Sharif Digital Repository

Since the advent of conventional activated sludge biological treatment plants, their low efficiency in nitrogen and phosphorus removal has become a significant concern. Therefore, in this study, the performance of microalgal-activated sludge membrane bioreactor (MAS-MBR) as a self-biological treatment or as a post-treatment for conventional biological treatments was investigated. A continuous MAS-MBR with two ratios of algae/sludge (only microalgae and 5:1) was used to treat raw and treated wastewater. The optimum case was achieved with the cultivation of mixed algae/sludge in raw wastewater (R2 case). In this case, the ammonium and phosphorus removal efficiencies were 94.36 ± 3.5 and 88.37... 

An upgraded integrated fixed-film activated sludge-oxic settling anoxic (IFAS-OSA) system is a new technology for reducing nutrients and excess sludge. The results showed that the average TN removal efficiency of the IFAS-OSA system was gradually increased up to 7.5%, while the PO4–3-P removal efficiency increased up-to 27%, compared with that of the IFAS system. The COD removal efficiency of the IFAS-OSA system was slightly increased up-to 5.4% and TSS removal efficiency increased up to 10.5% compared with the control system. Biomass yield coefficient (Yobs) in the IFAS and IFAS-OSA systems were 0.44 and 0.24 (gr MLSS/ gr COD). Hence, sludge production decreased by 45%. The average SVI was... 

In this research, the efficiency of the integrated fixed-film activated sludge-oxic settling anoxic (IFAS-OSA) system in biological nutrient removal was studied. The oxic-settling anoxic (OSA) process is known as a cost effective way to reduce the nutrients (nitrogen and Phosphorus). According to the results, the percentages of total nitrogen removal efficiency in the IFAS, IFAS-OSA2h and IFAS-OSA4h systems were 78.56 ± 2.46, 83.60 ± 0.92 and 85.03 ± 1.69, respectively, while the percentages of phosphorus removal efficiency in these systems were 32.69 ± 8.25, 36.35 ± 6.73 and 39.87 ± 3.61, respectively. The PCR-RFLP method showed that C. albicans had the greatest prevalence (n = 36, 90%).... 

Various technological methods are available for industrial wastewater treatment (WWT), ranging from conventional to advanced treatment processes. It is therefore a complex exercise to select the most appropriate technology to treat the industrial wastewater in a particular situation. Many criteria can be considered in the decision-making process; therefore, multicriteria decision-making methods are especially appropriate for solving this problem. In this paper, we aim to select the most appropriate municipal WWT technology for agricultural usages. We propose a new hybrid methodology based on the best–worst method (BWM) and the behavioral technique for order of preference by similarity to the... 

In this study, the ozonation impact on anaerobic digestion of wasted thickened activated sludge of Tehran wastewater treatment plant has been investigated. Regarding that, the thickened activated sludge, a final solid waste of treatment plants, was subjected to ozonation pretreatment to evaluate its characteristics. Three major sludge characteristics were considered for investigating ozonation effects on anaerobic digestion. A comparison of two different ozone doses, i.e., 0.05 and 0.1 gO3 g−1TS was performed for short-term (10 days) and long-term (30 days) sludge retention times. Furthermore, biogas production, sludge composition, dewaterability, and energy balancing, were studied during... 

This study aims to enhance biological nitrogen removal performance by the innovative carbon-based carriers. The new carriers were produced based on recycling waste materials. In these carriers, the advantages of the hybrid system and physicochemical properties of activated carbon were integrated to promote microbial attachment. To verify the performance of the new carriers compared to the conventional moving carriers, the experiments were conducted in two parallel laboratory-scale sequencing batch reactors under various operating conditions. The analysis revealed that the specific surface area of the new carrier with a total pore volume of 0.0015cm3/gr was 10.9 times the specific surface... 

Municipal wastewater treatment facilities produce a lot of sludge which is concentrated with different pollutants. The sustainable design of the sludge disposal alternatives is of crucial importance for touristic cities like Mashhad in Iran. Increasing sludge generation and its accumulation in the city and more stringent legislations highlight the challenge of sludge disposal, recently. This study compares different alternatives to reach maximum possible environmental benefits as well as the most cost-effective technologies. In this study, life cycle analysis (LCA) assesses different scenarios for disposal of sewage sludge which is aerobically treated and dewatered for two real case studies.... 

Abstract This article studies a submerged membrane electro-bioreactor (SMEBR), an integrated system embracing biological treatment, electrical coagulation, and membrane filtration, all in one individual reactor, by applying an alternating electric field to a membrane bioreactor (MBR). The alternating electric field has been applied with current densities ranging from 5 to 23 A/m2 under eight different electrical exposure modes. The results indicate that under the optimum condition with a current density of 12.5 A/m2 and an exposure mode of (415 s OFF-185 s ON), the COD and phosphate removals would be respectively 4% and 43% more compared to an unmodified MBR system. Also at the same current... 

Two sequencing batch reactors were operated to investigate the effect of influent alkalinity and reactor pH on aerobic granulation. In the first reactor R1 with high influent alkalinity the pH was adjusted in the neutral range, and in the second reactor R2 with low alkalinity the pH was held within the acidic range. The R1-dominating species were bacteria and the appearance time of granules was three weeks after reactor start-up. On the other hand, the acidic environment of R2 provided favorable conditions for fungal growth, and rapid granule formation occurred within the first week of operation. The varying microbial structure of granules resulted in different reactor performance in terms... 

Phenol is one of the aromatic hydrocarbons. Phenol and its derivatives are highly toxic. These pollutants can be observed in the effluents of many industries. This research investigates the removal of phenol by the use of activated sludge in a batch system. The effects of influencing factors on biodegradation efficiency have been evaluated. The main factors considered in this study were the volume of acclimatized activated sludge inoculation, pH, temperature, and initial concentration of phenol. The inoculation volumes of 1, 3, and 5 mL of acclimatized activated sludge were taken into account. Different pH values of 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 were examined. The experiments were conducted for... 

This paper presents an application of the analytical hierarchy process and fuzzy analytical hierarchy process methods for selecting the best wastewater treatment process. The analytical hierarchy process is one of the best ways for deciding among the complex criteria structure in different levels, and the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process is a synthetic extension of the classical method when the fuzziness of the decision makers are considered. After reviewing aerobic treatment processes operated in Iran's industrial estates and determining the main criteria used for treatment process evaluation, they are arranged in a hierarchy structure. Selection of the best wastewater treatment process... 

Most of 200 Activated Sludge Plant in Iran are overloaded and as a result, their efficiency is low. In this work, a pilot plant is manufactured and put into operation in one of the wastewater treatment plants in the west of Tehran. Instead of conventional activated sludge, a membrane bioreactor and an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor used as a pretreatment unit in this pilot. For the sake of data accuracy and precision, an enriched municipal wastewater was opted as an influent to the pilot. Based on the attained result, the optimum retention time in this system was 4. h, and the overall COD removal efficiency was 98%. As a whole, the application of this retrofit would increase the... 

This paper presents an application of the analytical hierarchy process and fuzzy analytical hierarchy process methods for selecting the best wastewater treatment process. The analytical hierarchy process is one of the best ways for deciding among the complex criteria structure in different levels, and the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process is a synthetic extension of the classical method when the fuzziness of the decision makers are considered. After reviewing aerobic treatment processes operated in Iran's industrial estates and determining the main criteria used for treatment process evaluation, they are arranged in a hierarchy structure. Selection of the best wastewater treatment process... 

Biofiltration of Triethylamine (TEA) vapor used as a catalyst in casting operations was evaluated in this study The unit consisted of a 6-L three-stage biofilter containing a mixture of compost and wood chips (40:60 v/v) as the filter medium. Seed microbial population from municipal activated sludge was acclimated for a period of three weeks prior to the actual experimental runs. In the startup period, high pH values up to 10 was observed due to alkaline nature of TEA and inadequate formation of biofilm and low overall biodegradation. Steady increase of organic-N concentration along with gradual upward trend of pressure drop indicated sound establishment of microbial population. Operational... 

Micro flora of the effluents from a dairy factory in Tehran(Pegah Dairy Processing Plant) were isolated and screened for their ability to reduce the organic matter content and COD of the effluents. 10 bacteria were selected due to reduction in COD content from the 4th to 6th day of incubation at 30 °C and pH =11. Highest COD reduction were obtained by two isolates, BP3 and BP4, 70.7 % and 69.5 %, respectively (The initial COD concentration was 3000 mg/l and reduced to 880 and 920 mg/l).After optimization of the condition for test organisms, big reductions in COD, carbohydrate, fat and protein content of the effluents were observed by BP3 up to 84.70 %, 98 %, 45.30 % and 53 %, respectively... 

Styrene and acrylonitrile are produced in large quantities in the petrochemical industries and have been listed among the 189 hazardous and toxic atmospheric contaminants under United States Clean Air Act Amendments 1990 due to their adverse effects on human health. The experimental work was conducted to evaluate the inhibition effect of biofilter in the presence of co-substrate. Yard waste compost mixed with shredded hard plastics in a 25:75 v/v ratio of plastics:compost as the bed media was inoculated with thickened municipal activated sludge. Acclimation to styrene was achieved at 45 days, but there was a very short acclimation period for acrylonitrile. The results show that performance... 

Most sulfide oxidizing bioreactors are based on pure cultures or artificial mixes of microorganisms with strict requirements for growth, which make the system unstable and do not guarantee their long term performance. The ultimate goal of this study is to develop a natural mix of chemotrophic bacteria that may be applied anaerobically for the treatment of sour gas. Activated sludge from local municipal wastewater treatment plant that was maintained in endogenous anaerobic conditions for one year was used in this study. Total suspended solids (TSS) and volatile suspended solids (VSS) of the sludge was 22 gl-1 and 14.3 gl-1, respectively. A glass culture vessel had a volume of 0.65 L was used... 

Biological treatment of waste gas styrene vapor was investigated in a three-stage bench-scale biofilter. Yard waste compost mixed with shredded hard plastics in a 25:75 v/v ratio of plastics:compost was inoculated with thickened municipal activated sludge. Microbial acclimation to styrene was achieved by exposing the system to an inlet concentration (CIn) of 0.25 g m -3 styrene and an empty bed retention time (EBRT) of 360 s for 30 days. Under steady-state conditions, maximum elimination capacity (EC) obtained was 45 g m-3 h-1 at a loading rate (L) of 60 g m -3 h-1 (CIn of 2 g m-3 and EBRT of 120 s). Reduction of retention time adversely impacted the performance resulting in the maximum EC... 

The aim of this research work was to decolorize anaerobically digested (UASB) and aerobically treated distillery wastewater of a process for ethanol production. An Aspergillus species isolated from the soil was used for decolorization. A sequential Plackett-Burman design in three stages was used for optimization of decolorization conditions. Both maximum decolorization and COD reduction under optimized conditions were obtained as 84%. By implementing the optimum values in a pilot scale of an activated sludge system a continuous process for decolorization was conducted. The decolorization efficiency of this system with 48 h retention time was about 75% in a limited period of 4 days. For... 

Treatment of wastewater containing carbohydrates by Pichia saitoi growing on beet molasses was investigated in a well-mixed continuous tank as an alternative to bulking control. The yeast strain that used in this work was isolated from non-alcoholic beverage industrial wastewater, with a view on TOC removal compared with other strains in previous study.In this research the isolated yeast showed high COD and TOC removal at three hydraulic retention times, HRT= 48, 24 and 18 hours.Maximum COD and TOC reductions were obtained at HRT=48 hours, which were 96% and 88%, respectively.The influent COD and TOC were 2500 and 148 mg/1, respectively.The pH maintained for synthetic wastewater was about...