New concepts on carbon redirection in wastewater treatment plants: A review
I Sancho1, S Lopez-Palau2, N Arespacochaga2
1Chemical Engineering Department and Barcelona Research Center for Multiscale Science and Engineering, UPCBarcelonaTECH, C/ Eduard Maristany, 10-14 (Campus Diagonal-Besòs), 08930 Barcelona, Spain; CETAQUA, Centro Tecnológico del Agua, Carretera d'Esplugues 75, 08940 Cornellà de Llobregat, Spain.
Abstract:
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are no longer considered pollution removal systems but rather resources (nutrients and energy) recovery plants. Legislation imposing more stringent effluent requirements and the need energy self-sufficient or even energy-positive plants are the main drivers for the research and development of new WWTP configurations. While a lot of effort has been focused on developing new processes for nutrient recovery, limited efforts have been allocated to maximizing energy recovery from the organic load. Within this context, high-rate activated sludge (HRAS) is the most promising alternative technology to redirect carbon (organic compounds) towards energy as biogas. This is a critical review of the last decade's development of new alternatives for carbon redirection to improve the energy balance of WWTPs on both the laboratory and the industrial scale.
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