Development of a new urban and industrial wastewater treatment system by (Bio-Fil) ®. Joseph Petit, March 2022

SUCCESS STORY: DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW URBAN AND INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT SYSTEM BY (BIO-FIL) ®

The company BIOLOGÍA Y FILTRACIÓN, S.L., (BIO-FIL)®, in collaboration with Intexter (UPC) has developed a new biological treatment system for municipal and industrial wastewater, through which a totally reusable water quality is obtained, both in the case of municipal water and in most of the water from industrial processes.

The study has been developed in the Municipal Treatment Plant of the city of Manresa (Barcelona) treating in parallel the same waters as the real plant. In the case of industrial wastewater, the water came from a textile finishing industry.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

In wastewater of urban origin, the object of the study and development of the new technology was to know what increase in organic load (flow m3 x KgDBO / day), could treat an existing treatment plant that operates with traditional purification systems (active sludge or sequential system), without the need to add new civil works. In the case of plants for domestic wastewater of new construction, it was a question of knowing, what reduction of space (surface-volume) can be achieved with this new system compared to the traditional ones.

In the case of wastewater from a textile industry, it consisted of studying the extent to which both organic load and color are eliminated, in order to obtain a reusable water quality for new dyeing processes.

STUDY DEVELOPMENT

The new wastewater treatment system for reuse called AEMBBR-MBR® is an innovative biological system in the world of domestic and industrial wastewater, where mobile bed technologies (MBBR) and the membrane bioreactor system (MBR) are combined, both well proven.

The studies have been carried out in two pilot plants built for the purpose for the study. In the case of water of municipal origin, pilot plant 1, a plant has been built at a scale of 1/27,500 (twenty-seven thousand five hundred), based on the data provided by the operating company of the Manresa water treatment plant. For the design of this pilot plant, the data of flows and average organic loads treated during 2017, in the Manresa WWTP, were taken. Pilot plants are composed of, anoxic and a hybrid aerobic biological.

WHAT IS THE NEW SYSTEM?

The AEMBBR-MBR® system consists of unifying in a single (hybrid biological), the mobile bed systems (MBBR) and membrane bioreactor (MBR).

The first (MBBR) consists of introducing a system of active sludge, plastic fillers designed in this regard manufactured and patented by BIO-FIL®, where colonies of bacteria accumulate that favor the degradation of organic matter and the transformation of nitrogen components (NH, NO and NO2) into N gas and water. This increase in biomass concentration in the reactor is what allows to treat the increase in organic load mentioned.

The second system (MBR), consists of also introducing into a system of active sludge a set of ultrafiltration membranes, which also allows by itself to treat a greater organic load because a higher concentration of biomass is also achieved (up to 15-20 g / l) due to the barrier that constitute the membranes on the sludge, eliminating secondary decantation, which is not achieved in a conventional system due to the quality limitation in the clarification system. With this system two objectives are achieved: a much larger sludge age that allows a greater treatment capacity of the order of 3-5 times, retains the so-called emerging contaminants (circuit breakers, drugs, drug remains, practically 100% of bacteria and a significant percentage of viruses). In the case of industrial waters, it is also possible to eliminate 99% of the color.

The water that was treated in pilot plant 1, came from the overflow of the primary decanter of the real plant that is, free of fats and solids, the same water that was treated in the biological systems of the said plant. The water of the textile industry, arrived by means of vats taken from the homogenization tank of the textile plant, in the case studied, successive dyeing processes have been carried out with total success with the treated waters.

CONCLUSIONS

1.- The results in the pilot plant 1, the following results have been achieved:, Treatment capacity 3.8 times higher in equivalence to that currently treated by the municipal WWTP of Manresa,

2.- Elimination of 99% BOD5 (organic load) and NTK (total nitrogen) both <10ppm and 99% color elimination 3.- Surface-volume to be occupied in new plant reduction of 50%. minimal 4.- The water obtained is totally reusable, without the need to add any type of chemical reagent. 5.- Reusable for aquifer surcharge, street cleaning, car wash stations, sanitation of areas contaminated by fertilizers, such as the Manga del Mar Menor, the Albufera de Valencia, wetlands and lakes and lagoons in general, such as Lake Titicaca. 6.- The saving of electrical energy has been estimated at 30-35%, 7.- In wastewater of industrial origin, it can be reused totally or partially for successive production processes, depending on the type of water, the turbidity is less than 5 NTU, in some cases a reverse osmosis and / or disinfection system would be necessary. 8. The success story will be posted shortly on the website (BIO-FIL)®, Those interested in this success story have more information in this link.

Josep Petit, Bio-Fil

Company Member of the Private Company and Climate Foundation