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The effect of disk rotational speed on oxygen transfer in rotating biological contactors
1Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica Materiali Ambiente, Università di Roma La Sapienza, Roma, Italy. luca.dipalma@uniroma1.it
Abstract:
Lab-scale experiments using a synthetic wastewater were carried out to assess the influence of disk rotational speed on oxygen transfer rate in a RBC unit in the presence of biomass. The overall oxygen transfer coefficient (K(L)a) was computed. Five different disk rotational speeds were tested, in the typical RBC operating range (3-10 RPM). The soluble organic substrate was monitored through TOC analysis. Influent hydraulic organic loadings were in the range of 5.4-35.2 g TOC/m(2)d. The set of kinetic coefficients calculated fitting the experimental data by the selected model resulted in good agreement with the value reported in literature. A correlation for K(L)a as a function of disk rotational speed and disk diameter was obtained. Accordingly, a new expression of the enhancement factor of oxygen transfer was found, and compared to literature data.
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