Plenum-Aerated Biofilter for Local-Scale Nitrogen Removal
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 141, Issue 11
Abstract
The plenum-aerated biofilter (PA biofilter) is an unsaturated, single pass vertical flow biofilter with horizontal air plena within the media to enhance passive aeration. Plena enlarge the surface area of the air/media interface, increase oxygen ingress, and permit a reduction in the footprint of ammonium oxidizing biofilters. An experimental PA biofilter was operated on household wastewater pretreated in a primary settling tank. The prototype was a 7.3 cm (3 in.) inner diameter circular column, containing 61 cm (24 in.) of granular clinoptilolite media. Three 5.1 cm (2 in.) aeration plena were placed at successive 7.6 cm (3 in.) media thicknesses below the upper filter surface. The biofilter was operated for 28 weeks at hydraulic loading of () and a 60-min dosing cycle. Performance was characterized by monitoring from days 180 to 196. Influent was reduced by 99% (mean to , ), with substantial conversion to (mean , ). Solute profiling showed ammonia reduction was substantially complete after passage through 45 cm (18 in.) of porous media and nitrite accumulated between 15 and 30 cm (5.9 and 11.8 in.). This short-term study suggests that the PA biofilter can provide a compact and passive ammonium oxidation system that is suitable for on-site wastewater treatment. Further studies are needed to verify that effective nitrogen transformations can be sustained over longer periods of operation.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Almstrand, R., Lydmark, P., Sörensson, F., and Hermansson, M. (2011). “Nitrification potential and population dynamics of nitrifying bacterial biofilms in response to controlled shifts of ammonium concentrations in wastewater trickling filters.” Bioresour. Technol., 102(17), 7685–7691.
Bahgat, M., Dewedar, A., and Zayed, A. (1999). “Sand-filters used for wastewater treatment: Buildup and distribution of microorganisms.” Water Res., 33(8), 1949–1955.
Beach, D. N. H., McCray, J. E., Lowe, K. S., and Siegrist, R. L. (2005). “Temporal changes in hydraulic conductivity of sand porous media biofilters during wastewater infiltration due to biomat formation.” J. Hydrol., 311(1–4), 230–243.
Beal, C. D., Gardner, E. A., Kirchhof, G., and Menzies, N. W. (2006). “Long-term flow rates and biomat zone hydrology in soil columns receiving septic tank effluent.” Water Res., 40(12), 2327–2338.
Brovelli, A., Malaguerra, F., and Barry, D. A. (2009). “Bioclogging in porous media: Model development and sensitivity to initial conditions.” Environ. Model. Software, 24(5), 611–626.
Crites, R., and Tchobanoglous, G. (1998). Small and decentralized wastewater management systems, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Green, M., Friedler, E., and Safrai, I. (1998). “Enhancing nitrification in vertical flow constructed wetland utilizing a passive air pump.” Water Res., 32(12), 3513–3520.
Haoran, P., Valérie, L., Etienne, P., and Gilles, H. (2013). “The influence of porous structure and biofilm on the hydrodynamics of two types of trickle filters.” Chem. Eng. J., 231, 163–171.
Healy, M. G., Rodgers, M., and Mulqueen, J. (2007). “Performance of a stratified sand filter in removal of chemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids and ammonia nitrogen from high-strength wastewaters.” J. Environ. Manage., 83(4), 409–415.
Jantrania, A., and Gross, M. (2006). Advanced onsite wastewater treatment system technologies, CRC Press, Boca-Raton, FL.
Jung, J.-Y., Chung, Y.-C., Shin, H.-S., and Son, D.-H. (2004). “Enhanced ammonia nitrogen removal using consistent biological regeneration and ammonium exchange of zeolite in modified SBR process.” Water Res., 38(2), 347–354.
Kartal, B. J. K., and van Loosdrecht, M. (2010). “Sewage treatment with Anammox.” Science, 328(5979), 702–703.
Lackner, S., Gilbert, E. M., Vlaeminck, S. E., Joss, A., Horn, H., and van Loosdrecht, M. C. M. (2014). “Full-scale partial nitritation/anammox experiences: An application survey.” Water Res., 55, 292–303.
Lahav, O., Artzi, E., Tarre, S., and Green, M. (2001). “Ammonium removal using a novel unsaturated flow biological filter with passive aeration.” Water Res., 35(2), 397–404.
Lahav, O., and Green, M. (1998). “Ammonium removal using ion exchange and biological regeneration.” Water Res., 32(7), 2019–2028.
Leverenz, H. L., Tchobanoglous, G., and Darby, J. L. (2009). “Clogging in intermittently dosed sand filters used for wastewater treatment.” Water Res., 43(3), 695–705.
Markou, G., Vandamme, D., and Muylaert, K. (2014). “Using natural zeolite for ammonia sorption from wastewater and as nitrogen releaser for the cultivation of Arthrospira platensis.” Bioresour. Tech., 155, 373–378.
Miladinovic, N., and Weatherley, L. R. (2008). “Intensification of ammonia removal in a combined ion-exchange and nitrification column.” Chem. Eng. J., 135(1–2), 15–24.
Nakhla, G., and Farooq, S. (2003). “Simultaneous nitrification–denitrification in slow sand filters.” J. Hazard. Mater., 96(2–3), 291–303.
Rice, E. W., Baird, R. B., Eaton, A. D., and Clesceri, L. S., eds. (2012). Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater. 22nd Ed., American Public Health Association, American Water Works Association, Water Environment Federation, Washington, DC.
Rittman, B., and McCarty, P. (2001). Environmental biotechnology, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Ruan, W., Hua, Z., and Chen, J. (2006). “ Simultaneous nitrification and denitrification in an aerobic reactor with granular sludge originating from an upflow anaerobic sludge bed reactor.” Water Environ. Res., 78(8), 792–796.
Sanchez, O., Bernet, N., and Delgenes, J. (2007). “Effect of dissolved oxygen concentration in nitrite accumulation in nitrifying sequencing batch reactor.” Water Environ. Res., 79(8), 845–850.
Smith, D., et al. (2008). “Redox control bioreactor: A unique biological water processor.” Biotech. Bioeng., 99(4), 830–845.
Smith, D. (2009). “Modular nitrogen removal in distributed sanitation water treatment systems.” Environmental engineer, American Academy of Environmental Engineers, Annapolis, MD, 21–29.
Smith, D. (2011). “Onsite wastewater nitrogen reduction with expanded media and elemental sulfur biofiltration.” Proc., Small Sustainable Solutions for Water, Venice, Italy, Vol. 12, International Water Association, London, 214–225.
Smith, D. (2012). “Nitrogen removal using unsaturated and saturated media biofilters: Pilot testing and simulation results.” Proc., 21st Annual Technical and Educational Conf., National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association, Providence, RI.
Suschka, J. (1987). “Hydraulic performance of percolating biological filters and consideration of oxygen transfer.” Water Res., 21(8), 865–873.
Thullner, M., Schroth, M. H., Zeyer, J., and Kinzelbach, W. (2004). “Modeling of a microbial growth experiment with bioclogging in a two-dimensional saturated porous media flow field.” J. Contam. Hydrol., 70(1–2), 37–62.
U.S. EPA. (2002). Onsite wastewater treatment systems manual, Office of Research and Development, Washington, DC.
U.S. EPA. (2010). Nutrient control design manual, Office of Research and Development, Washington, DC.
Vasel, J. L., and Schrobiltgen, P. (1991). “Oxygen transfer in trickling filters.” Water Res., 25(1), 53–60.
Wallace, S. (2011). “Reducing the land area requirements of natural treatment systems in urban areas.” The future of urban water: Solutions for livable and resilient cities, UNESCO, Paris.
Wen, J., Tao, W., Wang, Z., and Pei, Y. (2013). “Enhancing simultaneous nitritation and anammox in recirculating biofilters: Effects of unsaturated zone depth and alkalinity dissolution of packing materials.” J. Hazard. Mater., 244–245, 671–680.
Wu, Z., et al. (2008). “Study on zeolite enhanced contact–adsorption regeneration–stabilization process for nitrogen removal.” J. Hazard. Mater., 156(1–3), 317–326.
Zeng, R., Lemaire, R., Yuan, Z., and Keller, J. (2004). “A novel wastewater treatment process: simultaneous nitrification, denitrification and phosphorus removal.” Water Sci. Technol., 50(10), 163–170.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 141 • Issue 11 • November 2015
Copyright
© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 1, 2014
Accepted: Feb 2, 2015
Published online: Apr 20, 2015
Discussion open until: Sep 20, 2015
Published in print: Nov 1, 2015
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.