Mehran Andalib

Treatment of thin stillage in a high-rate anaerobic fluidized bed bioreactor (AFBR)

The primary objective of this work was to investigate the treatability of thin stillage as a by-product of bioethanol production plants using an anaerobic fluidized bed bioreactor (AFBR) employing zeolite with average diameter of (d(m)) of 425-610 μm and specific surface area (SSA) of 26.5m(2)/g as the carrier media. Despite the very high strength of thin stillage with chemical oxygen demand of 130,000 mg TCOD/L and suspended solids of 47,000 mg TSS/L, the AFBR showed up to 88% TCOD and 78% TSS removal at very high organic and solids loading rates (OLR and SLR) of 29 kg COD/m(3)d and 10.5 kg TSS/m(3)d respectively and hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 3.5 days. Methane production rates of up to 160 L/d at the steady state equivalent to 40 L(CH4)/L(thin stillage)d and biogas production rate per reactor volume of 15.8L(gas)/L(reactor)d were achieved.

High rate biological nutrient removal from high strength wastewater using anaerobic-circulating fluidized bed bioreactor (A-CFBBR)

Biological nutrient removal (BNR) from high strength wastewater was investigated using a newly developed integrated anaerobic fluidized bed (AF) with circulating fluidized bed bioreactor henceforth called A-CFBBR. The A-CFBBR showed 99.7%COD removal, 84% nitrogen removal, with a very low sludge yield of 0.017 g VSS/g COD while treating a synthetic wastewater containing 10,700 mg COD/L and 250 mg NH(3)-N/L over a period of 6 months. The system was operated at an organic loading rate (OLR) of 35 kg COD/m(3)(AF) d and nitrogen loading rate (NLR) of 1.1 kg N/m(3)(CFBBR) d at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of less than 12 h in the A-CFBBR. Microbial communities analysis using DGGE confirmed the presence of both AOBs and NOBs in the riser and downer. Pseudomonas putida and Pseudomonas fluorescence were the dominant denitrifiers present in the downer. Methanogenic activity was accomplished by a microbial mixture of archaea and bacteria in the anaerobic column.

Comparative modeling of biological nutrient removal from landfill leachate using a circulating fluidized bed bioreactor (CFBBR)

Steady state operational data from a pilot scale circulating fluidized bed bioreactor (CFBBR) during biological treatment of landfill leachate, at empty bed contact times (EBCTs) of 0.49, and 0.41 d and volumetric nutrients loading rates of 2.2-2.6 kg COD/(m(3)d), 0.7-0.8 kg N/(m(3)d), and 0.014-0.016 kg P/(m(3)d), was used to calibrate and compare developed process models in BioWin(®) and AQUIFAS(®). BioWin(®) and AQUIFAS(®) were both capable of predicting most of the performance parameters such as effluent TKN, NH(4)-N, NO(3)-N, TP, PO(4)-P, TSS, and VSS with an average percentage error (APE) of 0-20%. BioWin(®) underpredicted the effluent BOD and SBOD values for various runs by 80% while AQUIFAS(®) predicted effluent BOD and SBOD with an APE of 50%. Although both calibrated models, confirmed the advantages of the CFBBR technology in treating the leachate of high volumetric loading and low biomass yields due to the long solid retention time (SRT), both BioWin(®) and AQUIFAS(®) predicted the total biomass and SRT of CFBBR based on active biomass only, whereas in the CFBBR runs both active as well as inactive biomass accumulated.

Evaluation of biological nutrient removal from wastewater by Twin Circulating Fluidized Bed Bioreactor (TCFBBR) using a predictive fluidization model and AQUIFAS APP.

A two-phase and three-phase predictive fluidization model based on the characteristics of a system such as media type and size, flow rates, and reactor cross sectional area was proposed to calculate bed expansion, solid, liquid and gas hold up and specific surface area (SSA) of the biofilm particles. The model was subsequently linked to 1d AQUIFAS APP software (Aquaregen) to model biological nutrient removal in two phase (anoxic) and three phase (aerobic) fluidized bed bioreactors. The credibility of the proposed model for biological nutrient removal was investigated using the experimental data from a Twin Circulating Fluidized Bed Bioreactors (TCFBBR) treating synthetic and municipal wastewater. The SSA of bio-particles and volume of the expanded bed were simulated as a function of operational parameters. Two-sided t-tests demonstrated that simulated SCOD, NH(4)-N, NO(3)-N, TN, VSS and biomass yields agreed with the experimental values at the 95% confidence level.