Oxygen Transfer in Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor and Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge Processes.

A demonstrated approach to design the, so-called, medium-bubble air diffusion oxygen transfer system for moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) and integrated fixed film activated sludge (IFAS) processes is described. Operational full-scale biological water resource recovery systems treating municipal sewage, designed using this methodology, provide reliable service. Further improvement is possible, however, as knowledge gaps are filled and results in more rationally-based system designs. Pilot-scale testing demonstrates significant enhancement of oxygen transfer capacity from the presence of media. Establishment of the relationship in full-scale systems between diffuser submergence, aeration rate, and biofilm carrier fill fraction will enhance MBBR and IFAS aerobic process design, cost, and performance. Limited testing of full-scale systems prevents computation of alpha values and can be addressed by further full-scale testing under actual operating conditions. Control of MBBR and IFAS aerobic zone oxygen transfer systems can be optimized by recognizing that varying residual dissolved oxygen concentrations are needed, depending on operating conditions. Further application of oxygen transfer control approaches used in activated sludge systems, such as ammonia-based oxygen transfer system control, further improves MBBR and IFAS system energy efficiency.

A framework for good biofilm reactor modeling practice (GBRMP).

A researcher or practitioner can employ a biofilm model to gain insight into what controls the performance of a biofilm process and for optimizing its performance. While a wide range of biofilm-modeling platforms is available, a good strategy is to choose the simplest model that includes sufficient components and processes to address the modeling goal. In most cases, a one-dimensional biofilm model provides the best balance, and good choices can range from hand-calculation analytical solutions, simple spreadsheets, and numerical-method platforms. What is missing today is clear guidance on how to apply a biofilm model to obtain accurate and meaningful results. Here, we present a five-step framework for good biofilm reactor modeling practice (GBRMP). The first four steps are (1) obtain information on the biofilm reactor system, (2) characterize the influent, (3) choose the plant and biofilm model, and (4) define the conversion processes. Each step demands that the model user understands the important components and processes in the system, one of the main benefits of doing biofilm modeling. The fifth step is to calibrate and validate the model: System-specific model parameters are adjusted within reasonable ranges so that model outputs match actual system performance. Calibration is not a simple 'by the numbers' process, and it requires that the modeler follows a logical hierarchy of steps. Calibration requires that the adjusted parameters remain within realistic ranges and that the calibration process be carried out in an iterative manner. Once each of steps 1 through 5 is completed satisfactorily, the calibrated model can be used for its intended purpose, such as optimizing performance, trouble-shooting poor performance, or gaining deeper understanding of what controls process performance.

Predicting N2O emissions from nitrifying and denitrifying biofilms: a modeling study.

Wastewater treatment plants can be significant sources of nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas. While our understanding of N2O emissions from suspended-growth processes has advanced significantly, less is known about emissions from biofilm processes. Biofilms may behave differently due to their substrate gradients and microbial stratification. In this study, we used mathematical modeling to explore the mechanisms of N2O emissions from nitrifying and denitrifying biofilms. Our ammonia-oxidizing bacteria biofilm model suggests that N2O emissions from biofilm can be significantly greater than from suspended-growth systems. The driving factor is the diffusion of hydroxylamine, a nitrification intermediate, from the aerobic to the anoxic regions of the biofilm. The presence of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria further increased emissions. For denitrifying biofilms, our results suggest that emissions are generally greater than for suspended-growth systems. However, the magnitude of the difference depends on the bulk dissolved oxygen, chemical oxygen demand, and nitrate concentrations, as well as the biofilm thickness. Overall, the accumulation and diffusion of key intermediates, i.e. hydroxylamine and nitrite, distinguish biofilms from suspended-growth systems. Our research suggests that the mechanisms of N2O emissions from biofilms are much more complex than suspended-growth systems, and that emissions may be higher in many cases.

From biofilm ecology to reactors: a focused review.

Biofilms are complex biostructures that appear on all surfaces that are regularly in contact with water. They are structurally complex, dynamic systems with attributes of primordial multicellular organisms and multifaceted ecosystems. The presence of biofilms may have a negative impact on the performance of various systems, but they can also be used beneficially for the treatment of water (defined herein as potable water, municipal and industrial wastewater, fresh/brackish/salt water bodies, groundwater) as well as in water stream-based biological resource recovery systems. This review addresses the following three topics: (1) biofilm ecology, (2) biofilm reactor technology and design, and (3) biofilm modeling. In so doing, it addresses the processes occurring in the biofilm, and how these affect and are affected by the broader biofilm system. The symphonic application of a suite of biological methods has led to significant advances in the understanding of biofilm ecology. New metabolic pathways, such as anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) or complete ammonium oxidation (comammox) were first observed in biofilm reactors. The functions, properties, and constituents of the biofilm extracellular polymeric substance matrix are somewhat known, but their exact composition and role in the microbial conversion kinetics and biochemical transformations are still to be resolved. Biofilm grown microorganisms may contribute to increased metabolism of micro-pollutants. Several types of biofilm reactors have been used for water treatment, with current focus on moving bed biofilm reactors, integrated fixed-film activated sludge, membrane-supported biofilm reactors, and granular sludge processes. The control and/or beneficial use of biofilms in membrane processes is advancing. Biofilm models have become essential tools for fundamental biofilm research and biofilm reactor engineering and design. At the same time, the divergence between biofilm modeling and biofilm reactor modeling approaches is recognized.

Biofilm carrier migration model describes reactor performance.

The accuracy of a biofilm reactor model depends on the extent to which physical system conditions (particularly bulk-liquid hydrodynamics and their influence on biofilm dynamics) deviate from the ideal conditions upon which the model is based. It follows that an improved capacity to model a biofilm reactor does not necessarily rely on an improved biofilm model, but does rely on an improved mathematical description of the biofilm reactor and its components. Existing biofilm reactor models typically include a one-dimensional biofilm model, a process (biokinetic and stoichiometric) model, and a continuous flow stirred tank reactor (CFSTR) mass balance that [when organizing CFSTRs in series] creates a pseudo two-dimensional (2-D) model of bulk-liquid hydrodynamics approaching plug flow. In such a biofilm reactor model, the user-defined biofilm area is specified for each CFSTR; thereby, Xcarrier does not exit the boundaries of the CFSTR to which they are assigned or exchange boundaries with other CFSTRs in the series. The error introduced by this pseudo 2-D biofilm reactor modeling approach may adversely affect model results and limit model-user capacity to accurately calibrate a model. This paper presents a new sub-model that describes the migration of Xcarrier and associated biofilms, and evaluates the impact that Xcarrier migration and axial dispersion has on simulated system performance. Relevance of the new biofilm reactor model to engineering situations is discussed by applying it to known biofilm reactor types and operational conditions.

Biological and physical selectors for mobile biofilms, aerobic granules, and densified-biological flocs in continuously flowing wastewater treatment processes: A state-of-the-art review.

There have been significant advances in the use of biological and physical selectors for the intensification of continuously flowing biological wastewater treatment (WWT) processes. Biological selection allows for the development of large biological aggregates (e.g., mobile biofilm, aerobic granules, and densified biological flocs). Physical selection controls the solids residence times of large biological aggregates and ordinary biological flocs, and is usually accomplished using screens or hydrocyclones. Large biological aggregates can facilitate different biological transformations in a single reactor and enhance liquid and solids separation. Continuous-flow WWT processes incorporating biological and physical selectors offer benefits that can include reduced footprint, lower costs, and improved WWT process performance. Thus, it is expected that both interest in and application of these processes will increase significantly in the future. This review provides a comprehensive summary of biological and physical selectors and their design and operation.

A mobile-organic biofilm process for wastewater treatment.

The mobile-organic biofilm (MOB) process includes mobile biofilms and their retention screens with a bioreactor and liquid and solid separation. The MOB process is inexpensive and easy to integrate with wastewater treatment (WWT) processes, and it provides for high-rate WWT in biofilm or hybrid bioreactors. This paper describes three modes of MOB process operation. The first mode of operation, Mode I, has a mobile-biofilm reactor and a mobile-biofilm retention screen that is downstream of and external to a bioreactor and upstream of liquid and solid separation. Modes II and III have a hybrid (i.e., mobile biofilms and accumulated suspended biomass) bioreactor and liquid and solid separation. Mode II includes a mobile-biofilm retention screen that is downstream of and external to a hybrid bioreactor and upstream of liquid and solid separation. Mode III includes mobile-biofilm retention screening that is external to a hybrid bioreactor and liquid and solid separation, receives waste solids, and relies on environmental conditions and wastewater characteristics that are favorable for aerobic-granular sludge formation. This paper presents a mechanistic approach to design and evaluate MOB processes and describes MOB process: (1) modes of operation, (2) design and analysis methodology, (3) process and mechanical design criteria, (4) mathematical modeling, (5) design equations, and (6) mobile-biofilm settling characteristics and return. A mathematical model was applied to describe a fixed bioreactor volume and secondary-clarifier area with Modes I, II, and III. The mathematical modeling identified key differences between MOB process modes of operation, which are described in this paper. PRACTITIONER POINTS: MOB is a municipal and industrial wastewater treatment (WWT) process that reduces bioreactor and liquid and solids separation process volumes. It may operate with a mobile-biofilm reactor or a hybrid (mobile biofilms and suspended biomass) bioreactor. This paper provides a mechanistic basis for the selection and design of a MOB process mode of operation, and it describes MOB process modes of operation, design criteria, design equations, mathematical modeling, and mobile-biofilm settling characteristics. MOB integrated WWT plants exist at full scale and reliably meet their treatment objectives. The MOB process is an emerging environmental biotechnology for cost-effective WWT.

Trickling filter and trickling filter-suspended growth process design and operation: a state-of-the-art review.

The modern trickling filter typically includes the following major components: (1) rotary distributors with speed control; (2) modular plastic media (typically cross-flow media unless the bioreactor is treating high-strength wastewater, which warrants the use of vertical-flow media); (3) a mechanical aeration system (that consists of air distribution piping and low-pressure fans); (4) influent/recirculation pump station; and (5) covers that aid in the uniform distribution of air and foul air containment (for odor control). Covers may be equipped with sprinklers that can spray in-plant washwater to cool the media during emergency shut down periods. Trickling filter mechanics are poorly understood. Consequently, there is a general lack of mechanistic mathematical models and design approaches, and the design and operation of trickling filter and trickling filter/suspended growth (TF/SG) processes is empirical. Some empirical trickling filter design criteria are described in this paper. Benefits inherent to the trickling filter process (when compared with activated sludge processes) include operational simplicity, resistance to toxic and shock loads, and low energy requirements. However, trickling filters are susceptible to nuisance conditions that are primarily caused by macro fauna. Process mechanical components dedicated to minimizing the accumulation of macro fauna such as filter flies, worms, and snail (shells) are now standard. Unfortunately, information on the selection and design of these process components is fragmented and has been poorly documented. The trickling filter/solids contact process is the most common TF/SG process. This paper summarizes state-of-the art design and operational practice for the modern trickling filter. Water Environ.

Moving bed biofilm reactor technology: process applications, design, and performance.

The moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) can operate as a 2- (anoxic) or 3-(aerobic) phase system with buoyant free-moving plastic biofilm carriers. These systems can be used for municipal and industrial wastewater treatment, aquaculture, potable water denitrification, and, in roughing, secondary, tertiary, and sidestream applications. The system includes a submerged biofilm reactor and liquid-solids separation unit. The MBBR process benefits include the following: (1) capacity to meet treatment objectives similar to activated sludge systems with respect to carbon-oxidation and nitrogen removal, but requires a smaller tank volume than a clarifier-coupled activated sludge system; (2) biomass retention is clarifier-independent and solids loading to the liquid-solids separation unit is reduced significantly when compared with activated sludge systems; (3) the MBBR is a continuous-flow process that does not require a special operational cycle for biofilm thickness, L(F), control (e.g., biologically active filter backwashing); and (4) liquid-solids separation can be achieved with a variety of processes, including conventional and compact high-rate processes. Information related to system design is fragmented and poorly documented. This paper seeks to address this issue by summarizing state-of-the art MBBR design procedures and providing the reader with an overview of some commercially available systems and their components.

Comparison of conventional and integrated fixed-film activated sludge systems: attached- and suspended-growth functions and quantitative polymerase chain reaction measurements.

Pilot-scale integrated fixed-film activated sludge (IFAS) and non-IFAS control systems were compared, with respect to overall performance and functional behaviors and microbial population composition in the attached and suspended phases. The suspended phases of the control and IFAS systems exhibited similar rates of ammonia consumption; the attached phase in the second aerobic IFAS reactor had significantly higher rates of ammonia consumption and nitrate production than any other biomass source, and the attached biomass from the first aerobic reactor had the lowest ammonia consumption rates. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) indicated the presence of the ammonia-oxidizing bacteria Nitrosomonas oligotropha and the nitrite-oxidizing bacteria Nitrospira spp. and Nitrobacter spp. Mathematical modeling and qPCR both indicated greater concentrations of nitrifiers in the attached phases of a downstream aerobic reactor relative to the upstream reactor, possibly because of increased competition from heterotrophs for space in the attached phase of the upstream aerobic reactor.

Modeling integrated fixed-film activated sludge and moving-bed biofilm reactor systems I: mathematical treatment and model development.

A mathematical model for integrated fixed-film activated sludge (IFAS) and moving-bed biofilm reactor wastewater treatment processes was developed. The model is based on theoretical considerations that include simultaneous diffusion and Monod-type reaction kinetics inside the biofilm, competition between aerobic autotrophic nitrifiers, non-methanol-degrading facultative heterotrophs, methanol-degrading heterotrophs, slowly biodegradable chemical oxygen demand, and inert biomass for substrate (when appropriate) and space inside the biofilm; and biofilm and suspended biomass compartments, which compete for both the electron donor and electron acceptor. The model assumes identical reaction kinetics for bacteria within suspended biomass and biofilm. Analytical solutions to a 1-dimensional biofilm (assuming both zero- and first-order kinetics) applied to describe substrate flux across the biofilm surface are integrated with a revised and expanded matrix similar to that presented as the International Water Association (London, United Kingdom) Activated Sludge Model Number 2d (ASM2d) stoichiometric and kinetic matrix. The steady-state mathematical model describes a continuous-flow stirred-tank reactor.

Modeling integrated fixed-film activated sludge and moving-bed biofilm reactor systems II: evaluation.

A steady-state model presented by Boltz, Johnson, Daigger, and Sandino (2009) describing integrated fixed-film activated sludge (IFAS) and moving-bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) systems has been demonstrated to simulate, with reasonable accuracy, four wastewater treatment configurations with published operational data. Conditions simulated include combined carbon oxidation and nitrification (both IFAS and MBBR), tertiary nitrification MBBR, and post denitrification IFAS with methanol addition as the external carbon source. Simulation results illustrate that the IFAS/MBBR model is sufficiently accurate for describing ammonia-nitrogen reduction, nitrate/nitrite-nitrogen reduction and production, biofilm and suspended biomass distribution, and sludge production.

Kinetics of particulate organic matter removal as a response to bioflocculation in aerobic biofilm reactors.

Recent research has identified that the major fraction of chemical oxygen demand in domestic wastewaters is in particulate form. The research presented herein develops the kinetics of particle removal as a response to bioflocculation at the surface of aerobic biofilms. This study focuses on the removal of particles that are maintained in aqueous suspension after 30 minutes of gravity settling. It is helpful to consider the particulate organics removal process in biofilms as the sum of four steps, namely (1) external transport of the particles to the biofilm surface, (2) bioflocculation, (3) organic particulate hydrolysis, and (4) diffusion and reaction of the solubilized organics by the bacterial cells comprising the biofilm. Organic (native corn starch) and inorganic particle (Min-U-Sil 10 [U.S. Silica Company, Berkeley Springs, West Virginia]) suspensions, with micronutrients, were continuously fed to a rotating disc biofilm reactor to verify a first-order kinetic expression that has been used to describe bioflocculation and to demonstrate that bioflocculation is the primary particle removal mechanism. Extracellular polymeric substances were extracted and quantified to describe the role they play in the bioflocculation process.

Method to identify potential phosphorus rate-limiting conditions in post-denitrification biofilm reactors within systems designed for simultaneous low-level effluent nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations.

Water-quality standards requiring simultaneous low level effluent N and P concentrations are increasingly common in Europe and the United States of America. Moving bed biofilm reactors (MBBRs) and biologically active filters (BAFs) have been used as post-denitrification biofilm reactors in processes designed and operated for this purpose (Boltz et al., 2010a). There is a paucity of information describing systematic design and operational protocols that will minimize the potential for phosphorus rate-limited conditions as well as a lack of information describing the interaction between these post-denitrification biofilm reactors and unit processes that substantially alter phosphorus speciation (e.g., chemically enhanced clarification). In this paper, a simple mathematical model for estimating the threshold below which P becomes rate-limiting, and the model is presented and evaluated by comparing its predictions with operational data from post-denitrification MBBRs and BAFs. Ortho-phosphorus (PO(4)-P), which is the dissolved reactive component of total phosphorus, was a primary indicator of P rate-limiting conditions in the evaluated post-denitrification biofilm reactors. The threshold below which PO(4)-P becomes the rate-limiting substrate is defined: S(PO4-P):S(NOx-N) = 0.0086 g P/g N and S(PO4-P):S(M) = 0.0013 g P/g COD. Additional analyses indicate J(NOx-N)(avg) =0.48 g/m2/d when S(PO4-P):S(NOx-N) > 0.0086, and J(NOx-N)(avg) = 0.06 g/m2/d when S(PO4-P):S(NOx-N) < 0.0086. Effluent nitrate-nitrogen plus nitrite-nitrogen concentration (S(NOx-N)) from the evaluated post-denitrification biofilm reactors began to rapidly increase when S(PO4-P):S(NOx-N) was 0.01, approximately (consistent with the rate-limitation threshold of S(PO4-P):S(NOx-N) < 0.0086 predicted by the mathematical model described in this paper). Depending on the processes used at a given WWTP, optimizing chemically enhanced clarification to increase the amount of PO(4)-P that remains in the clarifiers effluent stream, dosing phosphoric acid in the MBBR or BAF influent stream, and/or optimizing secondary process EBPR may overcome phosphorus rate-limitations in the biofilm-based post-denitrification process.

Effects of integrated fixed film activated sludge media on activated sludge settling in biological nutrient removal systems.

Integrated fixed film activated sludge (IFAS) is an increasingly popular modification of conventional activated sludge, consisting of the addition of solid media to bioreactors to create hybrid attached/suspended growth systems. While the benefits of this technology for improvement of nitrification and other functions are well-demonstrated, little is known about its effects on biomass settleability. These effects were evaluated in parallel, independent wastewater treatment trains, with and without IFAS media, both at the pilot (at two solids residence times) and full scales. While all samples demonstrated good settleability, the Control (non-IFAS) systems consistently demonstrated small but significant (p<0.05) improvements in settleability relative to the IFAS trains. Differences in biomass densities were identified as likely contributing factors, with Control suspended phase density>IFAS suspended phase density>IFAS attached phase (biofilm) density. Polyphosphate content (as non-soluble phosphorus) was well-correlated with density. This suggested that the attached phases had relatively low densities because of their lack of anaerobic/aerobic cycling and consequent low content of polyphosphate-accumulating organisms, and that differences in enhanced biological phosphorus removal performance between the IFAS and non-IFAS systems were likely related to the observed differences in density and settleability for the suspended phases. Decreases in solids retention times from 8 to 4 days resulted in improved settleability and increased density in all suspended phases, which was related to increased phosphorus content in the biomass, while no significant changes in density and phosphorus content were observed in attached phases.