ANITA Mox MBBR

Return on Experience from Start-up of Full Scale Systems and New

Developments European Biosolids Conference and

Exhibition, 19-20 November 2013

Simon Piveteau, M. Christensson, B. Bigot, R. Lemaire, L. Rohold, B. Nussbaum, J. Ochoa

Context – Sidestream impact on WWTP

Screening Primary settler Biological treatment Clarifier

River

Refuse

Sand,

grease

Thickener Digester

Gas holder CHP

Dewatering

Sludge

disposal

Sidestream

1-2% of WWTP inlet flow

15-25% of N-load

N-NH4: 500-1500 mg/L

BOD : < 150mg/L

• Impact mainstream design • More O2 required • Lower C/N ratio (C addition?) • Higher sludge production

Context – Dedicated Sidestream process

Screening Primary settler Biological treatment Clarifier

River

Refuse

Sand,

grease

Thickener Digester

Gas holder CHP

Dewatering

Sludge

disposal

Cost- & Energy-efficient Sidestream treatment

ANITA™ Mox

COD

O2

NO3-

AOB

COD

Heterotrops

NH4+

NO2-

NOB

55%

45%

Anammox Bacteria

N2 + NO3-

Anammox

NH4+

NO2-

89% 11%

O2

(40%)

Anoxic Aerobic

O2

COD

(0%)

Principle – ANITA™ Mox

1-stage Deammonification -60% O2 -100% COD

ANITA™ Mox – MBBR process High sludge retention time (SRT) needed

Necessity to protect anammox bacteria (O2 / NO2) Biofilm

Necessity to keep bacteria into the system (avoid washout)

Maximum robustness and stability desired

Biofilm Media

Liquid

Nitritation

NH4+

NO2- AOB

Anammox

N2 O2

Aerobic

Anoxic Simultanous in biofilm

MBBR

K3 500 m2/m3

K5 800 m2/m3

BiofilmChip M 1200 m2/m3

ANITA™ Mox – Anammox biomass security

MBBR = Media + Grid

No risk of loosing Anammox biomass

No impact of incoming TSS (flow-through)

Retention Grid

+

Anita Mox treating Bio Thelys™ effluent: bench scale trials

13/11/2013 Veolia Environnement Recherche & Innovation 8

Strategy applied-bench scale Reference reactor in parallel (conventional reject water)

Dilution x4 for THP effluent

Low initial N-load, careful increase (>1 HRT)

Research questions Stable N-removal?

What type of inhibition?

Inhibitions and how to address them

Inhibitions from THP effluents Inert soluble COD causing immediate toxicity

Biodegradable COD leading to competitive inhibition

Influent

BSCOD

BSCOD inert SCOD

inert SCOD

NH4-N

NH4-N

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

mg

/L

Conventional digester effluent Diluted THP post digestion effluent

4 times more soluble COD in diluted THP effluent

3.5 times more biodegradable soluble COD

bsCOD/NH4-N = 0,7 in THP against 0,12 in conventional reject water

Results-Bench Scale

11

30 days of steady increase in N-removal

Stable removal at 1.2gN/m2.day (50% of reference reactor)

Cause of this lower removal, toxicity and/or competitive inhibition by heterotrophs?

Results- N-load & removal

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140

days

gN

/m²/

da

yR7 surface N load

R7 surface N removal

R8 Surface N load

R8 surface N removal

2.3

1,2

Reference

reactor

Test

reactor

12

Increasing heterotrophic activity relatively to autotrophs in test reactor

0,00

0,20

0,40

0,60

0,80

1,00

1,20

1,40

1,60

1,80

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120

days

gC

OD

rem

/gN

rem

R7

R8

evolution of the ratio SCODremoved/Nremoved in R7 (reference reactor)

and R8 (THP influent)

Results- ratio CODremoved/Nremoved

13

Dense orange deep layer

Loose grey outer layer

Thickening of the outer

layer in both reactors,

more important in R8

5mm

5mm 5mm

5mm 5mm

Results-Visual Analysis

Day 22

Day 49

Day 66

Discussion - Bench Scale

15

Discussion - Identifying Inhibition

Negligible physiological/bactericidal toxicity

• Similar maximum Anammox activity in both reactors for more than 50 days (data not shown)

• High N-removal efficiency in test reactor (>90%) during 30 days treating THP Bio Thelys™ effluent, indicating good AOB activity

• Dilution and slow increase of flow rate were effective

Competitive inhibition by heterotrophs • SCOD consumption occurred

SCODremoved/Nremoved < 0.2 in reference reactor

SCODremoved/Nremoved > 0.5 in test reactor

• Denitrification occurred

NO3prod/NH4rem < 11%

16

Consequences of the high heterotrophic activity in test reactor

Thick heterotrophic outer layer

• Lower transport and diffusion of substrates

Competition for nitrites and oxygen

• Higher oxygen flux required

• Lower Anammox activity

Discussion

17

Conclusion

Operational performances: •Anita Mox process applied to Bio Thelys™ effluent provided a

stable Nitrogen removal (1.2gN/m2.day)

•Lower rate compared to treatment of conventional reject water mainly due to competitive inhibition by heterotrophs

•Dilution and careful load increase prevent toxicity effects from Bio Thelys™ effluent

Recommendations •BSCOD content should be reduced to a minimum

longer residence time in the digester

High rate aerobic step prior to Anita Mox process

•Anita Mox operated in IFAS mode

BioFarm concept = Providing seeded carriers for rapid start-up of

future full-scale ANITATM Mox units

Seeded carriers

New carriers during start-up

ANITA™ Mox – Sjölunda WWTP, Malmö (Sweden) 4 x 50m3 MBBR (4 x 13,000 gal) Capacity = 200 kgN/d – 440 lbN/d 800-1200 mgN-NH4/L 1st ANITA™ Mox reference Flexibility for fullscale testing

y = 0,89xR² = 0,95

0

0,2

0,4

0,6

0,8

1

1,2

1,4

1,6

0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1 1,2 1,4 1,6

NH

4 r

em

ova

l (kg

N/m

3.d

)

NH4 load (kgN/m3.d)

BioFarm – Performance last 2 years

89% NH4 removal for the last 2 years

Average 0.9-1.3 kgN-NH4/m3.d

Empty 85% carriers for fullscale start-up

• 350 kgN/d (700lb/d) 430 kgN/d (950 lb/d) reject water

• Existing 300m3 SBR MBBR

• K5 carrier (AnoxKaldnes)

• Quick seeding (13% from BioFarm)

• Started in January 2012

ANITA™ Mox – Sundets WWTP, Växjö (Sweden)

Fine

bubble

aeration

3.5m

depth

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

0

0,05

0,1

0,15

0,2

0,25

0,3

0,35

0,4

0,45

0,5

0,55

0,6

0,65

0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360 390 420 450 480 510 540 570 600 630

Re

ject

wat

er

flo

w (

m3

/d)

NH

4 lo

ad &

NH

4 r

em

ova

l rat

e (

kgN

/m3

.d)

Days

NH4-N load

NH4-N rem

Reject Water Flow (m3/d)

Växjö – N-load / NH4-rem

Treating all reject water after only 30 days (with 13% seeding)

0.4-0.5 kgN/m3.d ½ design N-load Co-digestion + THP 2014

Design Flow = 350 m3/d

350

Real Flow = 100-200 m3/d

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

1100

1200

1300

0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360 390 420 450 480 510 540 570 600 630

NO

3 o

ut,

NO

2 o

ut

(m

gN/L

)

NH

4 in

/ou

t (

mgN

/L)

Days

NH4-N in NH4-N out NO3-N out NO2-N out

Växjö – Nitrogen species in/out

50

20

22

24

26

28

30

32

34

36

38

40

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360 390 420 450 480 510 540 570 600 630

T°C

%N

H4

rem

, %TN

rem

, rat

io N

O3

/NH

4

Days

TN removal %

NH4-N removal %

ratio NO3-prod/NH4-rem

T°C

Växjö – Performance

90% NH4 removal and 80% TN removal

DO control strategy reduce NO3 production <11%

90

80

• 120 kgN/d – 260 lb-N/d (reject water + leachate)

• Retrofitting 600m3 existing tank

• Quick seeding (BioFarm)

• Commissioning June 2012

ANITA™ Mox – Holbæk (DK)

Leachate storage tank (=600m3)

ANITA™ Mox

Landfill

ANITA™ Mox – Grindsted (DK)

50 000 tons/year to BioPasteur® digester: • 45% of DS from wastewater sludge

• 35% of DS from organic household waste

• 20% of DS from organic industrial waste

• 110 kgN/d – 240 lb-N/d Reject Water from co-digester

• 140 m3 - 37,000 gal (new tank)

• Quick Seeding (BioFarm)

• Start-up July 2013

ANITA™Mox –James River WWTP, Newport News, VA US

• 250 kgN/d – 550 lb-N/d

(reject water)

• Retrofit of existing tank

• Quick seeding (BioFarm)

• Start-up Oct 2013

• Existing HybasTM system

60,200m3/d (16 MGD)

ANITA™ Mox – South Durham, North Carolina US

• 890 mg/L ammonia reject water

combination of HRSD sludge

• 284 m3/d flow

• Retrofit of existing tank

• Seeding (BioFarm)

• Start-up Q3 2013

• Plant has existing HybasTM

system 60,200m3/d

ANITA Mox

• 330 kgN/d – 730 lb-N/d

(reject water)

• Retrofit of existing tank

• Quick seeding (BioFarm)

• Start-up Q2 2014

• US based BioFarm

MBBR

BiofilmMedia

Liquid

Nitritation

NH4+

NO2-AOB

Anammox

N2O2

Aerobic

AnoxicBiofilm

Media

Liquid

Nitritation

NH4+

NO2-AOB

Nitritation

NH4+

NO2-AOB

Anammox

N2

Anammox

N2O2O2

Aerobic

Anoxic

= 0.5-1.5

mg/L

Biofilm Media

Liquid

Nitritation

NH4+

NO2-

AOB

Anammox

N2O2

AnoxicMedia

Liquid

Nitritation

NH4+

NO2-

AOB

Anammox

N2O2

Anoxic

< 0.5

mg/L

Flocs (1-3 g/L)

MBBR

AOB in flocs = less NO2- limitation AOB in biofilm = NO2

- limitation

New Development – IFAS configuration IFAS

IFAS ANITA™Mox – Full-scale

IFAS ANITA™Mox – Full-scale Results

0

0,5

1

1,5

2

2,5

3

3,5N

H4

load

& r

em

ova

l (kg

N/m

3.d

)

NH4-load

NH4-removal

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

930 950 970 990 1010 1030 1050 1070 1090 1110 1130 1150

%N

H4

an

d %

TN r

em

ova

l

Days

%TN-removal

%NH4-removal

%NO3-prod : NH4-rem

Higher NH4 removal after switch to IFAS (x2-3 MBBR)

MBBR Transition IFAS

IFAS ANITA™Mox – Full-scale Results (2)

0

0,5

1

1,5

2

2,5

3

3,5N

H4

load

& r

em

ova

l (kg

N/m

3.d

)

NH4-load

NH4-removal

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

10000

930 950 970 990 1010 1030 1050 1070 1090 1110 1130 1150

SVI (

mL/

g)

TSSi

n &

MLS

S (m

g/L

)

Days

MLSS (mg/L)

TSSin (mg/L)

SVI (mL/g)

MBBR Transition IFAS TSS = 2-7 g/L (depending incoming TSS)

Good sludge quality (SVI 60-110)

Bench-scale trial – IFAS different C/N ratios

32

Influent

4 Pilot/Conditions

4 parallel IFAS reactors A

B

• AD Sidestream • NH4= 900 mgN/L • tCOD= 400 mg/L • BOD = 30 mg/L • tCOD/N = 0.4 • sbCOD/N = 0.25

• 30 oC • 43 % K5 carrier • Volume reactor = 7 L • D.O.IFAS=0.1- 0.2 mg O2/L • MLSS = 3g/L • Regul out N-NH4=50mg/L • 1) bCOD/N=0,05 (ref) • 2) bCOD/N = 0,5 • 3) bCOD/N= 1,0 • 4) bCOD/N=1,5

OCDE

Reactor

Settler

Bench-scale trial – IFAS different C/N ratio

33

Reactor

Settler

Similar removal rates (7 g N/m2.d ) in batch trials after 50 days

No heterotrophic growth in biofilm due to higher C/N ratio

Maximum anammox activity in batch trials

ANITA™ Mox – Applications (MBBR & IFAS)

Municipal :

Sidestreams: • Anaerobic Digested Sludge centrate validated

• Thermal Hydrolysis + AD centrate validated

• Different C/N ratio (IFAS) validated

Mainstream: (IFAS = easy retro fit) • Post UASB + HRAS (high ToC) under evaluation

• Post Primary + HRAS (low ToC) under evaluation

• Post CEPT + MBBR-C (low ToC) under evaluation

Industrial : • Landfill Leachates (old) validated

• Post anaerobic from Bio-composting (COD/N=2) validated

• Micro-electronic / Semi-cond validated

• Other Post anaerobic effluent (slaughterhouse, F&B) validated

ANITA™Mox – References

Plant Country Capacity Type of effluent Config. Delivery year

Sjolunda Sweden 200 kgN/d 440 lb-N/d

Municipal AD sidestream MBBR IFAS

2010

Sundets Sweden 430 kgN/d 950 lb-N/d

Municipal AD sidestream (+ Co-dig. + THP in 2014)

MBBR 2012

Holbaek Denmark 120 kgN/d 260 lb-N/d

Municipal AD sidestream (+ leachate)

MBBR 2012

Grindsted Denmark 110 kgN/d 240 lb-N/d

Municipal AD sidestream (+ Co-dig. + THP in 2015)

MBBR ( IFAS)

2013

James River

VA, USA 250 kgN/d 550 lb-N/d

Municipal AD sidestream MBBR Oct. 2013

South Durham

NC, USA 330 kgN/d 770 lb-N/d

Municipal AD sidestream MBBR Mid-2014

Mars Candy

Poland 340 kgN/d 750 lb-N/d

F&B Industrial sidestream after AnMBR

MBBR 2015

Starch 300 kgN/d 660 lb-N/d

F&B Industrial sidestream after UASB

MBBR 2015

ANITA™Mox – Pilot US

Plant Type of effluent Config. Size Delivery

year

Denver Metro

Municipal AD sidestream

MBBR 3.6m3

(950 gal) 2012

(completed)

LA County Municipal AD

sidestream MBBR IFAS

3.6m3 (950 gal)

2013 (on going)

Cincinnati MSD

Landfill Leachate MBBR IFAS

7L 2013

(on going)

ANITA™ Mox – Conclusion

Stable and robust

• Media + Grid No risk to loose Anammox

• Incoming TSS Limited impact (flow-through syst.)

Low OPEX + C-footprint :

• - 60% O2 / no COD dosing / 1.2-1.5 kWh/kgNrem

• N2O emission: < 0.5% (MBBR) / < 1-1.5% (IFAS)

Efficient aeration control

• Continuous aeration no mixer / no stop-start blower / low N2O

• Keep NO3 < 11% no NOB (MBBR & IFAS)

N-removal performances :

• MBBR = 1 kgNrem/m3.d

• IFAS = 2-3 kgNrem/m3.d

BioFarm seeding strategy = Quick Start-up (EU/US)

2 configurations: MBBR or IFAS

• Choice based on project specificity footprint, retrofit…