Denitrification rate and carbon source consumption in full-scale wastewater filtration

In response to new demands for increased removal of nitrogen and phosphorus, the Henriksdal and Bromma treatment plants, with hydraulic loads of 283,000 and 148,000 m3/d, respectively, built filtration steps as a final process step in the plants. The denitrification rates in a full-scale and in a pilot plant filter are calculated to 13.1 and 21.3 g (NO3+NO2)-N/(m3 x h), respectively, in the total filter bed after 2.5-24.2 and 16.0-28.0 h of operational time, and 6.4 and 18.7 g (NO3+NO2)-N/(m3 x h), respectively, after 1.0 and 0.1-0.9 h of operational time. In composite samples, the denitrification rate in the total filter bed is 10-20 g (NO3+NO2)-N/(m3 x h) in the full-scale filter. The average values for k = deltaCODf/deltaC(T) are 1.6 and around 3 in the total filter bed in steady state and in the beginning of the experiments, respectively, both in the full-scale and in the pilot plant study. The carbon source costs for reducing the concentration of nitrate nitrogen in the Bromma plant from 12 to 8 mg/l in the effluent are 117,400 EUR and 147,400 EUR with methanol and ethanol, respectively, as a carbon source.