Low-cost, reliable, and highly efficient removal of COD and total nitrogen from sewage using a sponge-filled trickling filter

Autor: Navneet Kachhadiya, Upendra D. Patel
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: Water Science and Technology, Vol 90, Iss 3, Pp 665-679 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 0273-1223
1996-9732
DOI: 10.2166/wst.2024.252
Popis: Development of low-cost and reliable reactors demanding minimal supervision is a need-of-the-hour for sewage treatment in rural areas. This study explores the performance of a multi-stage sponge-filled trickling filter (SPTF) for sewage treatment, employing polyethylene (PE) and polyurethane (PU) media. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) and nitrogen transformation were evaluated at hydraulic loading rates (HLRs) ranging from 2 to 6 m/d using synthetic sewage as influent. At influent COD of ∼350 mg/L, PU-SPTF and PE-SPTF achieved a COD removal of 97% across all HLRs with most of the removal occurring in the first segments. Operation of PE-SPTF at an HLR of 6 m/d caused substantial wash-out of biomass, while PU-SPTF retained biomass and achieved effluent COD < 10 mg/L even at HLR of 8–10 m/d. The maximum Total Nitrogen removal by PE-SPTF and PU-SPTF reactors was 93.56 ± 1.36 and 92.24 ± 0.66%, respectively, at an HLR of 6 m/d. Simultaneous removal of ammonia and nitrate was observed at all the HLRs in the first segment of both SPTFs indicating ANAMMOX activity. COD removal data, media depth, and HLRs were fitted (R2 > 0.99) to a first-order kinetic relationship. For a comparable COD removal, CO2 emission by PU-SPTF was 3.5% of that of an activated sludge system. HIGHLIGHTS A sponge-filled trickling filter (SPTF) system with random packing of sponge media is examined for sewage treatment.; COD removal of 97% was achieved in both PE-SPTF and PU-SPTF at an HLR of 6 m/d and feed COD 350 mg/L.; Total nitrogen removal was 93 and 92% by PE-SPTF and PU-SPTF reactors, respectively.; Energy consumption in SPTF is ∼25 times lower than that in a conventional activated sludge process.;
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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