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

Abstract

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).