SIDESTREAM CONTROL OF DISSOLVED NUTRIENTS IN ANAEROBICALLY DIGESTED

179 Pages·2016·5.66 MB·English

SIDESTREAM CONTROL OF DISSOLVED NUTRIENTS
IN ANAEROBICALLY DIGESTED SLUDGE CENTRATE
USING ANAMMOX AND CHEMICAL PRECIPITATION
by
Giampiero Galvagno
M.A.Sc., University of British Columbia, 1998
A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
in
THE COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES
(Civil Engineering)
THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
(Okanagan)
November, 2016
© Giampiero Galvagno, 2016
The undersigned certify that they have read, and recommendto the College of Graduate Studies
for acceptance, a thesis entitled:
SIDESTREAM CONTROL OF DISSOLVED NUTRIENTS IN ANAEROBICALLY
DIGESTED SLUDGE CENTRATE USING ANAMMOX AND CHEMICAL
PRECIPITATION
submitted by Giampiero Galvagno in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy .
Dr. Cigdem Eskicioglu, School of Engineering
Supervisor, Professor
Dr. Bahman Naser, School of Engineering
SupervisoryCommitteeMember, Professor
Dr. Rehan Sadiq, School of Engineering
SupervisoryCommitteeMember, Professor
Dr. Jonathan Holzman, School of Engineering
University Examiner, Professor
Dr. Wayne Parker, University of Waterloo
External Examiner, Professor
November 18, 2016
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Abstract
The objective of this research was to assess specific side-stream processes for biodegradation
and precipitation of dissolved nutrients in dewatering centrate and support the seamless
integration of an anaerobic digester (AD) into a biological nutrient removal wastewater treatment
plant (WWTP). Anaerobic digestion processes release reactive and non-reactive dissolved
nutrients which are returned to the mainstream treatment process in the dewatering centrate.
Conventional side-stream treatment processes are typically designed for removal of reactive
nutrients (ie, nitrate/nitrite, ammonia and orthophosphate). However, many WWTPs with low
total nitrogen and total phosphorus criteria will also be impacted by the non-reactive, difficult-to-
degrade nutrient forms such as polyphosphates (poly-P), dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP)
and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON).
In this study, characterization was made of a conventional suspended growth deammonification
treatment (Anammox) process for transforming poly-P, DOP and DON in two types of
dewatering centrate. The first centrate feed studied was from the full-scale Annacis Island
WWTP (AIWWTP), Canada. The second centrate feed was from a lab-scale AD fed waste
sludge from the existing City of Kelowna Wastewater Treatment Facility (KWTF), Canada. The
Anammox process showed similar treatment characteristics for both the KWTF and AIWWTP
centrates with excellent DON removal and poor non-reactive dissolved phosphorus (NRDP)
removal. A statistical comparison of the DOP and poly-P through the Anammox process
suggests that DOP has a higher biodegradation potential. Utilization of a post-Anammox, poly
aluminum chloride chemical dosing, optimized based on zeta potential, was able to achieve the
objective of precipitating residual DON and NRDP and producing an effluent with lower
dissolved nutrients than the pre-digestion KWTF dewatering centrate scenario.
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Additional testing was conducted on final effluent to characterize the dissolved phosphorus and
determine an optimal coagulant dose. The testing suggests that the dissolved phosphorus in
effluent could be associated with colloidal dissolved organic matter (DOM). Furthermore,
coagulant batch dosing experiments using poly aluminium chloride (PACL) and poly
epichlorohydrin amine (polyepiamine) provides strong support for the use of zeta potential
measurements as a way to optimize coagulant dose.
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Preface
The research program, including design and operation of the reactors and data analyses, was
executed by myself with assistance from Dr. Cigdem Eskicioglu. From time-to-time,
characterization testing was conducted by collaborators, as described below.
A version of Chapter 3 was presented at WEFTEC 2014 and the paper was published as part of
the proceedings (Galvagno, G., Eskicioglu, C., Abbott, T., Cella, M., Gosselin, M., 2014. The
fate of recalcitrant nutrients through an anaerobic digester and anammox sidestream treatment
process. Proceedings of Water Environment Federation Technology and Exhibition Conference
2014. Alexandria, Va: Water Environment Federation). The paper writing and all data analyses
were performed by myself. Dr. Cigdem Eskicioglu provided feedback and review of the
manuscript. The majority of the lab data on which the paper is based was acquired by the first
author. Tim Abbott assisted in characterizing waste sludge (COD, VS/TS and biogas) from the
anaerobic reactor. Monica Cella prepared samples and coordinated acquisition of scanning
electron micrograph images. Mike Gosselin, the managing supervisor of the Kelowna
Wastewater Treatment Facility provided access to their in-house lab data and coordinated
additional sampling to complete the effluent and centrate characterization.
A version of Chapter 4 was published by Water Research (Galvagno, G., Eskicioglu, C.,
Abel-Denee, M., 2016. Biodegradation and chemical precipitation of dissolved nutrients in
anaerobically digested sludge dewatering centrate. Water Research, 96, pp.84-93). The
experimental design, reactor operation and all analyses were performed by myself. Marco Abel-
Denee assisted in lab testing.
A version of Chapter 5 was accepted as a paper for WEFTEC 2016 (Galvagno, G., Stevens, G.,
Abel-Denee, M., Eskicioglu, C., Abbott, T.L., 2016. Effluent particulate phosphorus
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fractionation and coagulation by optimized chemical dosing. Proceedings of Water Environment
Federation Technology and Exhibition Conference 2016. Alexandria, Va: Water Environment
Federation). The paper was written by myself, including all the analyses, and was presented at
the conference on September 28, 2016. The experimental setup was designed by myself with
input from Gerry Stevens of AECOM. Gerry provided the initial motivation to characterize
colloidal phosphorus and supported the research as a sponsor for the ENGAGE grant. Dr.
Cigdem Eskicioglu provided important feedback and review through development of the
manuscript. Marco Abel-Denee assisted in the coagulation dosing, phosphorus testing and
filtration steps.
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Table of contents
Abstract ................................................................................................................................... iii
Preface ....................................................................................................................................... v
Table of contents .....................................................................................................................vii
List of tables ............................................................................................................................xii
List of figures ......................................................................................................................... xiii
List of abbreviations .............................................................................................................. xvi
Acknowledgements ...............................................................................................................xviii
Dedication ............................................................................................................................... xix
Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................ 1
1.1 Background and context ..............................................................................................1
1.2 Research goals & experimental hypotheses ..................................................................6
1.3 Research scope and methodology ................................................................................7
1.4 Novelty of research ......................................................................................................9
1.5 Thesis organization ......................................................................................................9
Chapter 2: Literature review .................................................................................................. 10
2.1 Sidestream characteristics .......................................................................................... 11
2.2 Importance of sidestream management ...................................................................... 11
2.3 Potential impacts on final effluent .............................................................................. 13
2.4 Moving towards “Plant of the Future” ........................................................................ 16
2.5 Sidestream treatment processes .................................................................................. 17
2.5.1 Physical and chemical treatment ........................................................................ 18
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2.5.1.1 Ammonia stripping ..................................................................................... 18
2.5.1.1.1 Acid stripping ........................................................................................ 20
2.5.1.1.2 Steam and hot air stripping ..................................................................... 21
2.5.1.1.3 Vacuum flash distillation ....................................................................... 22
2.5.1.1.4 Summary of ammonia stripping options ................................................. 22
2.5.1.2 Oxidation of ammonia ................................................................................ 23
2.5.1.2.1 Break-point chlorination of ammonia ..................................................... 23
2.5.1.2.2 Catalytic oxidation of ammonia.............................................................. 24
2.5.1.2.3 Electrochemical oxidation of ammonia .................................................. 25
2.5.1.3 Chemical precipitation................................................................................ 25
2.5.1.4 Struvite precipitation .................................................................................. 26
2.5.1.5 Membrane filtration .................................................................................... 28
2.5.1.5.1 Forward osmosis .................................................................................... 28
2.5.1.5.2 Liqui-Cel® membrane contactor ............................................................ 29
2.5.1.6 Ion exchange and adsorption ...................................................................... 31
2.5.2 Biological treatment .......................................................................................... 33
2.5.2.1 Cannibal® sidestream process .................................................................... 33
2.5.2.2 Nitrification/denitrification ......................................................................... 35
2.5.2.3 Nitritation ................................................................................................... 37
2.5.2.4 Partial nitritation and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Anammox) ............ 38
2.5.2.5 Bioaugmentation ........................................................................................ 47
2.5.2.6 Algae production ........................................................................................ 49
2.5.3 Summary of the literature review ....................................................................... 50
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Chapter 3: Start-up, acclimation and characterization of lab-scale anaerobic digester and
Anammox bioreactor performance ........................................................................................ 52
3.1 Context ...................................................................................................................... 53
3.2 Methodology ............................................................................................................. 55
3.2.1 Anaerobic digester ............................................................................................. 55
3.2.2 Sidestream nitritation-Anammox bioreactor ....................................................... 56
3.2.3 Sample preparation and testing .......................................................................... 64
3.3 Results ....................................................................................................................... 67
3.3.1 AD and Anammox reactor operation.................................................................. 67
3.3.2 Effluent and centrate characterization results ..................................................... 73
3.3.3 KWTF nutrient mass flow measurements .......................................................... 75
3.4 Discussion ................................................................................................................. 78
3.5 Summary of the bioreactor start-up phase .................................................................. 81
Chapter 4: Biodegradation and chemical precipitation of dissolved nutrients in
anaerobically digested BNR sludge ........................................................................................ 82
4.1 Context ...................................................................................................................... 83
4.2 Material and methods................................................................................................. 85
4.3 Anaerobic digester set-up/operation ........................................................................... 85
4.3.1 Sidestream partial nitritation-deammonification bioreactor set-up/operation ...... 85
4.3.2 Sample preparation and analysis ........................................................................ 87
4.3.2.1 Nitrogen & phosphorus testing ................................................................... 87
4.3.3 Dose optimization for nutrient precipitation ....................................................... 92
4.4 Results ....................................................................................................................... 92
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4.4.1 Existing KWTF centrate characterization results ................................................ 92
4.4.2 Anammox performance results .......................................................................... 96
4.4.3 Centrate biodegradation through the Anammox process ..................................... 99
4.4.3.1 AIWWTP centrate feed .............................................................................. 99
4.4.3.2 Lab-scale KWTF AD centrate .................................................................. 101
4.4.4 Summary of centrate biodegradation study ...................................................... 103
4.5 Dose optimization for nutrient precipitation ............................................................. 104
4.6 Summary of the centrate treatment characterization ................................................. 108
Chapter 5: Final effluent particulate phosphorus fractionation and coagulation by
optimized chemical Dosing ................................................................................................... 109
5.1 Research objectives & approach .............................................................................. 111
5.2 Methodology ........................................................................................................... 112
5.2.1 Phosphorus testing ........................................................................................... 112
5.2.2 Particle size and zeta potential characterization ................................................ 113
5.2.3 Coagulant Dosing ............................................................................................ 113
5.2.4 Conventional filtration apparatus ..................................................................... 114
5.2.5 Ultra-filtration (UF) fractionation .................................................................... 115
5.3 Results & discussion ................................................................................................ 115
5.4 Summary of the effluent particulate characterization ................................................ 123
Chapter 6: Conclusions ......................................................................................................... 124
6.1 Summary and conclusions ....................................................................................... 124
6.2 Limitations .............................................................................................................. 126
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