirographic microbial sensor

This paper demonstrates the functionality, laboratory testing and field application of a microbial sensor that is capable of monitoring the organic pollution extent of wastewaters both off-line in a laboratory and on-line in a wastewater treatment plant. The biosensor was first developed in the laboratory using synthetic wastewater and then applied to monitor the effluent of the unit. The basic working principle of the biosensor is based on the on-line measurement of CO2 concentration in the off gas produced during carbon compound degradation by microbial respiration activities. CO2 concentration under operation conditions (constant oxygen flow rate, residence time and pH) is closely related to the extent of organic pollution (biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand). CO2 monitoring is carried out by an infrared spectrometer, whereas current organic pollution is determined off-line according to the conventional 5-day lasting BOD analysis. Off gas analysis of CO2 concentration strongly correlates with off-line biochemical oxygen demand measurements allowing continuous on-line monitoring of the organic load within a wastewater treatment plant. Thus, real time process control and operation become feasible.     

Comparative study on the influence of dissolved oxygen control approaches on the microbial hyaluronic acid production of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Streptococcus zooepidemicus</Emphasis>

Three different dissolved oxygen (DO) control approaches were proposed to improve hyaluronic acid (HA) production: a three-stage agitation speed control approach, a two-stage DO control approach, and an oxygen vector perfluorodecalin (PFC) applied approach. In the three-stage agitation speed control approach, agitation speed was 200 rpm during 0–8 h, 400 rpm during 8–12 h, and 600 rpm during 12–20 h. In the two-stage DO control strategy, DO was controlled at above 10% during 0–8 h and at 5% during 8–20 h. In the PFC applied approach, PFC (3% v/v) was added at 8 h. HA production reached 5.5 g/L in the three-stage agitation speed control culture model, and 6.3 g/L in two-stage DO control culture model, and 6.6 g/L in the PFC applied culture model. Compared with the other two DO control approaches, the PFC applied approach had a lower shear stress and thus a higher HA production was achieved.