Combined Reactor for Wastewater Nitrogen Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current water purification technologies require separate equipment and tanks for nitrification and denitrification processes, leading to high energy consumption and long process times, with limitations such as clogging, low denitrification rates, and high operational costs.
Innovation Solution
A combined reactor integrating an anoxic tank with mixing and a biodisc reactor, allowing simultaneous nitrification and denitrification in a single device, utilizing heterotrophic sludge in suspension and biofilm technology, with controlled rotation and sludge recirculation for efficient nitrogen removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If separate equipment and tanks are used for nitrification and denitrification processes, then the nitrogen removal efficiency is improved, but the energy consumption increases and process time is extended
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines nitrification and denitrification processes into a single reactor system where aerobic zones perform nitrification and anoxic zones perform denitrification simultaneously. This integration eliminates the need for separate tanks and equipment for each process, reducing energy consumption while maintaining nitrogen removal efficiency through spatial arrangement of different functional zones within the same reactor.
Solution Approach 2:
The reactor is designed to perform multiple functions simultaneously - nitrification in aerobic regions and denitrification in anoxic regions - within a single device. This multi-functionality allows the system to achieve complete nitrogen removal (both oxidation and reduction) without requiring separate specialized equipment for each process step.
2Reliability
If separate equipment and tanks are used for nitrification and denitrification processes, then the nitrogen removal efficiency is improved, but the process time is extended
Solution Approach 1:
By merging nitrification and denitrification into a single reactor with spatially distributed aerobic and anoxic zones, the patent enables simultaneous execution of both processes. This eliminates the sequential time required in separate systems where wastewater must pass through distinct tanks for each process step, thereby reducing overall process time while maintaining removal efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The reactor design allows continuous simultaneous operation of nitrification and denitrification processes within different zones of the same reactor. This continuous parallel action eliminates idle transfer times between separate tanks and ensures that both nitrogen removal processes occur without interruption, reducing total process time.
3Reliability
If conventional biodisc technology is used for nitrification, then nitrification is achieved, but the surface area required is large and investment costs are high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates biodisc-based nitrification within the anoxic tank of the combined reactor system. By placing the biodisc reactor inside or adjacent to the anoxic tank and utilizing the same wastewater flow, the system achieves nitrification without requiring a separate large-scale biodisc facility, thereby reducing the total surface area and investment costs while maintaining nitrification performance.
4Reliability
If sludge recirculation is used to maintain high biomass concentration, then the nitrogen removal efficiency is improved, but the operational costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The combined reactor design integrates sludge recirculation within the single reactor system, allowing efficient biomass distribution between aerobic and anoxic zones without requiring external recirculation infrastructure. This internal recirculation maintains high biomass concentration for effective nitrogen removal while minimizing operational costs by eliminating the need for separate recirculation pumps and piping systems.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution reduces the surface area and investment costs by half, achieves significant energy savings, and operates with a shorter Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) of 4-8 hours, enhancing denitrification rates and operational robustness while minimizing oxygen consumption and sludge production.
Implementation Method 1
nitrification, occurs in the biodisc reactor (in the biofilm), through its controlled rotation, converting the ammonium present in the water to be treated into nitrate
Implementation Method 2
denitrification, occurs in the anoxic tank, where heterotrophic bacteria in absence of oxygen (anoxia) use nitrates from the nitrification process above, as an electron acceptor in the oxidation of carbon compounds (COD) resulting in N2 (gas)
Implementation Method 3
When the biodisc surface comes out and gets in contact with the atmospheric air, a high oxygen transfer to the biofilm, so that the biodegradation of organic matter and, where appropriate, ammonium nitrification to nitrate takes place
Implementation Method 4
one or more mixers of the sludge in suspension inside the anoxic tank, at its bottom
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4
AI summary
Combined reactor for water purification that combines suspended sludge with biodisc technology, working as an IFAS (Integrated Fixed-Film Activated sludge) process, by means of a single device that integrates an anoxic tank equipped with mixing and a biodisc reactor located on it, for nitrogen removal from the wastewater by simultaneous nitrification/denitrification process carried out in a single device. This device has the advantage that, by using a single reactor, the space occupied is much smaller, requiring approximately the half of the surface that a conventional biodisc requires, thus reducing investment costs, and it obtains a much higher operating performance with lower energy consumption and shorter operating time, with the consequent economic savings and consequently lower operating costs.