Wastewater characterization and sequencing batch reactor operation for Aerobic Granular Sludge cultivation

Inventory Routing Problem (IRP) has been continuously developed and im- proved due to pressure from global warming issue particularly related to greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission. The burning of fossil fuel for transportations such as cars, trucks, ships, trains, and planes primarily emits GHGs. Carbon dioxide (CO2) from burning of fossil fuel to power transportation and industrial process is the largest contributor to global GHGs emission. Therefore, the focus of this study is on solving a multi-period inventory routing problem (MIRP) involving carbon emission consideration based on carbon cap and offset policy. Hybrid genetic algorithm (HGA) based on allocation first and routing second is used to compute a solution for the MIRP in this study. The objective of this study is to solve the proposed MIRP model with HGA then validate the effectiveness of the proposed HGA on data of different sizes. Upon validation, the proposed MIRP model and HGA is applied on real-world data. The HGA is found to be able to solve small size and large size instances effectively by providing near optimal solution in relatively short CPU execution time

Parameter Optimisation of Aerobic Granular Sludge at High Temperature Using Response Surface Methodology

This paper proposes an improved optimisation of sequencing batch reactors (SBR) for aerobic granular sludge (AGS) at high temperature-low humidity for domestic wastewater treatment using response surface methodology (RSM). The main advantages of RSM are less number of experiment required and suitable for complex process. The sludge from a conventional activated sludge wastewater treatment plant and three sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) were fed with synthetic wastewater. The experiment were carried out at different high temperatures (30, 40 and 50°C) and the formation of AGS for simultaneous organics and nutrients removal were examined in 60 days. RSM is used to model and to optimize the biological parameters for chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total phosphorus removal in SBR system. The simulation results showed that at temperature of 45.33°C give the optimum condition for the total removal of COD and phosphorus, which correspond to performance index R2 of 0.955 and 0.91, respectively

Pilot scale study on characterization and performance of aerobic granular sludget o treat domestic wastewater

Aerobic granular sludge (AGS) is a wastewater treatment technology that is known for having unique advantages such as great settling ability, high biomass level, good shock resistance, and able to withstand high organic loadingr at e (OLR) and toxic pollutants. Since studies on AGS development ar e mostly conducted in laboratory scale, the detailed knowledge regarding the pilot scale study is still limited especially for hot and humid tropical climate condition. Therefore, this study focused on the characteristics and performance of AGS cultivated in a pilot-scale bioreactor for hot and humid tropical climate condition, specifically in Malaysia. The formation of AGS as well as biomass concentration were al so investigated during the treatment of real domestic wastewater. From the result, it was found that the highest average diameter of the cultivated mature granuleswas 3.36 mm with a biomass concentration of 12.48 g L −1 after 93 days of operation. The aerobic granular sludge also achieved promising removal rates of 89 %, 75 %, 96 %, and 93 % for COD, phosphate, ammoniacal nitrogen, and total inorganic nitrogen, respectively

Performance comparison of SVM and ANN for aerobic granular sludge

To comply with growing demand for high effluent quality of Domestic Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), a simple and reliable prediction model is thus needed. The wastewater treatment technology considered in this paper is an Aerobic Granular Sludge (AGS). The AGS systems are fundamentally complex due to uncertainty and non-linearity of the system makes it hard to predict. This paper presents model predictions and optimization as a tool in predicting the performance of the AGS. The input-output data used in model prediction are (COD, TN, TP, AN, and MLSS). After feature analysis, the prediction of the models using Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Feed-Forward Neural Network (FFNN) are developed and compared. The simulation of the model uses the experimental data obtained from Sequencing Batch Reactor under hot temperature of 50˚C. The simulation results indicated that the SVM is preferable to FFNN and it can provide a useful tool in predicting the effluent quality of WWTP

Effect of organic loading rate (OLR) on modified anaerobic baffled reactor (MABR) performance

The performance of a Modified Anaerobic Baffled Reactor (MABR) treating synthetic wastewater at different Organic Loading Rate (OLR) was investigated. The MABR was seeded with anaerobic sludge taken from a local municipal wastewater treatment plant and fed continuously with glucose at an OLR of 0.258, 0.787 and 2.471 kg COD m-3 d-1 at a Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) of 4 days. Results showed that 99.7% Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) removal was achieved during the OLR of 0.258 kg COD m-3 d-1. However, when the OLR was increased to 0.787 kg COD m-3 d- 1, a minor decrease in the COD removal efficiency (95%) was noted. Further increase of the OLR to 2.471 kg COD m-3 d-1 caused the reactor performance to deteriorate dramatically in a COD removal efficiency of 39.5%. Biogas yield was evaluated for the reactor system and followed similar decreasing trend (0.542, 0.524 and 0.214 l g-1CODdestroyed for the different OLRs respectively). There were no significant different in the pH profiles (6.71 – 7.01) during the first two OLRs (0.258 and 0.787 kg COD m-3 d-1). However, during the final OLR (2.471 kg COD m-3 d-1) the pH profile in MABR dropped to significantly as low as 4.01. Similar trend was also observed in the volatile acids (VA) profile where higher values (2880 mg/L) were found at highest OLR. The poor performance of the MABR at high OLR signifies that the microorganisms could not metabolise the organic substance and probably need more time for digestion

Development and characteristics of aerobic granular sludge at 40°C

This study is conducted to develop aerobic granular sludge (AGS) for domestic wastewater treatment application in a hot climate and low humidity condition such as for Middle East countries e.g. Saudi Arabia and to investigate the performance of the granular sludge in organic matter and nutrient removal by using sequencing batch reactor (SBR). The operation of the reactor was based on the SBR system with a complete cycle time of 3 hours (5 min of feeding, 140 min of aeration, 15 to 30 min of settling, 5 min of discharging and 3 min idling) and operated at 1.6 g COD / L.d organic loading rate. Granular sludge was developed at temperature 40ºC in 30 days operation by using synthetic wastewater as the influent. Result showed that developed granular sludge had good settling ability with average size of the granules was found to be 1.03 to 2.42 mm. Meanwhile, the removal efficiencies of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) and total phosphorus (TP) are 87.31%, 91.93% and 61.25%. The study shows AGS can be developed at high temperature and capable to treat organics and nutrients present in domestic wastewater at hot climates and low humidity condition

Cultivation and characteristics of aerobic granular sludge for simultaneous organics and nutrients removal performances at high temperature

With inoculum sludge from a conventional activated sludge wastewater treatment plant, a sequencing batch reactor fed with synthetic wastewater was operated at 50 ± 1 °C to study the formation of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) for simultaneous organics and nutrients removal with a complete cycle time of 3 h. The AGS were successfully cultivated with excellent settling ability and demonstrated exceptional performance in the organics and nutrients removal with influent loading rate and COD/N ratio of 1.6 kg COD (L.d)-1 and 8.3, respectively. Stable, regular, dense and fast settling granule (average diameter, 2.0 mm and settling velocity, 26 m h-1) were developed in a single reactor. In addition, 76% COD removal efficiency was observed in the system at the maturation stage of the granulation, while its ammonia and total phosphorus removal efficiencies were up to 88% and 69%, respectively. The study demonstrated the capabilities of AGS formation in a single, high and slender column type-bioreactor at high temperature which is suitable to be applied for hot climate and low humidity condition (e.g. Saudi Arabia)

Characteristics and performance of aerobic granular sludge for domestic wastewater treatment at 30°C

This study investigates the formation of AGS for domestic wastewater treatment applications in hot climate and low humidity conditions (e.g. Arab Saudi) as well as to characterize its performance in removal of nutrients and organic matter. AGS (seeded with domestic sludge from Al-Madina Wastewater Treatment Plant and fed with synthetic wastewater) with an organic loading rate (OLR) of 1.6 kg COD m3d was successfully cultivated with average size of 1-2 mm in lab scaled SBR operated at 30 days with complete cycle time of 3 h at 30 ± 1°C. Results shown the AGS formed had excellent settling ability (average diameter settling velocity, and MLSS) and exceptional performance in COD and nutrient removal with removal efficiency more than 90%

Aerobic sludge granulation at high temperature-low humidity for domestic wastewater treatment

With inoculum sludge from a conventional activated sludge wastewater treatment plant, a sequencing batch reactor fed with domestic wastewater was operated at 50 ± 1 "C and pH 7 ±, to study the formation of aerobic granular sludge (AGS)for simultaneous organics and nutrients removal with a complete cycle time of 3 h. The AGS were successfully cultivated with excellent settling ability and demonstrated exceptional performance in the organics and nutrients removal with influent loading rate and CO/N ratio of 1.6 kg COD (L..d ):' and 8.3, respectively. Stable, regular, dense and fast settling granule (average diameter, 1.5 mm; settling velocity, 33 m h': and sludge volume index, 22.3 mL g-l) were developed in a single reactor. In addition, 96.5% COD removal efficiency was ob served in the system at the maturation stage of the granulation, while its ammonia and total nitrogen removal efficiencies were up to 94.7% and 89.4%, respectively. The study demonstrated the capabilities of AGS formation in a single, high and slender column type-bioreactor at high temperature which suitable to be applied for hot climate and low humidity countries (e.g. Saudi Arabia)

Developing of emergency evacuation kit in response of Malaysia East Coast flood disaster

The flood struck East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia in December 2014 has resulted in huge natural disaster. More than 4.82 million people across four states especially Kelantan were sink flooded, resulted shut down of the area from outside traffic and delaying the rescue forces. Emergency aid has difficulties to reach the evacuation centres and victims were scattered trapped with low life support on water, food, energy and healthcare supply. Therefore, an integrated assessment of flood in the basin is important to seek for effective responses. In response to disaster vulnerability for risk reduction among society who living in flood prone, community contribution is needed in preparation of emergency evacuation kit as a part of preparedness. The survey will be conduct by distribution of questionnaire to the flood disaster victims in order to discover the most important necessities during flood situation. The results of this survey may lead to the preparation of emergency evacuation kit for use in future