Simultaneous Removal of Organic Matter and Nitrogen Compounds in Autoaerated Biofilms
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 132, Issue 10
Abstract
This paper describes the simultaneous removal of organic matter and nitrogen compounds carried out using an autoaerated multispecies biofilm growing on gas-permeable hollow-fiber membranes. In order to perform the aerobic heterotrophic oxidation and nitrification processes, the biofilm absorbs atmospheric oxygen through the inside walls of hollow fibers and consumes substrate from the bulk liquid. A mass balance calculated the consumed oxygen. Depending on the removed organic and nitrification rates, the oxygen flux through the hollow fibers can reach up to 90% of the total oxygen consumed, whereas the remaining 10% pertains to the dissolved oxygen from the influent wastewater. Without the biofilm the oxygen transfer rate through clean hollow fibers is , whereas the oxygen transfer rate through the biomembrane (hollow ) achieves a maximum value of . The enhanced oxygen transfer using the biological pathway may be attributed, among many other factors, to the mobility of the microorganisms generating microturbulence, which produces more active bioturbulent diffusiveness than the molecular diffusion in the biofilm. It has also shown that the oxygen utilization efficiency was affected by the substrate utilization rate.
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Acknowledgments
The first writer carried out the experimental part of this research when he was a doctoral candidate at the University of Cantabria (Spain) with a grant from the National Program for the Training of Researchers of the Spanish Ministry of Education under the Subprogram of Interchange between Industries and Public Research Centers. The writers would like to thank the collaborating Industry PRIDESA, S.A. and the Environmental Engineering Group of the University of Cantabria for their collaboration. This research was funded in part by the Commission on Science and Technology (UNSPECIFIEDCICYT AMB94-0879).
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 132 • Issue 10 • October 2006
Pages: 1255 - 1263
Copyright
© 2006 ASCE.
History
Received: Nov 9, 2004
Accepted: Mar 31, 2006
Published online: Oct 1, 2006
Published in print: Oct 2006
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