IPN-ISRAEL WATER WEEK
Nitrogen Removal from Yamuna
River (India) using MBBR –
Pilot Summary
Keren Nof
Presented by: Ramiro Garza
September 2014

 Introduction
 Aqwise Technology
 Material and Methods
 Results and Discussion
 Summary and Conclusions
 Questions
Proprietary and confidential

 River Water Pollution – How?
− Due to fast urbanization and industrial growth – without appropriate infrastructure for wastewater treatment
 The problem
− Threat to Natural Environment and human health
− Odor problems
− High Nitrate –
Blue baby syndrome
Algae Bloom Proprietary and confidential

HIGHLIGHTS
• Customer: Municipality of Agra
• Location:
• Capacity:
Yamuna River, Agra, India
163,000 m 3 /d
REQUIREMENTS
• Need to provide safe drinking water for population of 2 million people
SOLUTION
• Cost-efficient surface water treatment
• AGAR® MBBR and UF membrane polishing
• Adaptive to variable loads River Water Treatment - Agra, India
Secondary effluent from WWTP’s was discharged into the river for years resulting in elevated levels of soluble pollutants (BOD, TAN and NO3)
Proprietary and confidential

 Physico-chemical methods
− Ion-Exchange (IX)
− Reverse Osmosis (RO)
− Electrodialysis (ED)
 Biological methods
− Conventional Activated Sludge (CAS)
− Membrane Bio-Reactor (MBR)
− Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR)
− Moving Bed Bio-Reactor (MBBR)
Main Disadvantages:
Product brine
Membrane: Scaling & Fouling
Advantages:
Cost effective
Environmental friendly
Nitrogen gas, N
2
→ Harmless
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After the technology was selected a scaled down pilot (100m3/day) was operated for a year
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Free-Floating polyethylene media (Aqwise Biomass Carriers)
Moving Bed Biological Reactor AGAR® MBBR Solutions
 Simple, single-through process
 Reduces soluble pollutants with minimal process complexity
 Requires a significantly smaller footprint
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Aqwise Biomass Carriers protect biofilm against abrasion and ensure mass transfer efficiency
Recycled, high-density polyethylene
Optimal oxygen and nutrients transfer
Highly open external design
Applicable for various biological processes
> 650 m 2 /m 3
Effective surface area
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SMALL FOOTPRINT
Suitable for both new applications and existing plant upgrades.
COST EFFICIENT
Requires minimal civil works, short project life cycle and lower Capex/Opex.
SCALABLE & FLEXIBLE
Smooth upgrade or gradual expansion based on just-in-time investment.
DURBLE & STABLE
Highly resistant to hydraulic shock loads with short recovery time after toxic loads.
LOW MAINTENANCE
Simple maintenance and low operational costs.
ECO FRIENDLY
Recycled materials, less land usage, no scenery obstruction and less sludge.
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Inlet
The system consists the following treatment units
 Pretreatment units: fine screen (5mm) and tube settler
 Moving Bed Bio Reactor (MBBR)
 Ultrafiltration for solids separation
 Chlorination
External carbon
Mixer Mixer
Tube-
Settler
Air
UF
Effluent
Stage 1
Aerobic
Stage 2
Aerobic
Stage 3
Deox
Stage 4
Anoxic
Schematic pilot plant flow diagram
Stage 5
Aerobic
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 Influent Characteristics
 Effluent Requirements
Parameter
Design Temperature
COD
BOD5
TSS
TAN
Nitrate as N
Nitrite as N
Unit
°C mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l
Inlet to the MBBR
15/30
99
29
34
17.95
5.1
0.7
Parameter
TAN
Nitrate as N
Unit mg/l mg/l
Value
1.65
9.0
Proprietary and confidential

 Grab samples were taken daily from each of the following sampling points: raw river water, tube-settler, MBBR stages, membrane filtration effluent and final effluent following chlorination.
 Each of the sampling point was analyzed for pH, temperature, Dissolved
Oxygen (DO), TAN, nitrate (NO
3
), nitrite (NO
2
), soluble COD, TSS and alkalinity
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Water temperature
Average 14°C
Min. 13°C
Average 31.9°C
Max. 34.6°C
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TAN removal
 Average TAN effluent: 0.1±0.04 to 1.5±1.5mg/l
91 - 94% removal 97 - 99% removal
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Nitrate removal
 Average Nitrate influent: 2.2 mg/l; after stages 1&2: 6.7 mg/l
 Average Nitrate effluent: 4.3 mg/l < 9 mg/l
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MBBR stage 1 & 2 (Aerobic )
 Removal Rates (RR) across the aerobic stages ranged between 0.45 to 2.6 gNH
4
/m 2 /d
 Relatively high removal rates in both aerobic stages emphasize the importance and the need of two aerobic stages in sequence
 TAN effluent still above the required value  Additional aerobic stage is required
 Although nitrification was the major mechanism for ammonia removal, about
0.04-0.96 mg/l TAN was assimilated to bacteria cells in each aerobic stage
(about 1% to 14%).
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MBBR stage 3
 For reduction of DO concentration
(Deox )
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MBBR stage 3 (Deox
 In order to ensure anoxic conditions, the addition of ethanol was required
)
 The Deox stage was not suitable for denitrification but allowed good conditions for the following anoxic stage
 0.5-1.0 mg/l Ammonia was assimilated in to the cells
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MBBR stage 4 (Anoxic )
 Removal Rates (RR) across the anoxic stage are below 1 gNO
3
/m 2 /d, despite:
 Low DO concentration
 High C:N ratio
 Nitrite may disturb nitrate measurements (influent 0.1-5.0 mg/l)
 In order to prove this assumption, the denitrification was calculated based on the change in the Alkalinity values
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MBBR stage 4
 Higher nitrate removal should be obtained
(Anoxic )
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MBBR stage 5 (Aerobic )
 Stage 5 was designed in order to reduce the residual carbon source and ensure final removal of ammonia
 Relatively low COD and TAN removal ; during the warmer months COD and ammonia inlet concentrations were lower due to high activity in the previous stages
 Assimilation was the main mechanism for TAN removal
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 The system can consistently produce high drinking water quality, reducing pollutants levels to below the required concentrations
 The nitrification- denitrification processes were able to cope very well with the changes in the contaminants concentration in the water (temperature range between
13.0 to 34.6°C)
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Anoxic stage Aerobic stage
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Contact us for further information about Aqwise solutions
Keren Nof
Senior Process Engineer
Email keren@aqwise.com
Telephone
+972-9-9591901
Website www.aqwise.com