TY - JOUR
T1 - Optimising nutrient removal of a hybrid five-stage Bardenpho and moving bed biofilm reactor process using response surface methodology
AU - Ashrafi, Elham
AU - Mehrabani Zeinabad, Arjomand
AU - Borghei, Seyed Mehdi
AU - Torresi, Elena
AU - Muñoz Sierra, Julian
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Nutrient pollution has become a global environmental issue. Innovative biological nutrient removal (BNR) processes are needed to overcome the drawbacks of conventional technologies. This study evaluates the potential of a hybrid 5-stage Bardenpho - moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) process for organic carbon and nutrient removal from municipal wastewater at different hydraulic retention time (HRT) and nitrate recycle ratio (R). Response surface methodology (RSM) based on a central composite design (CCD) of thirteen experiments was applied to optimize the nitrogen and phosphorus conversion of the treatment system. High removal efficiencies of about 98.20%, 92.54%, 94.70% and 96.50% for total chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and ammonium, were achieved, respectively. The best performance was observed at HRT of 2, 4, 6, 2.67 and 1.07 h correspondingly in the anaerobic, first anoxic, first aerobic, second anoxic and second aerobic compartments, resulting in a total HRT of 15.74 h with a nitrate recycle ratio of 2. Biofilm nitrifying activity was four times higher than in suspended biomass. The hybrid 5-stage Bardenpho-MBBR process enhanced biological nutrient removal at comparatively short HRT and low R ratio due to biofilm contribution to the conversion.
AB - Nutrient pollution has become a global environmental issue. Innovative biological nutrient removal (BNR) processes are needed to overcome the drawbacks of conventional technologies. This study evaluates the potential of a hybrid 5-stage Bardenpho - moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) process for organic carbon and nutrient removal from municipal wastewater at different hydraulic retention time (HRT) and nitrate recycle ratio (R). Response surface methodology (RSM) based on a central composite design (CCD) of thirteen experiments was applied to optimize the nitrogen and phosphorus conversion of the treatment system. High removal efficiencies of about 98.20%, 92.54%, 94.70% and 96.50% for total chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and ammonium, were achieved, respectively. The best performance was observed at HRT of 2, 4, 6, 2.67 and 1.07 h correspondingly in the anaerobic, first anoxic, first aerobic, second anoxic and second aerobic compartments, resulting in a total HRT of 15.74 h with a nitrate recycle ratio of 2. Biofilm nitrifying activity was four times higher than in suspended biomass. The hybrid 5-stage Bardenpho-MBBR process enhanced biological nutrient removal at comparatively short HRT and low R ratio due to biofilm contribution to the conversion.
KW - Bardenpho process
KW - Biofilm reactor
KW - Nutrient removal
KW - Process optimization
KW - Response surface methodology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85059125220&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jece.2018.102861
DO - 10.1016/j.jece.2018.102861
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85059125220
SN - 2213-3437
VL - 7
SP - 1
EP - 10
JO - Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering
JF - Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering
IS - 1
M1 - 102861
ER -