The SAPPI Ngodwana mill is the largest integrated pulp and paper mill in Africa and is situated in the Elands River catchment in the Mpumalanga province. A need has arisen at the mill to reduce effluent volumes requiring discharge. The combined mill effluent is currently irrigated onto pastures and over the years percolation of attenuated effluent has resulted in elevated chloride levels in the Elands River. Elevated chloride levels in the river have in turn impacted on the tobacco farmers downstream of the mill. Reclamation of Kraft Liner Board effluent was identified as a means of reducing the hydraulic load onto the irrigation pastures and at the same time reduce the intake of fresh water into the mill. Two possible uses for the reclaimed effluent, namely washing of bleached or unbleached pulp, were identified. The major reclaimed water quality variables of concern for re-use are; biodegradable organic material, colour and suspended solids. Approximately 9 months of pilot-scale activated sludge treatment of the effluent demonstrates that sufficient organic material can be removed for re-use, as wash water. Removal of the organic material was not influenced by sludge age in the range 2 to 8 days. A high degree of colour removal was achieved, which is contrary to reports in the literature. Even with the high colour removal achieved, however, insufficient colour was removed to allow washing of bleached pulp. Pulp and paper effluents are often reported to result in filamentous bulking activated sludges. This was confirmed in the testwork. Severe sludge settleability problems were experienced throughout the pilot-scale testwork. Filamentous bulking was identified as the cause of poor sludge settleability and preventative or control strategies would have to be implemented on full-scale. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Chemical Engineering / unrestricted

Por razões técnicas e ambientais, o lodo gerado no tratamento de águas para abastecimento público deve ser adequadamente tratado antes de ser disposto no meio ambiente. Uma alternativa é a disposição do lodo de ETA em ETE, o que dispensa a implantação da linha de tratamento do lodo na ETA. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar os impactos ocorridos na ETE ABC, estação de lodos ativados convencional operada pela SABESP, devido ao recebimento do lodo da ETA Rio Grande. Trata-se de caso particular, pois envolve instalações reais, e pelo fato de a ETA apresentar vazão próxima de três vezes a vazão da ETE (vazão de lodo corresponde a 0,1% da vazão da ETE). Os dados utilizados incluem variáveis de qualidade do efluente (DBO, DQO, SST, SSV, nitrogênio amoniacal e total, fósforo e ferro) e do lodo (sólidos), e parâmetros operacionais das unidades da ETE (vazões, taxas de aplicação superficial e de sólidos, idade do lodo, tempo de detenção, entre outros). Foi possível analisar o processo de tratamento na ETE e comparar seu desempenho entre dois períodos: controle (anos de 2005 e 2006) e com lodo (janeiro de 2007 a março de 2008). Nestes períodos, a ETE operou com 50% de sua capacidade (taxas de aplicação abaixo dos valores de projeto), idade do lodo de 4 dias e taxa de reciclo em torno de 80%. No período com lodo, as variáveis que apresentaram maior aumento de concentração no esgoto afluente foram SST, SSV, fósforo e ferro; o lodo da ETA contribuiu para maiores eficiências de tratamento da fase líquida na ETE, uma vez que houve a manutenção da qualidade do efluente final, nos níveis exigidos pela legislação, mesmo com o aumento das concentrações afluentes. Este aumento de eficiência foi mais acentuado para o fósforo (de 52% para 88%), e maior no tratamento primário, com variações nos parâmetros operacionais que não influíram negativamente no desempenho das unidades. No tratamento de lodo, o maior impacto causado foi o aumento na produção final de lodo (de 50 t/d para 76 t/d). Tais conclusões são então favoráveis ao lançamento de lodos de ETA convencional em ETE de lodos ativados convencional, mesmo nos casos em que a vazão tratada na ETA exceda em muito a vazão da ETE. / For technical and environmental reasons, sludge from water treatment plants should be properly treated before being discharged into the environment. An emerging practice is the disposal of such sludge in WWTP, an alternative that does not require the installation of sludge treatment facilities in the WTP. The main purpose of this research was to study the impacts at the ABC WWTP, an activated sludge process facility operated by SABESP and located in São Paulo, Brazil, due to receiving sludge from the Rio Grande WTP, also located in the same region. It is a particular case due to the fact that the WTP provides a flow of three times the flow treated in the WWTP (sludge flow is 0,1% of WWTP flow). The used data include effluent quality variables (BOD, COD, TSS, VSS, ammonia and total nitrogen, phosphorus and iron), sludge (solids) and WWTP units operational parameters (flow, surface and solid application rates, sludge retention time, hydraulic detention time, among others). It was possible to analyze the treatment process at the WWTP and compare its performance between two periods: control (years 2005 and 2006) and with sludge (from January 2007 to March 2008). In these periods, the WWTP worked with half of its capacity (all loading rates stayed below design values), sludge retention time of 4 days and recycle rate around 80%. In the with sludge period, the quality variables with the highest inflow concentration increase were TSS, VSS, phosphorus and iron. During the same period, the WTP sludge contributed to greater efficiencies in the WWTP treatment process, since the effluent quality was maintained under levels legally required, even with the increase of influent concentrations. This fact is mostly evident in the case of phosphorus (from 52% to 88%), and higher in primary treatment, with changes in operational parameters that did not adversely affect the units performances. In solid phase treatment, the most important impact was the increase in final sludge production (from 50 t/d to 76 t/d). These conclusions are then favorable to the disposal of sludge from conventional WTP in an activated sludge WWTP, even in cases in which the flow treated in the WTP far exceeds the WWTP flow.

Environmental releases of chemical compounds from Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) are receiving growing attention in the scientific community. Most research suggests that the main pathway for these substances to reach the environment is via Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) due to the effluents from households, industry and hospitals, which can contain substantial amounts of these compounds. Many of these contaminants are poorly treated in conventional WWTPs and are often discharged into the environment with the effluent and sludge, posing ecotoxicological risks to the wildlife and humans. Therefore, it is necessary to limit their release into the environment by controlling their discharge from WWTPs. This can be achieved by adopting advanced wastewater treatment techniques, currently not used as there are no legislative limits on PPCP compounds. However, as the scientific evidence is growing on their adverse impacts, it is only a matter of time before their advanced treatment becomes compulsory. To help guide future developments and inform policy in this area, this work considered a range of advanced treatment techniques with the aim of identifying the most sustainable options. Adopting a life cycle approach and considering all three dimensions of sustainability (economic, environmental and social), nine technologies were assessed on sustainability: four for WWTP effluent and five for sludge treatment. The advanced wastewater treatment methods considered are: (i) granular activated carbon, (ii) nanofiltration, (iii) solar photo-Fenton, and (iv) ozonation. The sludge treatment techniques comprise: (i) anaerobic digestion of sludge for agricultural application; (ii) sludge composting, also for agricultural application; (iii) incineration; (iv) pyrolysis; and (v) wet air oxidation. They were assessed on sustainability using over 28 indicators, some of which were also used to evaluate the implication of different treatment techniques for the energy-water-food (EWF) nexus. Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) was applied to aggregate the sustainability indicators into an overall sustainability index for each alternative and identify the most sustainable option(s). The results suggest that, among the four techniques considered for advanced effluent treatment, nanofiltration and granular activated carbon have the lowest life cycle environmental impacts. Although not preferable at all operating ranges, they have the lowest burdens and are, overall, most sustainable. The latter also has the lowest impact on the EWF nexus at mean operating parameter, and is the preferred option as the treated effluent can be used for potable water due lower concerns over the presence of PPCPs. However, the results also suggest that, from the ecotoxicological point of view, there is little benefit in using any of the advanced wastewater treatment techniques assessed. This is due to the life cycle ecotoxicological impacts from the treatment itself being similar or even higher than for the effluent released into the environment untreated. For sludge treatments, anaerobic digestion and pyrolysis are environmentally and economically preferable techniques. The former is the best with respect to the EWF nexus due to the recovery of energy and agricultural fertilizers. In relation to social aspects, wet air oxidation is amongst the most desirable for high resource recovery, together with the two former techniques. The heavy metals content in the sludge applied on agricultural soils is a major concern for freshwater ecotoxicity potential, posing risks orders of magnitude higher than PPCP compounds.

Resumo: O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar o fluxo de energia no tratamento de esgoto e de lodo de esgoto na ETE de Franca. Para tanto, levantaram-se os dados de todo maquinário utilizado na Estação, tais como: quantidade, potência, vida útil, peso das máquinas, consumo de graxa e/ou lubrificantes e mão de obra empregada. O consumo de energia elétrica na Estação foi calculado para cada máquina separadamente. Com isso, calculou-se a participação energética, por fonte, forma e total, de todos os setores de tratamento. Por meio dos resultados, observou-se que tanto o tratamento de esgoto como o tratamento de lodo utilizam expressivamente energia industrial na forma de eletricidade, o que parece vantajoso, visto que essa é uma fonte renovável de energia. Para o cálculo do fluxo de energia no carregamento e transporte do lodo, obtiveram-se os dados de vida útil, peso, consumo de graxa e/ou lubrificantes da retroescavadeira e do caminhão, e mão de obra empregada nessas atividades. Ao contrário do observado nos tratamentos de esgoto e lodo, essas atividades usam principalmente energia fóssil na forma de óleo diesel. Além disso, com a quantidade de N, P e K contidas no lodo de esgoto foi possível calcular a energia e o preço dos fertilizantes contidos em uma tonelada do material. De acordo com os resultados, uma tonelada de lodo de esgoto produzida em Franca contém 5.081,53 MJ de energia e R$102,47 de fertilizantes químicos. Portanto, um caminhão com capacidade de carga de 16 toneladas transporta 81.304,62 MJ de energia e R$1.639,55 de fertilizante, o que justifica a distribuição desse material no raio de 25 km, que é a distância média entre a ETE e os potenciais locais de aplicação do material. Por fim, calculou-se o balanço e a eficiência energética de todas as atividades estudadas, de forma que os resultados apontaram serem todas, energeticamente sustentáveis / Abstract: This study assessed the energy flux on the processing of sewage and sewage sludge in the Sludge Treatment Station of Franca City, São Paulo State, Brazil. For this, data concerning ETE machinery was quantified, such as: quantity, potency, life spam and weight, as well as, mineral greases and/or lubricants consumption and the used workforce. Based on this, energy expenditure was calculated, regarding energy source and type and the total expenditure of all parties involved in sewage processing. These results allowed to conclude that either sewage or sewage sludge processing have a high demand of industrial energy in the form of electricity, what is advantageous, since it is a renewable energy source. For the energy flux calculations during loading and transportation, data of life spam, weight, the consumption of lorries and backhoes mineral greases and lubricants and the used workforce was considered. On the contrary, during sewage sludge processing activities, fossil energy in the form of diesel oil was the main utilized. Moreover, considering the amount of N, P and K in the sludge, the energy and price of fertilizers could be calculated in 1 ton of sewage sludge. Accordingly to calculations, a ton of sewage sludge produced on Franca's ETE has 5,081.53 MJ of energy and R$102.47 of chemical fertilizers. Thus, a lorry of 16-ton storage capacity transports 81,304.62 MJ of energy and R$1,639.55 of fertilizers, justifying the distribution of the sewage sludge on 25-km ray distance, what is a viable distance, because it is the mean distance between Franca's ETE and the farms that potentially could use this material. Finally, the balance and energetic efficiency of all activities approached in this study could be calculated, indicating energetic sustainability of those / Orientador: Osmar de Carvalho Bueno / Coorientador: Wanderley José de Melo / Banca: Elias José Simon / Banca: Maura Seiko T. Esperancini / Banca: Gerson Henrique da Silva / Banca: Andrea Eloisa Bueno Pimentel / Doutor

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:31:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-06-07Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:22:24Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 quintana_nrg_dr_botfca.pdf: 551444 bytes, checksum: e543328233e80220d0e632e00c93cddc (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar o fluxo de energia no tratamento de esgoto e de lodo de esgoto na ETE de Franca. Para tanto, levantaram-se os dados de todo maquinário utilizado na Estação, tais como: quantidade, potência, vida útil, peso das máquinas, consumo de graxa e/ou lubrificantes e mão de obra empregada. O consumo de energia elétrica na Estação foi calculado para cada máquina separadamente. Com isso, calculou-se a participação energética, por fonte, forma e total, de todos os setores de tratamento. Por meio dos resultados, observou-se que tanto o tratamento de esgoto como o tratamento de lodo utilizam expressivamente energia industrial na forma de eletricidade, o que parece vantajoso, visto que essa é uma fonte renovável de energia. Para o cálculo do fluxo de energia no carregamento e transporte do lodo, obtiveram-se os dados de vida útil, peso, consumo de graxa e/ou lubrificantes da retroescavadeira e do caminhão, e mão de obra empregada nessas atividades. Ao contrário do observado nos tratamentos de esgoto e lodo, essas atividades usam principalmente energia fóssil na forma de óleo diesel. Além disso, com a quantidade de N, P e K contidas no lodo de esgoto foi possível calcular a energia e o preço dos fertilizantes contidos em uma tonelada do material. De acordo com os resultados, uma tonelada de lodo de esgoto produzida em Franca contém 5.081,53 MJ de energia e R$102,47 de fertilizantes químicos. Portanto, um caminhão com capacidade de carga de 16 toneladas transporta 81.304,62 MJ de energia e R$1.639,55 de fertilizante, o que justifica a distribuição desse material no raio de 25 km, que é a distância média entre a ETE e os potenciais locais de aplicação do material. Por fim, calculou-se o balanço e a eficiência energética de todas as atividades estudadas, de forma que os resultados apontaram serem todas, energeticamente sustentáveis / This study assessed the energy flux on the processing of sewage and sewage sludge in the Sludge Treatment Station of Franca City, São Paulo State, Brazil. For this, data concerning ETE machinery was quantified, such as: quantity, potency, life spam and weight, as well as, mineral greases and/or lubricants consumption and the used workforce. Based on this, energy expenditure was calculated, regarding energy source and type and the total expenditure of all parties involved in sewage processing. These results allowed to conclude that either sewage or sewage sludge processing have a high demand of industrial energy in the form of electricity, what is advantageous, since it is a renewable energy source. For the energy flux calculations during loading and transportation, data of life spam, weight, the consumption of lorries and backhoes mineral greases and lubricants and the used workforce was considered. On the contrary, during sewage sludge processing activities, fossil energy in the form of diesel oil was the main utilized. Moreover, considering the amount of N, P and K in the sludge, the energy and price of fertilizers could be calculated in 1 ton of sewage sludge. Accordingly to calculations, a ton of sewage sludge produced on Franca’s ETE has 5,081.53 MJ of energy and R$102.47 of chemical fertilizers. Thus, a lorry of 16-ton storage capacity transports 81,304.62 MJ of energy and R$1,639.55 of fertilizers, justifying the distribution of the sewage sludge on 25-km ray distance, what is a viable distance, because it is the mean distance between Franca’s ETE and the farms that potentially could use this material. Finally, the balance and energetic efficiency of all activities approached in this study could be calculated, indicating energetic sustainability of those

abstract: The production and applications of engineered nanomaterials (ENM) has increased rapidly in the last decade, with release of ENM to the environment through the sewer system and municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) being of concern. Currently, the literature on ENM release from WWTPs and removal of ENM by WWTPs is insufficient and disorganized. There is little quantitative data on the removal of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), graphene oxide (GO), or few-layer graphene (FLG), from wastewater onto biomass. The removal of pristine and oxidized MWCNTs (O-MWCNTs), graphene oxide (GO), few-layer graphene (FLG) and Tween™ 20-coated Ag ENM by the interaction with biomass were determined by programmable thermal analysis (PTA) and UV-Vis spectrophotometry. The removal of pristine and O-MWCNTs was 96% from the water phase via aggregation and 30-min settling in presence or absence of biomass with an initial MWCNT concentration of 25 mg/L. The removal of 25 mg/L GO was 65% with biomass concentration at or above 1,000 mg TSS/L. The removal of 1 mg/L FLG was 16% with 50 mg TSS/L. The removal of Tween™ 20 Ag ENM with concentration from 0.97 mg/L to 2.6 mg/L was from 11% to 92% with biomass concentration of 500 mg TSS/L to 3,000 mg TSS/L, respectively. A database of ENM removal by biomass was established by analyzing data from published papers, and non-linear solid-liquid distribution functions were built into the database. A conventional activated sludge (CAS) model was built based on a membrane bioreactor (MBR) model from a previous paper. An iterative numeric approach was adapted to the CAS model to calculate the result of non-linear adsorption of ENM by biomass in the CAS process. Kinetic studies of the CAS model showed the model performance changed mostly in the first 10 days after changing influent chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentration, and reached a steady state after 11 days. Over 60% of ENMs which have distribution coefficients in the database reached higher than 50% removal by the CAS model under general operational conditions. This result suggests that traditional WWTP which include the CAS process can remove many known types of ENMs in certain degree. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Civil and Environmental Engineering 2015

Submitted by Jean Medeiros (jeanletras@uepb.edu.br) on 2017-11-13T13:30:12Z No. of bitstreams: 1 PDF - Ysa Helena Diniz Morais de Luna.pdf: 14969298 bytes, checksum: 0533a4f938f12c09a36b687414201b77 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-11-13T13:30:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PDF - Ysa Helena Diniz Morais de Luna.pdf: 14969298 bytes, checksum: 0533a4f938f12c09a36b687414201b77 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-04-11 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / The biological sludge approprieate treatment must be developed in order to take advantages of the products generated during the process. However, the anaerobic sludge treatment is arduous due to the complexity of the substances present in sludge flakes, granules and biofilms, becoming indispensable a pre-treatment step in order to raise the solubilization of the materials. At this study, anaerobic sludges produced by anaerobic reactos with low cell retention time (CRT) (2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 20 days) were characterized and the 2 and 8 day sludge were submitted to solubilization from pre- treatment commonly called alkaline hydrolysis, consisting of the use of NaOH to reach pH 12, and subjected to stirring for 48 hours at room temperature. The objective of this study was to characterize the anaerobic sludges and evaluate the increase of organic materials solubilization, and make comparisons. The results of the soluble organic materials at 2 and 8 days, showed an increase in the concentrations of 14 and 28 times COD, 20 and 40 times to DQOS, 21 and 63 times to carbohydrates and 31 to 60 times to proteins respectively The solubilization of the 8-day solubilized sludge showed higher solubilization than the 2-day sludge, showing that the use of anaerobic low-CRT reactor to generate sludge is interesting in order to produce a sludge that releases higher amounts of soluble materials after a hidrolisis process, be rapidly degradeted by the anaerobic digestion. / O tratamento adequado do lodo biológico deve ocorrer visando tirar proveito dos produtos gerados durante o processo. No entanto o tratamento anaeróbio do lodo biológico é dificultado pela complexidade das substâncias formadoras dos flocos, grânulos e biofilmes, fazendo-se indispensável uma etapa de pré-tratamento empregada de modo a elevar a solubilização dos materiais. No presente trabalho foram caracterizados 6 lodos anaeróbios provenientes de reatores com baixo tempo de retenção celular (2, 4, 6, 8, 10 e 20 dias) e destes, os lodos de 2 e 8 dias (fase acidogênica) foram submetidos à solubilização a partir do pré-tratamento químico comumente chamado de hidrólise alcalina, consistindo na utilização de NaOH para alcançar pH 12, sob agitação por 48 horas em 28°C. Objetivou-se caracterizar os lodos anaeróbios de baixo tempo de retenção celular (TRC) e avaliar o aumento da solubilização dos materiais orgânicos nos lodos de 2 e 8 dias. Os resultados dos materiais orgânicos solúveis nos lodos de 2 e 8 dias, apresentaram incremento nas concentrações de 14 e 28 vezes para COD, 20 e 40 vezes para DQOS, 21 e 63 vezes para carboidratos e 31 e 60 vezes para proteínas respectivamente. Evidencia-se em todos os parâmetros analisados uma maior solubilização do lodo solubilizado de 8 dias em relação ao lodo de 2 dias, mostrando assim ser interessante a utilização de reatores anaeróbios de baixo TRC para gerar um lodo que após hidrolisado, se solubilize seus materiais e seja degradado mais rapidamente.

Submitted by Jean Medeiros (jeanletras@uepb.edu.br) on 2018-05-10T14:20:27Z No. of bitstreams: 1 PDF - Nathália Nunes de Melo.pdf: 18947535 bytes, checksum: 4cfce3961def8f699d9241cbcdbd3859 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-05-10T14:20:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PDF - Nathália Nunes de Melo.pdf: 18947535 bytes, checksum: 4cfce3961def8f699d9241cbcdbd3859 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-27 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / The treatment of sewage sludge is a challenge for environmental sanitation due to its difficulty to stabilize and large number of undesirable elements. On the other hand, it is found in its composition a high concentration of nutrients that can be reused in the nature in a beneficial way, but that end up being wasted in the conventional treatments. In the present work the treatment of sewage sludge in an anaerobic dynamic membrane bioreactor (AnDMBR) was carried out, in which it was possible to verify that the use of the dynamic membrane provided an excellent performance for the sludge filtration, producing turbidity permeate below 1 NTU after the formation of the separation layer. In addition, 53.2% of the phosphorus concentration and 35.6% of the nitrogen concentration were found in its composition, demonstrating that the use of this technology is a very interesting alternative for the recovery of these nutrients. As long as produced a less pollutant and nutrient-recovering permeate, there was also a marked stabilization of the concentrate, which showed a reduction of the organic fraction from 0.76 to 0.54 and the F/M ratio of 0.07 kgCOD/KgVSS to 0.02 KgCOD/KgVSS, furthermore a considerable methane production was observed. / O tratamento do lodo de esgoto consiste em um desafio na área de saneamento ambiental por se tratar de um resíduo de difícil estabilização e com grande quantidade de elementos indesejáveis. Por outro lado, é encontrada na sua composição uma elevada concentração de nutrientes que podem ser reutilizados na natureza de maneira benéfica, mas que acabam sendo desperdiçados nos tratamentos convencionais. No presente trabalho foi realizado o tratamento do lodo de esgoto em um biorreator anaeróbio de membrana dinâmica (BRAnMD), no qual foi possível verificar que a utilização da membrana dinâmica proporcionou um ótimo desempenho para a filtração do lodo, produzindo um permeado com turbidez abaixo de 1 NTU após o período de formação da camada de separação. Além disso, na sua composição foi encontrada 53,2% da concentração do fósforo afluente e 35,6% da concentração de nitrogênio, demonstrando, dessa forma, que a utilização dessa tecnologia consiste em uma alternativa bastante interessante para a recuperação desses nutrientes. À medida que produzia um permeado menos poluente e recuperava de nutrientes, verificou-se também uma estabilização acentuada do concentrado, que apresentou uma redução da fração orgânica de 0,76 para 0,54 e da relação A/M de 0,07 KgDQO/KgSSV para 0,02 KgDQO/KgSSV além de possibilitar uma considerável produção de metano.

Por razões técnicas e ambientais, o lodo gerado no tratamento de águas para abastecimento público deve ser adequadamente tratado antes de ser disposto no meio ambiente. Uma alternativa é a disposição do lodo de ETA em ETE, o que dispensa a implantação da linha de tratamento do lodo na ETA. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar os impactos ocorridos na ETE ABC, estação de lodos ativados convencional operada pela SABESP, devido ao recebimento do lodo da ETA Rio Grande. Trata-se de caso particular, pois envolve instalações reais, e pelo fato de a ETA apresentar vazão próxima de três vezes a vazão da ETE (vazão de lodo corresponde a 0,1% da vazão da ETE). Os dados utilizados incluem variáveis de qualidade do efluente (DBO, DQO, SST, SSV, nitrogênio amoniacal e total, fósforo e ferro) e do lodo (sólidos), e parâmetros operacionais das unidades da ETE (vazões, taxas de aplicação superficial e de sólidos, idade do lodo, tempo de detenção, entre outros). Foi possível analisar o processo de tratamento na ETE e comparar seu desempenho entre dois períodos: controle (anos de 2005 e 2006) e com lodo (janeiro de 2007 a março de 2008). Nestes períodos, a ETE operou com 50% de sua capacidade (taxas de aplicação abaixo dos valores de projeto), idade do lodo de 4 dias e taxa de reciclo em torno de 80%. No período com lodo, as variáveis que apresentaram maior aumento de concentração no esgoto afluente foram SST, SSV, fósforo e ferro; o lodo da ETA contribuiu para maiores eficiências de tratamento da fase líquida na ETE, uma vez que houve a manutenção da qualidade do efluente final, nos níveis exigidos pela legislação, mesmo com o aumento das concentrações afluentes. Este aumento de eficiência foi mais acentuado para o fósforo (de 52% para 88%), e maior no tratamento primário, com variações nos parâmetros operacionais que não influíram negativamente no desempenho das unidades. No tratamento de lodo, o maior impacto causado foi o aumento na produção final de lodo (de 50 t/d para 76 t/d). Tais conclusões são então favoráveis ao lançamento de lodos de ETA convencional em ETE de lodos ativados convencional, mesmo nos casos em que a vazão tratada na ETA exceda em muito a vazão da ETE. / For technical and environmental reasons, sludge from water treatment plants should be properly treated before being discharged into the environment. An emerging practice is the disposal of such sludge in WWTP, an alternative that does not require the installation of sludge treatment facilities in the WTP. The main purpose of this research was to study the impacts at the ABC WWTP, an activated sludge process facility operated by SABESP and located in São Paulo, Brazil, due to receiving sludge from the Rio Grande WTP, also located in the same region. It is a particular case due to the fact that the WTP provides a flow of three times the flow treated in the WWTP (sludge flow is 0,1% of WWTP flow). The used data include effluent quality variables (BOD, COD, TSS, VSS, ammonia and total nitrogen, phosphorus and iron), sludge (solids) and WWTP units operational parameters (flow, surface and solid application rates, sludge retention time, hydraulic detention time, among others). It was possible to analyze the treatment process at the WWTP and compare its performance between two periods: control (years 2005 and 2006) and with sludge (from January 2007 to March 2008). In these periods, the WWTP worked with half of its capacity (all loading rates stayed below design values), sludge retention time of 4 days and recycle rate around 80%. In the with sludge period, the quality variables with the highest inflow concentration increase were TSS, VSS, phosphorus and iron. During the same period, the WTP sludge contributed to greater efficiencies in the WWTP treatment process, since the effluent quality was maintained under levels legally required, even with the increase of influent concentrations. This fact is mostly evident in the case of phosphorus (from 52% to 88%), and higher in primary treatment, with changes in operational parameters that did not adversely affect the units performances. In solid phase treatment, the most important impact was the increase in final sludge production (from 50 t/d to 76 t/d). These conclusions are then favorable to the disposal of sludge from conventional WTP in an activated sludge WWTP, even in cases in which the flow treated in the WTP far exceeds the WWTP flow.

Abstract This thesis aims to increase our knowledge about the characteristics of chemical pulp process and wastewaters and how problematic substances, e.g. wood extractives, could be removed effectively and selectively by coagulation–flocculation with either internal or external water treatment. Characterization was performed by investigating kraft pulp bleaching filtrates, as well as wastewater, before (influent) and after (effluent) the activated sludge treatment by means of a range of chemical analyses and by carrying out size fractionation studies. Cationic polyelectrolytes were used to purify oxygen stage bleaching filtrate, and charge analyses (zeta potential, charge quantity) were carried out in order to understand the coagulation phenomenon. In activated sludge treatment, the enhancement of particle removal, either by filtration or using a chemical in the primary clarifier, would lead to savings in aeration costs and result in a more stable process. Microfiltration already with a large pore size (8 µm) removed 30–50% of the wood extractives from the influent. Separate treatment stages for certain wastewater fractions, e.g. debarking plant effluent, would ensure cost-efficiency. After the activated sludge process, the wood extractives were present as particles (18%) and < 3 kDa fraction (82%). β-sitosterol occurred only in particles in the effluent. The release of harmful components into the environment could be decreased by microfiltration (e.g. 0.45 µm) of the final effluent or using a chemical in the secondary clarifier. Interestingly a huge increase in BOD was realized in the 3 kDa fraction of both influent and effluent, which indicated the presence of toxic substances in the larger fractions. After passing the effluent into the water system, there might be a similar jump in the BOD because the effluent is diluted many-fold. This would contribute to the formation of areas with an oxygen deficit. In the coagulation–flocculation studies, effective and selective removal of wood extractives (92%) from the oxygen stage filtrate was obtained with a cationic polyelectrolyte of medium molecular weight and medium charge density at 72 °C and pH 5–6. The multimodal zeta potential distribution gave more information than the average zeta potential. Aggregation of colloidal particles occurred when only one zeta potential was observed. The number of different zeta potentials diminished with decreasing pH and after exceeding a certain polyelectrolyte dosage level.