Resource recovery and wastewater treatment modelling

Traditional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are increasingly regarded as water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs), reflecting the value of water, nutrients, energy and other resources, besides ensuring the required effluent quality. Resource recovery techniques involve biochemical, physical and physicochemical processes, and even previously unexploited biological conversions. Biopolymer and bioplastic production also reveal the remarkable potential present in our microbial cultures. Models have demonstrated their usefulness to optimize WWTP operation to achieve better effluent quality at lower costs; they also constitute a useful tool to support the transition of WWTPs into WRRFs that maximize the valorization of products recovered from wastewater. In this paper, the extent to which the new techniques and unit processes applied for resource recovery could be modelled with conventional activated sludge models (ASMs) and additional modelling challenges being faced are discussed while providing recommendations of potential approaches to address current modelling research gaps

Effect of heterotrophic growth on autotrophic nitrogen removal in a granular sludge reactor

This study deals with the influence of heterotrophic growth on autotrophic nitrogen removal from wastewater in a granular sludge reactor. A mathematical model was set-up including autotrophic and heterotrophic growth and decay in the granules from a partial nitritation-anammox process. A distinction between heterotrophic bacteria was made based on the electron acceptor (dissolved oxygen, nitrite or nitrate) on which they grow, while the nitrogen gas produced was ‘labelled’ to retrieve its origin, from anammox or heterotrophic bacteria. Taking into account heterotrophic growth resulted in a lower initial nitrogen removal, but in a higher steady state nitrogen removal compared to a model in which heterotrophic growth was neglected. The anammox activity is related with the fact that heterotrophs initially use nitrite as electron acceptor, but when they switch to nitrate the produced nitrite can be used by anammox bacteria. Increased anammox activity in the presence of heterotrophs therefore resulted in a marginally increased N2 production at steady state. Heterotrophic denitrification of nitrate to nitrite also explains why small amounts of organic substrate present in the influent positively affect the maximum nitrogen removal capacity. However, the process efficiency deteriorates once the amount of organic substrate in the influent exceeds a certain threshold. The bulk oxygen concentration and the granule size have a dual effect on the autotrophic nitrogen removal efficiency. Besides, the maximum nitrogen removal efficiency decreases and the corresponding optimal bulk oxygen concentration increases with increasing granule size

Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from municipal wastewater treatment: results from a long-term study

Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from a fully covered municipal wastewater treatment plant were measured on-line during 16 months. At the plant under study, nitrous oxide contributed three-quarters to the plant’s carbon footprint, while the methane emission was slightly larger than the indirect carbon dioxide emission related to the plant’s electricity and natural gas consumption. This contrasted with two other wastewater treatment plants, where more than 80% of the carbon footprint came from the indirect carbon dioxide emission. The nitrous oxide emission exhibited a seasonal dynamic, of which the cause remains unclear. Three types of airfilter were investigated with regard to their effectiveness to remove methane from the off-gas