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PND –A Novel WasteWater Treatment Process Designed Around Biology

PND –A Novel WasteWater Treatment Process Designed Around Biology. Dr. Ralf Cord Ruwisch. PND - Wastewater Treatment Technology Adopted from Nature. Dr. Ralf Cord Ruwisch. Background of Invention: 15 Years of R&D on Advanced W astewater T reatment

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PND –A Novel WasteWater Treatment Process Designed Around Biology

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  1. PND –A Novel WasteWater Treatment Process Designed Around Biology Dr. Ralf Cord Ruwisch

  2. PND - Wastewater Treatment Technology Adopted from Nature Dr. Ralf Cord Ruwisch

  3. Background of Invention: • 15 Years of R&D on Advanced Wastewater Treatment • 4 PhD candidates (now working as engineers/scientists) • Numerous publications • Most promising outcome (PND) now a patent application in international phase • Inventor team: Dr. Ralf Cord-Ruwisch, Dr. Leonie Hughes • IP holder: Murdoch University

  4. Objective of Waste Water Treatment Avoid: Outbreaks of disease Pollution by solids (Prim. Treatment) Pollution by soluble organics (Sec. Treatment) Pollution by nutrients, e.g. N (Tert. Treatment) The last two steps are biological and essential to minimise pollution and enable water reclamation

  5. Pollution by Nitrogen • N-pollution leads to algal blooms • Key pollutants are: • Ammonia • Nitrate

  6. Pollution by Nitrogen Algal blooms can be spectacular

  7. Pollution by Nitrogen Also at “normal levels around cities” N pollution can turn toxic

  8. Pollution by Nitrogen Evan at “low levels” N pollution can kill reefs and other ecosysmtems

  9. Pollution by Nitrogen Legislation asks for lowest N-levels with best proven technology

  10. N-Removal inWastewater Treatment In Wastewater Nitrogen is present as ammonia. Extremely high numbers of biodegrading bacteria are needed to remove it.

  11. Arial view of Biological Wastewater Treatment in Perth “Challenge to keep up with expanding population”

  12. Why is N removal difficult ? N removal requires 2 processes: Aerobic: Ammonia + O2 nitrate (nitrification) Anoxic: Nitrate + Organics N2 (denitrification) Traditional plants can’t make both processes work  Residual N pollution in urban areas Reason: Traditional Design based on maximum O2 supply

  13. Problem of Traditional Approach CO2 • Organics are converted to CO2. • Nitrogen is merely converted into another form. • Additional nitrate removal is needed. Organics Aerobic Ammonia Nitrate O2

  14. Problem of Traditional Approach CO2 N2 Organics Aerobic Anoxic Ammonia Nitrate O2 Nitrate con only be removed by anoxic denitrification. However…

  15. Problem of Traditional Approach CO2 N2 Organics Aerobic Anoxic Ammonia Nitrate O2 To carry out Nitrate removal, organics are needed !

  16. Problem of Traditional Approach CO2 N2 Organics Aerobic Anoxic Ammonia Nitrate O2 The organics needed for pollutant release as N2 have been destroyed in the aerobic step.

  17. Problem of Traditional Approach CO2 N2 Organics Aerobic Anoxic Ammonia Nitrate O2 Current practice is to take a portion of the untreated organics from raw wastewater. Problem: Ammonia addition.

  18. Problem of Traditional Approach CO2 N2 Organics Aerobic Anoxic Ammonia Nitrate O2 • Various add-on technologies have been developed: • Multiple aerobic/anoxic steps • Sophisticated O2 control (SND)

  19. Problem of Traditional Approach CO2 N2 Organics Aerobic Anoxic Ammonia Nitrate O2 Problems of existing plants: Expensive, Incomplete N removal, High maintenance,

  20. Learning from Biology (Nature) CO2 N2 Organics Aerobic Anoxic Ammonia Nitrate O2 What happens in nature when highly polluted waste comes in contact with bio-degrading bacteria ?

  21. A B Continued over-supply with organics trains wastewater bacteria to store lipids (fat) C PHB

  22. Learning from Biology (Nature) Organics Lipid Anoxic Ammonia Ammonia • In nature: • No energy for excessive O2 supply. • Organics removal by anoxic storage as lipid

  23. Learning from Biology (Nature) Organics Lipid Aerobic Anoxic Ammonia Ammonia Nitrate O2 Subsequent O2 supply can initiate Nitrification

  24. Learning from Biology (Nature) Organics Lipid Aerobic Anoxic Ammonia Ammonia Nitrate O2 • Needed: • Organics for Nitrate removal. • Oxidation of Lipids (either needs O2 or Nitrate).

  25. Learning from Biology (Nature) N2 Nitrate Lipid Aerobic Anoxic Ammonia O2 • By recycling Nitrate containing water back: • N removal is completed • Nitrification and Denitrification operate in parallel…

  26. Learning from Biology (Nature) N2 Nitrate Lipid Aerobic Anoxic Ammonia O2 … resulting in unrestricted N removal.

  27. Parallel Nitrification and Denitrification (PND) N2 Trad. Design: Heavy handed O2 supply + Fixing up the consequences. PND: Building around the biology Nitrate Lipid Aerobic Anoxic Ammonia O2

  28. Performance of PND N (mM) N2 3 2 1 0 Nitrate PND Lipid Aerobic Anoxic SBR Ammonia O2 0 100 Time (min) 400 Compared to state of art SBR technology: PND removed N more completely, faster, with less O2 (direct competition between PhD students: “Beaten hands-down without even trying”)

  29. Performance of PND N (mM) N2 3 2 1 0 Nitrate PND Lipid Aerobic Anoxic SBR Ammonia O2 0 100 Time (min) 400 Theory (modelling) supports results: Nitrifying bacteria percentage: >80% in PND< 10% in SBR Hence 8 times faster rates expected

  30. Performance of PND N (mM) N2 3 2 1 0 Nitrate PND Lipid Aerobic Anoxic SBR Ammonia O2 0 100 Time (min) 400 Key disadvantage of PND: Separation of biomass from liquid required repeatedly: PND: (3-5) Trad. Systems (2) However, other advantages to users:

  31. Advantages for Users of the Technology • Can meet lowest demands (>98%) for N removal Barrier Reef Water Re-use • Less (about 20%) aeration energy • Smaller footprint (upgrading) • Less process control ! • No risk of the greenhouse gas N2O emission • Enables P removal (insufficient time to explain)

  32. Implementation Options • New plants (however industry is very conservative) • Retrofitting existing plants • Step by Step implementation (pizza) • Set to become The New Standard ?

  33. Arial view of Biological Wastewater Treatment in Perth “Challenge to keep up with expanding population”

  34. Development Stage We are Here! Engineering & market input required Pilot or Demonstration Site required +$$$’s Licensee required

  35. We are looking for… • A potential demonstration site • Engineering and Market expertise • A potential licensee

  36. Please Contact • Samantha Dymond • Email: s.dymond@murdoch.edu.au • Phone: 08.9360.7481 • Ralf Cord-Ruwisch • Email: cord@murdoch.edu.au

  37. Spare

  38. Current State of the Art: Simultaneous Nitrification and Denitrification • Precise O2 control needed • Skilled operators • Not always reliable • Slowing down  incr. footprint • Wasteful: COD and O2 • Emerging evidence of N2O emission Reaction Rate De-nitrif. Nitrif. SND Dissolved O2 (mg/L)

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