Kinetics of Phosphorus Release and Uptake in a Membrane-Assisted Biological Phosphorus Removal Process
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 133, Issue 9
Abstract
A long-term comparative study on the kinetics of enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) was carried out in pilot scale membrane-assisted and conventional biological phosphorus removal processes, by monitoring system performance, phosphorus mass balances, and maximum specific rates in off-line batch tests. The two systems exhibited similar performance in the removal of soluble phosphorus (P) from the influent wastewater, in the specific P release observed in the anaerobic zone, and in the maximum specific P release and volatile fatty acid (VFA) uptake rates. However, when the VFA in the influent was limiting, the conventional EBPR (CEBPR) process performed significantly better than the membrane (MEBPR) counterpart, and this behavior was also reflected in the kinetics of P release. Denitrifying dephosphatation was observed to be significant in both processes during periods of satisfactory P removal. When the aerobic recycle ratio was reduced to a minimum level, the anoxic P uptake activity in the CEBPR sludge was lower than that of the MEBPR sludge. Finally, the biomass decay rates of the two sludge types were estimated to be comparable, with significant reduction of the decay under unaerated conditions.
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Acknowledgments
This research was part of a strategic project awarded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada in partnership with Stantec Consulting Ltd., Zenon Environmental Inc., and Dayton & Knight Ltd. The writers wish to thank The University of British Columbia (UBC) and the Government of Canada for financial support provided to the first writer. The writers are also grateful to the staff of the UBC Environmental Engineering Laboratory for their assistance with the analytical work.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 133 • Issue 9 • September 2007
Pages: 899 - 908
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Dec 1, 2005
Accepted: Jan 30, 2007
Published online: Sep 1, 2007
Published in print: Sep 2007
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