SBR 2.0

BR 2.0 - Optimization of industrial biological wastewater treatment. About one-third of the industrial biological wastewater treatment plants suffer from poor sludge quality, often due to excessive growth of filamentous bacteria. This results in problematic settling, poor sludge dewatering, difficult sludge/water separation and even sludge washout in the effluent. The project aims to apply an innovative strategy to improve the structure, and thus the settling properties, of industrial activated sludge. This is done by acting on the plant's process operation to stimulate favorable groups of bacteria in the sludge, leading to compact sludge flocs. This strategy thus acts on the cause of poor settling! This innovative strategy was applied on a lab scale to improve the quality of activated sludge originating from different companies from various industries. The lab tests were conducted with sludge (1) from the food sector without nutrient removal, (2) from the food sector with nutrient removal, and (3) from the tank cleaning sector with complex wastewaters. The strategy was also applied at full scale in an industrial activated sludge plant. Here the operational strategy was optimized to obtain good and stable sludge quality. In all cases, good sludge quality was obtained, manifested by good sludge sedimentation (SVI < 100 ml/g), good effluent quality, and compact sludge morphology.

Keywords:WASTEWATER TREATMENT, ACTIVATED SLUDGE

Disciplines:(Waste)water treatment processes