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Bio-carrier and operating temperature effect on ammonia removal from secondary wastewater effluents using moving bed
Amal Ashkanani1, Fares Almomani1, Majeda Khraisheh1
1Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Qatar University, P.O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar.
Abstract:
This study investigates the impact of bio-carriers' surface area and shape, wastewater chemistry and operating temperature on ammonia removal from real wastewater effluents using Moving bed biofilm reactors (MBBRs) operated with three different AnoxKaldness bio-carriers (K3, K5, and M). The study concludes the surface area loading rate, specific surface area, and shape of bio-carrier affect ammonia removal under real conditions. MBBR kinetics and sensitivity for temperature changes were affected by bio-carrier type. High surface area bio-carriers resulted in low ammonia removal and bio-carrier clogging. Significant ammonia removals of 1.420 ± 0.06 and 1.103 ± 0.06 g - N/m2. d were achieved by K3(As = 500 m2/m3) at 35 and 20 °C, respectively. Lower removals were obtained by high surface area bio-carrier K5 (1.123 ± 0.06 and 0.920 ± 0.06 g - N/m2. d) and M (0.456 ± 0.05 and 0.295 ± 0.05 g - N/m2. d) at 35 and 20 °C, respectively. Theta model successfully represents ammonia removal kinetics with θ values of 1.12, 1.06 and 1.13 for bio-carrier K3, K5 and M respectively. MBBR technology is a feasible choice for treatment of real wastewater effluents containing high ammonia concentrations.
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