Tracking the formation potential of vivianite within the treatment train of full-scale wastewater treatment plants.

Phosphorus recovery is a vital element for the circular economy. Wastewater, especially sewage sludge, shows great potential for recovering phosphate in the form of vivianite. This work focuses on studying the iron, phosphorus, and sulfur interactions at full-scale wastewater treatment plants (Viikinmäki, Finland and Seine Aval, France) with the goal of identifying unit processes with a potential for vivianite formation. Concentrations of iron(III) and iron(II), phosphorus, and sulfur were used to evaluate the reduction of iron and the formation potential of vivianite. Mössbauer spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis were used to confirm the presence of vivianite in various locations on sludge lines. The results show that the vivianite formation potential increases as the molar Fe:P ratio increases, the anaerobic sludge retention time increases, and the sulfate concentration decreases. The digester is a prominent location for vivianite recovery, but not the only one. This work gives valuable insights into the dynamic interrelations of iron, phosphorus, and sulfur in full-scale conditions. These results will support the understanding of vivianite formation and pave the way for an alternative solution for vivianite recovery for example in plants that do not have an anaerobic digester.

Comparison of methods for nitrous oxide emission estimation in full-scale activated sludge.

Nitrous oxide (N2O) gas transfer was studied in a full-scale process to correlate liquid phase N2O concentrations with gas phase N2O emissions and compare methods of determining the volumetric mass transfer coefficient, KLa. Off-gas and liquid phase monitoring were conducted at the Viikinmäki wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) over a two-week period using a novel method for simultaneous measurement of dissolved and off-gas N2O and O2 from the same location. KLa was calculated with three methods: empirically, based on aeration superficial velocity, from experimentally determined O2 KLa, and using a static value of best fit. The findings of this study indicated trends in local emitted N2O consistently matched trends in local dissolved N2O, but the magnitude of N2O emissions could not be accurately estimated without correction. After applying a static correction factor, the O2 method, using experimentally determined O2 KLa, provided the best N2O emission estimation over the data collection period. N2O emissions estimated using the O2 method had a root mean square error (RMSE) of 70.5 compared against measured concentrations ranging from 3 to 1,913 ppm and a maximum 28% error. The KLa value, and therefore the method of KLa determination, had a significant impact on estimated emissions.

Development of an Extended ASM3 Model for Predicting the Nitrous Oxide Emissions in a Full-Scale Wastewater Treatment Plant.

An Activated Sludge Model #3 (ASM3) based, pseudomechanistic model describing nitrous oxide (N2O) production was created in this study to provide more insight into the dynamics of N2O production, consumption, and emissions at a full-scale wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). N2O emissions at the studied WWTP are monitored throughout the plant with a Fourier transform infrared analyzer, while the developed model encountered N2O production in the biological reactors via both ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) nitrification and heterotrophic denitrifiers. Additionally, the stripping of N2O was included by applying a KL a-based approach that has not been widely used before. The objective was to extend the existing ASM3-based model of the plant and assess how well the full-scale emissions could be predicted with the selected model. The validity and applicability of the model were tested by comparing the simulation results with the comprehensive online data. The results show that the ASM3-based model can be successfully extended and applied to modeling N2O production and emissions at a full-scale WWTP. These results demonstrate that the biological reactor can explain most of the N2O emissions at the plant, but a significant proportion of the liquid-phase N2O is further transferred during the process.