Optimisation of anaerobic/anoxic/oxic process to improve performance and reduce operating costs

✍ Scribed by Yongzhen Peng; Xiaolian Wang; Weimin Wu; Jun Li; Jie Fan

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 152 KB
• Volume: 81
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0268-2575
• DOI: 10.1002/jctb.1573

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

A laboratory‐scale anaerobic/anoxic/oxic reactor system was used to treat synthetic brewery wastewater for 1 year. The objectives were to enhance denitrifying phosphorus removal, improve biological nutrient removal and reduce operating costs. Three operational strategies were tested: (1) controlling nitrate recirculation to stimulate the growth of denitrifying phosphate‐accumulating organisms; (2) adjusting the volume ratio of the anaerobic/anoxic/oxic zones to enhance anoxic P uptake; (3) bypassing a part of the influent flow into the anoxic zone to maximise anoxic P uptake and denitrification. The results showed that not only was anoxic P uptake enhanced but also energy consumption for aeration could be reduced when the anoxic effluent NO~3~^−^‐N concentration was controlled between 1 and 3 mg L^−1^. The optimal volume ratio of the anaerobic/anoxic/aerobic zones in this system was found to be 1:1:2. The optimal bypass flow ratio was 0.32. The results indicated that the optimal strategies could improve treatment performance and reduce operational costs, but there was still a challenge to treat wastewater with low C/N ratio. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry