Environmental Engineering Group, Department of Science and Techniques of Water and the Environment, University of Cantabria, Santander, Spain.
Environmental Engineering Group, Department of Science and Techniques of Water and the Environment, University of Cantabria, Santander, Spain; Group of Environmental Engineering and Microbiology, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain.
Water Res. 2019 Apr 1;152:1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2019.01.001. Epub 2019 Jan 7.
One of the main energy consumptions in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is due to the oxygenation of aerobic biological processes. In order to approach to an energy self-sufficient scenario in WWTPs, Membrane Aerated Biofilm Reactors (MABRs) provide a good opportunity to reduce the impact of aeration on the global energy balance. However, mass transfer limitations derived from poor flow distribution must be tackled to take advantage of this technology. In this work, in order to improve mass transfer between biofilm and bulk water, a specific configuration was developed and studied at laboratory scale, aimed at compactness, energy efficiency and high nitrification rates. Nitrification rates were higher in the innovative configuration than in the conventional one, achieving a Volumetric Nitrification Rate (VNR) as high as 575.84 g NH-N m d, which is comparable with confirmed technologies. Regarding energy consumption due to aeration, a reduction of 83.7% was reached in comparison with aeration through diffusers with the same Oxygen Transfer Efficiency (OTE). These results highlight the importance of hydrodynamic conditions and the membranes configuration on treatment performance.
污水处理厂（WWTPs）的主要能源消耗之一是由于需好氧生物过程中的氧气供应。为了在 WWTPs 中实现能源自给自足的情况，膜曝气生物膜反应器（MABRs）为减少曝气对全球能源平衡的影响提供了很好的机会。然而，必须解决由于较差的流动分布导致的传质限制，以利用这项技术。在这项工作中，为了改善生物膜与主体水之间的传质，在实验室规模上开发并研究了一种特定的配置，旨在实现紧凑性、能源效率和高硝化速率。在创新配置中，硝化速率高于传统配置，实现了高达 575.84 g NH-N m d 的体积硝化速率（VNR），可与已确认的技术相媲美。关于曝气引起的能源消耗，与使用相同氧气转移效率（OTE）的曝气扩散器相比，减少了 83.7%。这些结果突出了水动力条件和膜配置对处理性能的重要性。
