Removal of endocrine disrupting compounds from wastewater: a comparison between a conventional activated sludge with tertiary treatment and membrane bioreactors

Póster presentado en 19th International Congress of Chemical and Process Engineering, Prague, Czech Republic August 28th-September 1st, 2010.

Study of the thermal decomposition of petrochemical sludge in a pilot plant reactor

The pyrolysis of a sludge produced in the waste water treatment plant of an oil refinery was studied in a pilot plant reactor provided with a system for condensation of semivolatile matter. The study comprises experiments at 350, 400, 470 and 530 °C in nitrogen atmosphere. Analysis of all the products obtained (gases, liquids and chars) are presented, with a thermogravimetric study of the char produced and analysis of main components of the liquid. In the temperature range studied, the composition of the gas fraction does not appreciably vary. In the liquids, the light hidrocarbon yield increases with increasing temperature, whereas the aromatic compounds diminish. The decomposition of the solid fraction has been analysed, finding a material that reacts rapidly with oxygen regardless of the conditions it is formed.

Thermogravimetric monitoring of oil refinery sludge

The present work has two dimensions: analytical and environmental. On the one hand we proved that thermogravimetric analysis can be used to perform fast characterization of oil refinery sludge. To this end, thermogravimetric curves were deconvoluted by using autocatalytic kinetics to take into account acceleratory phases in a thermal degradation performed in oxygen-containing atmosphere or at high heating rates. Based on thermogravimetric results, oil refinery sludge was modeled in terms of various fractions (pseudo-components) which degrade as major oil cuts. On the other hand, as an alternative to landfill, we have seen that Soxhlet extraction allows recovery almost half of the weight of sludge as a mixture of hydrocarbons, similar to gas–oil, which burns without residue. This ensures both, waste inerting and significant reduction in sludge volume.

Biodiesel production by transesterification of sludge in supercritical conditions

In this study wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) sludge was subjected to a reactive pyrolysis treatment to produce a high quality pyro-oil. Sludge was treated in supercritical conditions in the presence of methanol using hexane as cosolvent in a high pressure lab-autoclave. The variables affecting the pyro-oil yield and the product quality, such as mass ratio of alcohol to sludge, presence of cosolvent and temperature, were investigated. It was found that the use of a non-polar cosolvent (hexane) presents advantages in the production of high quality pyro-oil from sludge: increase of the non-polar pyro-oil yield and a considerable reduction of the amount of methanol needed to carry out the transesterification of fatty acids present in the sludge.

Water reduction in waste-activated sludge by resettling and filtration in batch. Phase (1): pilot-scale experiments to optimize performance

This article describes an effective procedure for reducing the water content of excess sludge production from a wastewater treatment plant by increasing its concentration and, as a consequence, minimizing the volume of sludge to be managed. It consists of a pre-dewatering sludge process, which is used as a preliminary step or alternative to the thickening. It is made up of two discontinuous sequential stages: the first is resettling and the second, filtration through a porous medium. The process is strictly physical, without any chemical additives or electromechanical equipment intervening. The experiment was carried out in a pilot-scale system, consisting of a column of sedimentation that incorporates a filter medium. Different sludge heights were tested over the filter to verify the influence of hydrostatic pressure on the various final concentrations of each stage. The results show that the initial sludge concentration may increase by more than 570% by the end of the process with the final volume of sludge being reduced in similar proportions and hydrostatic pressure having a limited effect on this final concentration. Moreover, the value of the hydrostatic pressure at which critical specific cake resistance is reached is established.

Using Sewage-Sludge Ash as Filler in Bituminous Mixes

In this study, the behavior of bituminous mixes made with sewage sludge ash (SSA) as mineral filler was investigated. The behavior of these mixes was evaluated with the Cantabro, indirect tensile strength, water sensitivity, permanent deformation, and resilient modulus tests. The results show that SSA waste may be used in bituminous mixes at approximately 2–3% weight percent, maintaining adequate levels of cohesion and adhesion in the mixtures, which is comparable to mixtures made with active fillers such as hydrated lime and cement. Moreover, its use does not increase permanent deformations. However, the resilient modulus test gave slightly lower results for mixes made with SSA than for mixtures made with other fillers. It may be concluded that SSA waste may be used as a filler for bituminous mixes with better results than for mixes made with limestone fillers and with similar results for mixes made with other fillers such as hydrated lime and cement.

Evolution of extracellular polymeric substances produced in two submerged membrane bioreactors working at high sludge age

This research paper deals with the evolution of the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) produced in the mixed liquor of two 25 L bench-scale membrane bioreactors (MBRs), with micro (MF-MBR) and ultrafiltration (UF-MBR) submerged membranes. The conclusion focuses on the relationship between the operation and how EPS respond, demonstrating that significant changes in EPS concentration were commonly observed when abrupt changes in the operational conditions took place. Bound EPS (EPSb) showed moderate positive statistical correlations with sludge age and MLSS for the two MBRs. Soluble EPS (EPSs), on the other hand, showed a moderate negative statistical correlation between EPSs with the two parameters analyzed for MF-MBR and no correlation with the UF-MBR was found. With respect to the composition of EPS, EPSb were mostly made up of proteins (44–46%) whereas in EPSs, the three components (proteins, carbohydrates, and humic substances) appeared in approximately the same proportion. The statistical analysis exhibited strong positive correlations between EPSb and their constituents, however for EPSs, the correlation was strong only with carbohydrates and moderate with humic substances.

Influence of sludge retention time on filtration performance and biomass characteristics in a hollow fiber membrane bioreactor

In this study, the filtration process and the biomass characteristics in a laboratory-scale submerged membrane bioreactor (MBR) equipped with a hollow fiber (HF) microfiltration membrane were studied at different solid retention times (SRT). The MBR was fed by synthetic wastewater and the organic loading rate (OLR) was 0.5, 0.2, 0.1, and 0.08 kg COD kg VSS−1 d−1 for 10, 30, 60, and 90 days of SRT, respectively. The hydraulic retention time was 8.4 h and the permeate flux was 6 L m−2 h−1(LMH). Data analysis confirmed that at all the studied SRTs, the HF-MBR operated very good obtaining of high quality permeates. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) removal efficiencies were higher than 95%. The best filtration performance was reached at SRT of 30 d. On the other hand, the respirometric analysis showed that biomass was more active and there was more biomass production at low SRTs. The concentration of soluble extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) decreased with increasing SRT. A decrease of soluble EPS caused a decrease of membrane fouling rate, decreasing the frequency of chemical cleanings. The floc size decreased with SRT increasing. At high SRTs, there was more friction among particles due to the increase of the cellular density and the flocs broke decreasing their size.