Novel process for organic wastewater treatment using aerobic composting technology: Shifting from pollutant removal...

In this study, an organic wastewater treatment process based on aerobic composting technology was developed in order to explore the transition of wastewater treatment from pollutants removal to resource recovery. The novelty of the process focuses towards the microbial metabolic heat that is often ignored during the composting, and taking advantage of this heat for wastewater evaporation to achieve zero-discharge treatment. Meanwhile, this process can retain the wastewater's nutrients in the composting substrate to realize the recovery of resources. This study determined the optimum condition for the process (initial water content of 50 %, C/N ratio of 25:1, ventilation rate of 3 m³/h), and 69.9 % of the total heat generated by composting was used for wastewater treatment under the condition. The HA/FA ratio of composting substrate increased from 0.07 to 0.53 after wastewater treatment, and the retention ratio of TOC and TN was 52.3 % and 61.7 %, respectively, which proved the high recycling value of the composting products. Thermoduric and thermophilic bacteria accounted for 44.3 % of the community structure at the maturation stage, which played a pivotal role in both pollutant removal and resource recovery.