Biological Nutrient Removal in Municipal Wastewater Treatment: New Directions in Sustainability

Abstract

To control eutrophication in receiving water bodies, biological nutrient removal (BNR) of nitrogen and phosphorus has been widely used in wastewater treatment practice, both for the upgrade of existing wastewater treatment facilities and the design of new facilities. However, implementation of BNR activated sludge AS systems presents challenges attributable to the technical complexity of balancing influent chemical oxygen demand (COD) for both biological phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) removal. Sludge age and aerated/unaerated mass fractions are identified as key parameters for process optimization. Other key features of selected BNR process configurations are discussed. Emerging concerns about process sustainability and the reduction of carbon footprint are introducing additional challenges in that influent COD, N, and P are increasingly being seen as resources that should be recovered, not simply removed. Energy recovery through sludge digestion is one way of recovering energy from influent wastewater but which presents a specific challenge for BNR: generation of sidestreams with high nutrient and low COD loads. Technologies designed specifically to treat these side-stream loads are overviewed in this paper. Finally, relatively high levels of nitrous oxide emissions, a powerful greenhouse gas, have been shown to occur in the BNR process under certain conditions, particularly in the presence of high nitrite concentrations. The advantages of using process modeling tools is discussed in view of optimizing BNR processes to meet effluent requirements and to meet goals of sustainability and reducing carbon footprints.