BIOLOGICAL NUTRIENT REMOVAL

Biological Nutrient Removal (BNR) is a process used for nitrogen and

phosphorus removal from wastewater before it is discharged into
surface or ground water.

The rising concentration of harmful nutrient compounds – specifically nitrogen

and phosphorus – in municipal wastewater treatment plant discharge causes
cultural eutrophication (nutrient enrichment due to human activities) in surface
waters. Summer algal blooms are a familiar example of this eutrophication, and
can present problems for ecosystems and people alike: low dissolved oxygen,
fish kills, murky water, and depletion of desirable flora and fauna.

Because conventional biological processes designed to meet secondary

treatment effluent standards typically do not remove total nitrogen (TN) and total
phosphorus (TP) to the extent needed to protect receiving waters, wastewater
treatment facilities are increasingly being required to implement processes that
reduce effluent nutrient concentrations to safe levels. This can be a challenge for
wastewater treatment plants because it usually involves major process
modifications to a plant, such as making a portion of the aeration basin anaerobic
and/or anoxic, which reduces the aerobic volume and limits nitrification capacity.

Clarifier solids loading usually limits the concentration of biomass available for
nitrification, so it’s common to increase bioreactor volume to increase treatment
capacity. This can be very expensive and even impossible if space is limited.
AN ACTIVE SOLUTION THROUGH IFAS
One cost-effective solution for Biological Nutrient Removal is the ActiveCell®
process developed by Headworks BIO. By placing specially designed ActiveCell
media into activated sludge basins, the benefits of fixed-film, attached-growth
biological systems are combined with those of the suspended growth activated
sludge process. This hybrid process is referred to as Integrated Fixed-film
Activated Sludge(IFAS) technology.
Typically installed as a retrofit, IFAS technology allows existing activated sludge
plants to increase capacity and support Biological Nutrient Removal without
additional clarifier or aeration basin volume. Each individual piece of ActiveCell
media has a high surface area-to-volume ratio that supports biofilm growth for
active biology above and beyond the limits of the suspended growth activated
sludge system.

he ActiveCell IFAS process is typically divided into stages that include anaerobic,
anoxic, and aerobic volumes, similar to some well-known Biological Nutrient
Removal configurations. Within the ActiveCell IFAS process, media is filled in the
aerobic stages and retained by stainless steel wedge-wire screens at the effluent
end.

Reactor capacity can be increased for organic loading and can support more
advanced wastewater treatment due to longer sludge age. Unlike with typical
suspended growth activated sludge systems, the additional fixed-film biomass in
the ActiveCell process does not need to be settled out – and therefore does not
increase the solids loading to the secondary clarifier. The fixed-film biomass
helps the process respond to organic or hydraulic shock loads and to recover
from upsets.

Portions of existing aerobic zones can be partitioned into anaerobic or anoxic

zones for advanced BNR treatment and the addition of ActiveCell media to the
remaining aerobic zones increases the Solids Retention Time (SRT) for
nitrification.
The team of process design experts at Headworks BIO employs advanced
modeling and design tools to determine the size, location, and quantity of
ActiveCell media for each stage of the process to achieve the desired level of
nutrient removal.