Economic Removal of Organic and Nutrient Substances from Municipal Wastewaters with Full-Scale U.A.S.B. Fluidized- and Fixed-Bed Reactors

• Published in: Water science and technology Vol. 24; no. 7; pp. 89 - 95
• Main Authors: Collivignarelli, C., Urbini, G., Farneti, A., Bassetti, A., Barbaresi, U.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London IWA Publishing 1991
• Subjects: Ambient temperature; Anaerobic microorganisms; Anaerobic processes; Anoxia; Biofilms; Biological activity; Biological effects; Biotechnology; Conglomerates; Energy consumption; Experimentation; Fluidized beds; Locating; Microorganisms; Mineral nutrients; Municipal wastewater; Nutrient removal; Plant engineering; Reactors; Removal; Sludge; Solutions; Upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors; Wastewater; Wastewater treatment
• ISSN: 0273-1223; 1996-9732
• DOI: 10.2166/wst.1991.0189

New biotechnologies (both aerobic, anoxic and anaerobic) based on attached biofilm or microbial-conglomerate processes have recently gained a considerable interest, as regards municipal wastewater treatment. These systems, besides involving certain advantages, e.g. low energy consumption and reduced sludge production, are proving to be rather reliable: this made us think that such plant engineering solutions can be, in perspective, a real alternative to conventional biological processes. This work deals with the main results obtained from an experiment carried out with municipal wastewater at ambient temperature (7 - 27°C) on a plant consisting of a UASB reactor, an aerobic fixed-bed reactor and an anoxic fluidized-bed reactor. The main object of the experimentation, still in course, is the technical verification of various plant engineering solutions aiming at locating the one most reliable for development on a large scale. This report points out some of the aspects emerged; for other considerations, refer to works already published by the authors on this subject (see references).