Nested Bioreactor for Wastewater Treatment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional bioreactors face issues with insufficient stirring in large volumes, leading to inadequate anaerobic and aerobic reactions, increased installation costs, and challenges with activated sludge treatment for wastewater with high pollutant concentrations, including nitrogen and phosphorus components.
Innovation Solution
A bioreactor design featuring a cylindrical inner tank divided by a partitioning wall with a communicating hole, equipped with a circulation rate control device, air intake openings, and a cylindrical control plate for sedimentation, allowing continuous anaerobic and aerobic microorganism treatment with a high tank circulation rate while maintaining cost-effectiveness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the bioreactor volume is increased to treat high concentrations of contaminants, then the treatment capacity improves, but the stirring efficiency decreases and installation costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The bioreactor is divided into multiple compartments (aerobic tank, anaerobic tank, sedimentation tank) within a single vessel, allowing independent optimization of each zone while maintaining overall system efficiency. This segmentation enables effective treatment capacity without requiring excessive overall volume, thus maintaining stirring efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The inner tank is nested within the outer tank, with the inner tank containing the aerobic and anaerobic reaction zones and the outer tank providing the sedimentation zone. This nested structure maximizes the use of available volume while maintaining efficient mixing in the inner tank and effective sedimentation in the outer tank, resolving the contradiction between treatment capacity and stirring efficiency.
2Productivity
If the bioreactor volume is increased to treat high concentrations of contaminants, then the treatment capacity improves, but the installation costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple treatment functions (aerobic degradation, anaerobic denitrification, and sedimentation) are combined into a single integrated bioreactor vessel, eliminating the need for multiple separate tanks and reducing installation costs while maintaining high treatment capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The nested structure of inner and outer tanks allows maximum utilization of reactor volume, achieving high treatment capacity without proportionally increasing the overall footprint and installation costs.
3Productivity
If the activated sludge concentration is increased to handle high pollutant loads, then the treatment effectiveness improves, but the oxygen supply becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The reactor is segmented into aerobic and anaerobic zones, allowing optimized oxygen supply to the aerobic zone while the anaerobic zone handles nitrogen removal without requiring oxygen, improving overall treatment effectiveness without excessive energy consumption.
4Productivity
If the activated sludge concentration is increased to handle high pollutant loads, then the treatment effectiveness improves, but the solid-liquid separation becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The segregation of functions into separate zones (reaction in inner tank, sedimentation in outer tank) allows high sludge concentration in the reaction zone to be maintained for effective treatment, while the dedicated sedimentation zone provides efficient solid-liquid separation without interference from active biological processes.
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
The bioreactor enables efficient treatment of wastewater with high pollutant concentrations, achieving low BOD and nitrogen levels, and reducing sludge accumulation, with a low-energy consumption and minimal sludge generation, even in large volumes, thus addressing the limitations of conventional methods.
Implementation Method 1
a cylindrical control plate for bringing about sedimentation of sludge, the cylindrical control plate being provided at the outer circumference of an upper part of the cylindrical inner tank
Implementation Method 2
multiple air intake openings are provided at the circumferential periphery of the communicating hole in the cylinder upper part and at the circumferential edge of the partitioning wall
Implementation Method 3
a circulation rate control device for controlling the circulation rate of water to be treated in the bioreactor
Data Source
AI summary
An aim of the invention is to provide a bioreactor and a waste water treatment method that employs this tank, whereby anaerobic and aerobic microorganism treatment can be continuously carried out, even when the volume of the bioreactor is large, and whereby installation costs can be minimized. The invention comprises an outer tank (2), a cylindrical inner tank (3) disposed inside this outer tank and having openings above and below, a circulation rate control device (4) for controlling the circulation rate of water to be treated in the bioreactor, the circulation rate control device (4) being provided at an upper part of this cylindrical inner tank, a cylindrical control plate (5) for bringing about sedimentation of sludge, the cylindrical control plate (5) being provided at the outer circumference of an upper part of the cylindrical inner tank, a treated-water quality measurement device (6) that is provided outside and inside of the cylindrical inner tank, a waste water supply opening (10) that is provided in the circulation pathway of the water to be treated circulating through the outer tank and inner tank, a treated water discharge opening (11) that is provided in an upper part of the outer tank.