The objective of this study was to determine if an organic media attached growth bioreactor could effectively be used as a means of odor control for swine waste. The pilot-scale attached growth bioreactor system was evaluated against a standard pit recharge system, which served as the control. Performance was based on water quality testing, odor assessments by a human sensory panel, and air phase measurements of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide. The affect of aeration on the system was also evaluated, along with various types of organic media (kenaf, hardwood mulch, and corncobs). Overall, the bioreactor systems were effective in reducing orthophosphate, COD, volatile acids, and phenol concentrations as compared to the control. The bioreactor systems were not effective in reducing the conductivity, ammonia or total solids concentration of the wastewater. With the exception of the corncob media, all bioreactor systems significantly reduced the overall odor intensity and the fecal characteristic of the wastewater as compared to the control system.

Small towns that operate wastewater treatment lagoons struggle to meet ammonia limits in cold weather. Here we report the performance of a lagoon, retrofitted with submerged attached-growth reactors (SAGRsTM), to provide insight on ammonia effluent compliance and optimal SAGR sizing as functions of water temperature. The lagoon-SAGR water resource recovery facility (WRRF) removed 95% of incoming ammonia with 94% attributable to the SAGRs. The high treatment capacity of the two primary SAGRs, evidenced by nearly continuous dissolved oxygen saturation and exceedingly high ammonia removals, suggested the two secondary SAGRs were essentially unnecessary and that all four SAGRs should be reduced in size. Furthermore, without the secondary SAGRs, the primary SAGR effluent would have exceeded the permitted ammonia discharge limit only four times in the 2.5 year study. At its current size, the lagoon-SAGR WRRF never exceeded permitted ammonia limits, but size reductions should be used for future retrofits. To further understand cold-weather ammonia removal in the lagoon-SAGR WRRF, we investigated the effect of increased ammonia loading on biomass and the effect of biofilms on microbial abundance. When ammonia loading to the SAGRs was increased in the fall, the lagoon-SAGR WRRF never exceeded its ammonia permit limit, the kinetic coefficients were maintained (0.5-0.8 d-1) and the NH3 removal rates improved (0.25 kg d-1 in baseline loading to 0.45 kg d-1) despite a large temperature decrease (25 °C to < 16 °C). In the biofilm, ammonia-oxidizing archaea abundance was 10 times greater than the ammonia-oxidizing bacteria abundance suggesting the potential importance of ammonia oxidizing archaea in biofilm mediated systems. Additionally, the ammonia and nitrite transforming microbes in the SAGRs had a diverse range of dissolved oxygen affinities and were more abundant in the biofilm in comparison to the wastewater. Anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria were abundant in the biofilm even though the film constantly interacted with high dissolved oxygen. We found that two components of a successful lagoon-SAGR WRRF were increased biomass in the SAGRs before cold-weather due to elevated ammonia loading and diverse oxygen affinities in the microbes related to ammonia removal.

Waste Stabilisation Ponds (WSPs) are a relatively simplistic and non-intensive wastewater treatment technology; with various WSP configurations widely employed to treat a range of different wastewaters the world over. Whilst the advantages of WSP treatment are both numerous and well recognized, performance problems relating to the presence of occasionally large and unpredictable quantities of plankton (both algal and zooplankton) biomass in the final pond effluents have posed significant operational problems for WSP operators; with this suspended biomass representing the single biggest drawback associated with the technology. Research conducted during this project was concerned with assessing a selection of so-called ‘advanced’ in-pond treatment processes for the upgrading or polishing of a final WSP effluent. The particular research emphasis was on the removal of problematic algal and zooplankton biomass from WSP effluent prior to Dissolved Air Flotation/Filtration (DAF/F) treatment and wastewater reuse at the Bolivar Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) north of Adelaide. The in situ WSP upgrade systems assessed in this thesis were: the native floating plant ‘Duckweed’ (DW); ‘Rock Filters’ (RFs); and an artificial ‘Attached-Growth Media’ (AGM); all of which were assessed for their relative treatment efficacies parallel to a non-interventional ‘Open Pond’ (OP) system which served as an effective control. These performance comparisons were assessed on a pilot-scale using a custom made pilot treatment plant which was located at the Bolivar WWTP. Performance monitoring was periodically carried out over a 12 month period from July 2005–August 2006, with algal and zooplankton populations monitored in addition to the more conventional wastewater quality parameters. Results from pilot plant investigations demonstrated that of the four pilot upgrade series, the RF and AGM systems displayed the greatest treatment potential in terms of both the magnitude and reliability of suspended solids, algal and zooplankton biomass removals. The DW system was also shown to be at least as effective and in some instances significantly more advanced than the uncovered OP system in terms of its ability to significantly improve the final effluent quality of the Bolivar WSPs. Both the RF and AGM upgrades (and to a lesser degree also the DW system) were found to offer considerable potential for producing a higher quality WSP effluent for more efficient processing by the Bolivar DAF/F plant; although there were various operational advantages and disadvantages as well as varying capital establishment costs associated with each of the candidate technologies. This part of the research represented the first direct performance comparison between two popular pond upgrade technologies (i.e. RFs and DW) and also constituted the first assessment of a novel AGM for the upgrading of tertiary-level WSP effluent. In addition to this, results from ecological performance monitoring also provided the first detailed insights into algal and zooplankton population dynamics within these WSP upgrade environments. In addition to these pilot-scale WSP upgrade performance investigations, another branch of the research project investigated additional research questions regarding the survival of algal cells within these pond upgrade environments. A series of laboratory experiments attempted to recreate the in situ conditions (in terms of light and oxygen availability) that might exist within the adopted upgrade environments. Using two common WSP algal species, long-term monitoring of the physiological status of phytoplankton cells during prolonged dark-exposure under conditions of reduced oxygen availability was performed in order to assess the likely effects of these particular environmental conditions on their survival potential in situ. Results from these laboratory-based experiments showed that both algal species were capable of quickly adjusting their cellular metabolism in response to dark incubation. Results also showed that a reduced environmental oxygen concentration (25% of saturation) had no bearing on the ability of either Chlorella or Chlamydomonas species to withstand long-term dark-exposure; with both species retaining what was essentially full biological viability following up to two months of continuous dark-exposure. In an applied context, these results suggested that subjecting algal cells to conditions of simultaneous darkness and reduced oxygen availability would be expected to have no significant adverse effects on algal survivorship within an advanced in-pond upgrade system such as a duckweed-covered WSP, a rock filter or an AGM system.

No description available.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T12:09:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 3492986 bytes, checksum: cb918a3cba1ca29e84bfc06dbb5b6d70 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-27 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The efficiency of removal of the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS) and volatile suspended solid (SSV) were studied in two anaerobic reactors which received semi-settled effluent (flow limited around 3.2 times the average flow) of a septic tank, one being adhered growth (R1, with bed of gravel Nº. 4) and the other dispersed growth (R3 without support material for microbial growth). This system was installed in the University Residence at UFPB in João Pessoa-PB. The treated sewage came from two bathrooms that catered to a theoretical population of 4 inhabitants. Eleven samples of the effluent from the septic tank and the effluent from the reactors 1 and 3 were performed in the period between 28/02/2013 and 10/12/2013. The temperature and pH of the reactors were presented in the range 24.5 to 28.1 ° C and 7.3 to 8.1, respectively. Those values are from the anaerobic treatment of household sewage. The BOD5 removal efficiencies (32.8 and 27.1% in R1 and R3, respectively), COD (43.4 and 33.0% in R1 and R3, respectively), SST (56.2 and 48.0% in R1 and R3, respectively) and VSS (54.7 and 46.2% in R1 and R3, respectively) were high. It demonstrates a good applicability of these low-cost housing units which are devoid of collective sewage system in the reduction of pollution load released in water bodies systems. An analysis of variance showed no significant difference of 5% between the average of the corresponding parameters of the two reactors, suggesting that reactor that receives discharges from the attenuation peaks, there is no need of support means, which may represent a reduction in costs involved. / Estudou-se a eficiência de remoção de demanda bioquímica de oxigênio (DBO5), demanda química de oxigênio (DQO), sólidos suspensos totais (SST) e sólidos suspensos voláteis (SSV) em dois reatores anaeróbios que recebiam efluentes semi-regularizados (vazão limitada a algo em torno de 3,2 vezes a vazão média) de um tanque séptico, sendo um deles de crescimento aderido (R1, com leito de brita n°4) e o outro de crescimento disperso (R3, sem material suporte para crescimento microbiano). Este sistema foi instalado na Residência Universitária da UFPB, em João Pessoa-PB. O esgoto a ser tratado era proveniente de dois banheiros que atendiam a uma população teórica de 4 habitantes. Foram realizadas 11 coletas do efluente do tanque séptico e dos efluentes dos reatores 1 e 3, no período compreendido entre 28/02/2013 e 10/12/2013. A temperatura e o pH nos reatores se apresentaram na faixa 24,5 - 28,1 °C e 7,3 - 8,1, respectivamente, valores estes, propícios ao tratamento anaeróbio de esgotos domiciliares. As eficiências de remoção de DBO5 (32,8 e 27,1%, em R1 e R3, respectivamente), DQO (43,4 e 33,0%, em R1 e R3, respectivamente), SST (56,2 e 48,0%, em R1 e R3, respectivamente) e SSV (54,7 e 46,2%, em R1 e R3, respectivamente) foram elevadas. Isto demonstra a aplicabilidade desses sistemas de baixo custo a unidades habitacionais desprovidas de sistema coletivo de esgotamento sanitário, na redução da carga poluidora lançada em corpos aquáticos. Um teste de análise de variância demonstrou não haver diferenças significativas ao nível de 5% entre as médias dos parâmetros correspondentes nos dois reatores, sugerindo que, para reatores que recebam vazões com atenuação dos picos, não há necessidade do meio suporte, podendo representar diminuição nos custos envolvidos.

Το χρώμιο (Cr) αποτελεί έναν από τους σημαντικότερους ρύπους του φυσικού περιβάλλοντος. Η ευρεία βιομηχανική χρήση του χρωμίου έχει ως αποτέλεσμα την απελευθέρωση μεγάλων ποσοτήτων του μετάλλου στο περιβάλλον κυρίως με τη μορφή του εξασθενούς χρωμίου (Cr(VI)). Το εξασθενές χρώμιο, μία από τις σταθερές μορφές του χρωμίου στο περιβάλλον, είναι ευδιάλυτο, υψηλά τοξικό, καρκινογενές και μεταλλαξιγόνο. Οι σύγχρονες μέθοδοι επεξεργασίας του εξασθενούς χρωμίου χρησιμοποιούν μικροοργανισμούς, στηριζόμενες στη μεταβολική και κυτταρική τους δράση. Πρόκειται για διεργασίες πιο ανταγωνιστικές, αποτελεσματικές και οικονομικές έναντι των συμβατικών φυσικοχημικών μεθόδων (χημική αναγωγή, ανταλλαγή ιόντων, διήθηση, ηλεκτροχημική επεξεργασία, προσρόφηση σε ενεργό άνθρακα, αντίστροφη όσμωση και μεμβράνες) καθώς παρουσιάζουν μικρές ενεργειακές απαιτήσεις, χαμηλό πάγιο και λειτουργικό κόστος και τέλος μικρότερη παραγωγή τοξικής λάσπης. Η βιολογική αναγωγή του εξασθενούς χρωμίου απαιτεί την παρουσία ενός δότη ηλεκτρονίων. Το ρόλο αυτό παίζει ο οργανικός άνθρακας, ο οποίος είναι απαραίτητος για την πραγματοποίηση της διεργασίας αυτής. Στην παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή μελετήθηκε η επεξεργασία υγρών χρωμικών βιομηχανικών αποβλήτων, με ταυτόχρονη εκμετάλλευση/αξιοποίηση αγροτοβιομηχανικών παραπροϊόντων/αποβλήτων (μελάσα - χαμηλού κόστους και ορρός γάλακτος – μηδενικού κόστους), χρησιμοποιώντας βιολογικές μεθόδους. Αρχικά, πραγματοποιήθηκαν πειράματα για τη βελτιστοποίηση του ρυθμού αναγωγής των μεικτών αερόβιων γηγενών καλλιεργειών σε αντιδραστήρες αιωρούμενης ανάπτυξης. Στη συνέχεια χρησιμοποιήθηκε η μεικτή καλλιέργεια για τη μελέτη της βιολογικής αναγωγής του εξασθενούς χρωμίου σε αντιδραστήρες σταθερής κλίνης πιλοτικής κλίμακας με πλαστικό πληρωτικό υλικό, σε διάφορες λειτουργικές συνθήκες, στοχεύοντας στην μέγιστη απόδοση των συστημάτων και την αποφυγή λειτουργικών προβλημάτων. Το βιολογικό σύστημα που χρησιμοποιήθηκε στην παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή, αποτελεί μία πολύ αποτελεσματική μέθοδο επεξεργασίας βιομηχανικών αποβλήτων επιβαρυμένων με το τοξικό εξασθενές χρώμιο, χρησιμοποιώντας οικονομικές πηγές άνθρακα όπως η μελάσα και ο ορρός γάλακτος. Η μέθοδος αυτή είναι πολλά υποσχόμενη, συνδυάζοντας υψηλά ποσοστά απομάκρυνσης με εξαιρετικά χαμηλές δαπάνες λειτουργικού κόστους. / Chromium is one of the most serious pollutants of natural environment. The widespread industrial use of chromium leads to the release of large quantities of this metal in the environment, mainly in the form of hexavalent chromium. The hexavalent chromium, one of the most stable forms that we can notice in the environment, is soluble, highly toxic carcinogenic and mutagenic. Contemporary water processing techniques of hexavalent chromium use micro-organisms, based on their metabolic and cellular activity. These procedures are more competitive, more effective and certainly financially affordable over the conventional physicochemical methods (chemical oxidation or reduction, ion exchange, filtration, electrochemical treatment, activated carbon adsorption, reverse osmosis and membrane technologies) as they show low energy demands, low maintenance cost and a smaller production of toxic mud. The biological reduction of hexavalent chromium requires the presence of an electron donor. This part is covered by organic carbon that is essential for carrying out the process. The present thesis studied the treatment of liquid industrial chromate waste and the exploitation/utilization of agroindustrial byproducts/wastewaters (molasses - low cost and cheese whey- zero cost), using biological methods. At the beginning, experiments were conducted to optimize the reduction rate of mixed aerobic indigenous cultures in suspended growth reactors. Subsequently, the mixed culture was used for the biological reduction of the hexavalent chromium, in laboratory pilot scale fixed bed reactors, with plastic media, in various functional conditions targeting to the maximum system performance and the prevention of functional problems. The biological system used in the present thesis constitutes a very effective method of processing industrial wastewater polluted with the toxic hexavalent chromium, by using affordable sources of carbon, such as molasses and cheese whey. This is a quite promising method, combining high removal rates with extremely low operating expenditure.