METHODS OF BIODEGRADATION

METHODS OF BIODEGRADATION

AEROBIC ANAEROBIC
Low BOD and colour
intensity of effluent low SOURCE OF OXYGEN High BOD wastes
(less than 2500 ppm) MICRO-ORGANISMS
MO TO FOOD RATIO No Oxygen, use O2 in food
Oxygen CARBON BALANCE
End: CO2, H2O, NO3, ENERGY BALANCE CH4. CO2, (1:1 or 3:1), Humus
SS NBD BOD/COD REDUCTION H2S

50% of organic carbon 95% of organic matter is

is convt. to biomass decomposed into biogas and
and rest CO2 only 5% incorporated into
biomass.
60% of energy gets stored in newly 90% of energy gets stored in in organic
formed cells and 40% lost as heat waste recovered in CH4 gas and 5-7% for
FAST PROCESS growth of new cells and 3-5 is wasted as heat
SLOW PROCESS
Needs high energy cost or land area for
O2 not reqd, cost less, solid waste and liquid
surface contact, force circulation of air
Aerobic+anaerobic preferred less time
O2 consumption: dissolution
 METHODS OF TREATMENT OF WASTE

AEROBIC ANAEROBIC

• Use BD organic matter for growth and • For liquid and solid
metab. • High BOD i.e. more than 40,000ppm
• Huge quantity of cell mass and CO2 (g) • Energy producing not consuming
• Faster, less reactor volume process
• Energy consuming process not • 1t of BOD consumed produces 1.16
producing X 107 kJ and cell mass 50-150kg

• Destroy 1t of BOD, 1100kwh power and • Digested material is a good

400-600kg cell mass biofertilizer due to nutrients and
free NH3
• Sludge can also be used.
 AEROBIC TREATMENT METHODS

ACTIVATED SLUDGE PROCESS

ASP
• Aerobic fermentation
• Recycling of activated sludge
• High concentration of MO is maintained

Aeration Clean
influent Clarifier
Tank Effluent

AIR

Sludge
Recycling
Discharg
of sludge
e
 AEROBIC TREATMENT METHODS

TRICKLING FILTER METHOD

TFM
influent
sprinkler
recycle

Primary Secondary
Clarifier Clarifier TREATED
EFFLUENT

pump

Filtration
chamber

Sludge
pump
Sludge
Discharg
e
• Primary and secondary clarifiers: separate SS and sludge from
untreated filtered effluents resp

• Filtration chamber: BED FILTER, SHALLOW, CIRCULAR

• Made of porous sandstone, charcoal and gravel which is soaked in
nutrients

• Sprinkler: horizontally rotating perforated pipe closed at both the

ends and sprinkles the effluent

Primary clarifier effluent -----pump----- stones-- trickling of effluent

Desired MO

Stone bed
Flow thro’ is
Pollution free
Flow thro Stabilized water and end
product
 AEROBIC TREATMENT METHODS

FLUIDISED BED AEROBIC SYSTEM (FBAS)

Pollution free Excess biomass

effluent

WASTE 6
WATER
1 5
2 Medium
FLUIDISED BED pump
Biomass
pump RECTOR separator
O2 Medium return

pressure 7

4
3 Oxygenated feed Distributor
(Has Biofilm)

oxygenator
 FBAS

• Compact, efficient, aerobic

• Used for BOD removal, nitrification and denitrification of
municipal and industrial WW
• Best for organic chemicals, pulp and paper, petroleum refining and
textiles
• Medium for bed: graded sand for large area for biological growth

• Fixed film biomass concentration per litre reactor volume is high 10,000-30,000
ppm

• Results in v. high volumetric efficiency of system

• Requires minimum reactor volume
• No provision for sludge recycling
• Cell mass is constantly maintained in bed
• Pure O2 is dissolved in the effluent before it enters the reactor and causes
oxidation of 50ppm/cycle
• Positive control of biofilm thickness by a suitable medium or biomass separation
syst
 AEROBIC TREATMENT METHODS

ROTATING BIOLOGICAL CONTRACTOR (RBC)

• Useful to treat low strength organic wastes
• MO on a disc, during immersion disc is in contact with effluent and later in
contact with air, alternately.
• When DISC IN AIR: O2 absorbed in liquid film
• When DISC IN WATER: O2 transferred into bulk effluent in trough
• O2 supply is maintained for microbial metabolism and BOD is reduced

Microbial cells Circular disc Horizontal shaft with small gap

On disc
outlet

60% of disc is
immersed in effluent Shaft
Rotation
Motor low
speed
Semicylindrical trough, large (10rpm)
no of circular disc Eff. Inlet
 ANAEROBIC TREATMENT METHODS

• Suitable for solid and liquid wastes

• When colour intensity and BOD is v. high ANE is the best
• Methods do not use atmosp. O2 nor mechanical agitation
• No O2 is red, so how do anae systems satisfy O2 requirement?
• MO DEGRADE ORGANIC MATTER USING O2 IN
SUBSTARTE AND MULTIPLY

DISADVANTAGE:
• Contact b/w MO and organic matter not there
• Rate of degradation of organic matter is slower

• ANE pr: 10-12 days for AE pr: 5-6 days

stabilization of waste

• Initial Investment in anaerobic sys is high than for aerobic treatment

which also need bioreactor and large area and land reqd.
 ANAEROBIC TREATMENT METHODS

END PRODUCTS

• Foul smelling, dark coloured residues which cannot be discarded without

aerobic treatment by oxidation ponds

FOR SOLID WASTES:

• Especially MSW, landfills are recommended
• Time period of stabilization if Lfill with MSW is 10yrs. Operational aspects
can reduce time.
BIOREACTORS FOR ANAE TREATMENT OF INDUS. WW, MUN. SEW. WATER

1. Stirred tank reactor

2. Anaerobic contact process
3. Fixed film reactor/packed bed reactor/anaerobic filter
4. Expanded bed reactor
5. Fluidized bed reactor
6. Semifluidized bed reactor
7. Upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB)
8. Two stage biomethanation system
 STIRRED TANK REACTOR
• Versatile
• Perfect mixing
• Hydraulic (liq moving in confined space under pressure) retention time
become equal to solid retention time

• DRAWBACK: leakage of microbial cells thro outlet along with fermented

broth. Disrupts cell to food ratio and caused inconsistency in performance

• CSTR is used in effluents with low solid content (2-10% dry matter)
• Uniform distribution of heat
• Ability to prevent accumulation of scum
• Most commonly used for sewage/manure
• Size vary from 12,000m3-100,000m3

Hydraulic retention time = Volume of aeration tank (m3)

or influent flow rate (m3/h)
Residence time (h)

HRT is a measure of average length of time that a soluble compound remains in

a constructed bioreactor
 CH4 + CO2

Effluent outlet

Feed inlet

pump

CSTR
 ANEROBIC CONTACT PROCESS

Microbial density is important

• Modified CSTR
• Works on principle of activated sludge but without any O2 supply
• Mixing with mechanical agitator or recycling biogas produced in the system

• MO are allowed to settle and return to the digester

• This increases biomass retention time in comparison to HRT
• This results in high MO and BOD/COD ratio which results in efficient
removal of BOD/COD from effluent system
• Performance can be enchanced by recycling cells
• Methods for separation include flotation, centrifugation, gravity thickening,
flocculation followed by sedimentation

• Eg. 3000m3 reactor with 300m3 settler for treating waste and loading rate
of 5kg COD perm3/day.
 CH4 + CO2

Effluent
outlet
Treated
effluent

MO
Feed inlet allowed
to settle
and
return
pump
pump

Recycling of biogas or MO to reactor

 Fixed film reactor/Anaerobic filter (AF)/Packed Bed reactor (PBR)

• All cells are immobilized

• A whole cell reactor
• Entry of WW can be upflow or downflow
• Solid matrix consists of inert support material to provide surface for
microbial attachment

• Bacterial mass is incorporated between voids of inert media

• Whole cell immobilization and flock retention achieves
low hydraulic retention time (HRT) and reasonable solid
retention time (SRT)
Disadvantages
• Not suitable in presences of Ca salts and may cause
Solid support clogging and reduce channel flow
• High SS
Gravel Solution
• To make system work alternately in upflow and
Glass beads
Baked clay downflow mode
• In startup microbial attachment may be slow
Polyester with holes
• Treatment of effluents with 1-10% dry matter eg.
Activated carbon beads
veg. processing waste, animal waste, wheat starch
waste, sulphite liquors, molasses, food processing
wastes
Solids Retention Time (SRT) is the average time the
activated-sludge solids are in the system. The SRT is an
important design and operating parameter for the
activated-sludge process and is usually expressed in
days.
Anaerobic upflow FFR
CH4 + CO2

Treated effluent

Support cum distributor

WW
pump
 CH4 (biogas) + CO2

Anaerobic upflow FFR

WW

pump

Treated effluent
 Expanded Bed Reactor

• Similar to upflow FFR except bulk

bed density
• MO form film on surface of small
CH4 + CO2
(0.2-.3mm) inert particles of low
(Biogas)
density to minimize energy
requirement for expansion
• Bed is expanded by upflow of WW Effluent
and particles to which MO are discharge
attached.
• If particles are dense, then
superficial fluid velocity may vary
b/w 2-10m/h
• To increase velocity when feed
liquid volume is not sufficient,
recirculation of outlet fluid can be
done.

Feed inlet recycle

pump
Bulk density is a property of powders, granules, and other
"divided" solids, especially used in reference to mineral
components (soil, gravel), chemical substances,
(pharmaceutical) ingredients, foodstuff, or any other masses
of corpuscular or particulate matter.

It is defined as the mass of many particles of the material

divided by the total volume they occupy.
 Fluidized Bed Reactor
CH4 + CO2
(Biogas)
• Superficial fluid velocity is
higher as compared to EBR
• This results in complete
fluidization of grannules Effluent
outlet
• Vel: 6-20m/h
• Particle size: 0.2-1nm
• Recycle ratio: 5-500
• Expansion of 30-100% bed
granules

Feed inlet
pump

pump
Advantages
• Suspended particles are in constant
Applications
motion
• Enzymes are immobilized on a
• No channeling or clogging
solid matrix
• More efficiency of substrate
• Pure cultures of whole cells
degradation
immobilized on a solid matrix
• Particulate wastes can be treated using
• Wide variety of WWT
FBR
processes
• Uniform solid distribution
• High conc of active biomass/unit reactor
vol
• Large surface area for biological growth,
contact with effluents and hence high
rate of biodegradation.

Disadvantages
• Removal of supporting particles (sand)
from reactor is problematic
• Cleaning particles from the biomass and
recycling them to reactor difficult
• High energy input to high recycle ratio
and high density of bed particles
 Semi Fluidized Bed Reactor

• Fluidization (F) and inverted fluidization (IF) occur simultaneously

• For IF, upward velocity the fluid must exceed the free settling velocity
of the particles

• Porus support must be on top of the column and vel incr, then bed
particles will collect on top forming a packed bed (this is IF)

• For semiF:
• Fully developed fluidized bed is compressed from above using a
perforated plate which slides down the column
• Pore size of the plate must be less than particle size of the bed so
particles are retained and only fluid is allowed to pass

Because of Compression --- packed section on top of F section

Applications: for WWT

MO are attached to inert particles reduce TOC,BOD, TSS, degradation of
organic contaminants, N2 cpds, conversion of VOC (volatile organic cpds and
solids into CH4)
 FB

PB
FB PB PB
FB

FB

PB

FB

PB
Series Better PB & FB in separately
than
Since clogging of bed by SS like in FB and prevention of unstable bed
expansion and bacteria coated bed particles
 CH4 + CO2
Treated
(Biogas)
Effluent
outlet

Sedimentation
PB chamber

Sediment to waste

FB

filter

Feed
Feed pump

Recycle
pump

Feed inlet
 Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactor (USAB)

Developed in Holland; Used for treatment of low conc of soluble wastes (1% dry
matter)

CH4 + CO2
(Biogas)

Treated Effluent in
quiecent zone

Upward velocity of the

liquid plays an important
role in maintaining the
sludge undisturbed
Sludge blanket
with active MO

filter Feed pump

• WW enters from bottom and gets evenly distributed throughout
bottom CS through a liquid distributor

• At bottom is this thick sludge blanket with active MO

• Due to settling characteristics of the MO a sludge blanket with V. high

biomass can be formed

• Upward velocity of the liquid plays an important role in maintaining

the sludge undisturbed
• It shd be within laminar flow zone and no turbulence shd be seen and
created

• Effluent to be treated is fed via distributor into the base of the

sludge blanket
• Under appropriate conditions the flocks of bacteria are transformed
into dense granules of 1-5mm dia with good settling chat

• Top portion has large CS so treated WW passes into quiescent zone

free of gas bubbles where detached bacteria from sludge settle. A gas
collection system is attached at the top.
 Limitations of USAB Uses and Applications

• Sludge blanket may get • Food processing waste, dairy waste,

disturbed if influent flow is fast
or if gas production is too
vigorous
• No method to treat particulate
waste
• Particulate waste (PW) may
interfere with flocculation and
may accumulate in bed
• PW reduces effectiveness of bed
per unit vol
• Inefficient if flow channels thro
sludge and not uniform
throughout the volume of the
bed.
cane molasses distillery waste,
chemical industry effluents
• Used extensively in Holland on a
commercial scale with 100m3
capacity.
• Removes 70% of COD and 0.7m3/kg
is biogas productivity
• COD input: 27,000 kg/day
• COD destroyed: 18,900 kg per day
• Biogas produced: 13,250 m3 per day
• For 300 days/yr total total biogas
would be 3.97x106 m3 per annum
• If COD loading rate is 15kg/m3
 Two stage Biomethanation System

• First stage solid state fermentation

• Insoluble polymeric complex cpd hydrolyze to soluble cpd like acetic acid
and glucose
• These then act as substrates for cell growth and product formation

• Ist stage products are fatty acids, acetic acid and propionic acid
• 2nd stage substrate is mix of volatile fatty acids and product is biogas
(CH4and CO2).
• Reaction is carried in liquid phase and in both stages culture is a mixed
culture
 lechate
Biogas

Biogas generator
1

2 Discharge of
Lechate generator pump treated
leachate
 Membrane bioreactor Permeate

Settled
sewage

Draft tube Flat

membrane

Fluid
flow

Air
 Membrane bioreactor

• Used for very high biomass conc

• Problems are in clogging of membranes
• Can be reduced by creating rapid flow across membrane

• Air lift configuration directs air over the membrane situated in draft tubes
• Clean permeate is removed by pump

ion