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Optimizing nutrient removal of moving bed biofilm reactor process using response surface methodology
Fares Almomani1, Rahul R Bohsale1
1Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Qatar University, P. O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar.
Bioresource Technology
|February 29, 2020
Summary
A three-stage wastewater treatment process, including a moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR), effectively removes organic matter and nutrients. Optimized conditions achieved over 95% removal of COD, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Engineering
- Water Treatment Technologies
- Bioreactor Design
Background:
- Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) require efficient methods for removing organic matter and nutrients.
- Secondary effluents often contain residual pollutants necessitating advanced treatment.
- Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) technology offers potential for enhanced biological treatment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate a three-stage anaerobic, anoxic, and MBBR process for organic matter and nutrient removal.
- To optimize the process performance based on hydraulic retention time (HRT) and nitrate recycle ratio (R).
- To evaluate the efficiency of MBBR in treating secondary WWTP effluents.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a three-stage treatment system: anaerobic, anoxic, and MBBR.
- Investigated various hydraulic retention times (HRT) and nitrate recycle ratios (R).
- Employed response surface methodology (RSM) for optimization of total nitrogen (%TNremoval) and phosphorus (%TPremoval) removal.
Main Results:
- Achieved high removal efficiencies under optimized conditions (HRTtotal = 12.8 hr, R = 1.5): 95.5% for chemical oxygen demand (%CODremoval), 96.2% for total nitrogen (%TNremoval), and 94.70% for total phosphorus (%TPremoval).
- The MBBR effectively reduced organic matter and nutrients at low HRT and R.
- %TNremoval improved with increased HRTR2 up to 1.5 h at R ≤ 2.
- Biofilm characteristics remained stable, with minor thickness reduction due to shear stress.
Conclusions:
- The investigated three-stage process, incorporating MBBR, is highly effective for removing organic matter and nutrients from secondary WWTP effluents.
- Optimized operational parameters significantly enhance treatment efficiency.
- The process demonstrates superior performance compared to suspended growth systems and is comparable to more complex multi-stage MBBR configurations.
