IASON – INTELLIGENT ACTIVATED
SLUDGE OPERATED BY
NANOTECHNOLOGY
Budapest University of Technology
and Economics
Department of Sanitary &
Environmental Engineering
Fleit, E. and Melicz, Z. (BUTE)
Zrínyi, M., Filipcsei, G. and László, K. (BUTE)
Dékány, I. and Király, Z. (SZTE)
Problem exposition
(colloids vs wastewater treatment)
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Do we know enough (from each other)?
State-of-the-art in wastewater treatment
„High-tech low-tech” dilemmas
Hungarian context
One new idea in old environment – IASON
Results
Conclusions
Innovation chain (lessons learned)
Do we have mutual problems?
Particle size
Dissolved
(µm)
<0,08
Organic material (%)
COD
25
TOC
31
Grease
12
Protein
4
Carbohydrate
58
Rate of
0,39
oxidation
Colloidal
0,08-1,0
Quasi-colloidal
1-100
Settleable
>100
15
14
51
25
7
26
24
24
45
11
34
31
19
25
24
0,22
0,09
0,08
Definitely we do…
A typical colloid problem: foaming and
scum (cream) formation (on full scale)
URBAN WATER INFRASTRUCTURE (HUNGARY):
UNPRECEDENTED INVESTMENTS
% of the total population
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
Population supplied by public taps located
along streets
Access to public water supply
Access to sewerage including population living
on sewered areas but not using this service
30
20
10
Access to sewerage
0
1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Wastewater treatment in Hungary - 1990
Wastewater treatment in Hungary - 2003
Wastewater treatment in Hungary - 2015
Hungarian Wastewater Master Plan:
strategy with dilemmas
 Scheduling (scenarios)
 Cost efficiency (taking EU technologies without adoption)
 Emissions and water quality impacts
Long-term (but hidden) links between
wastewater treatment and colloid sciences
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Late lessons from early warnings…
Colloid size substrates (foams, creams,
emulsions, etc.)
Colloid size reactants (biofilm, ESP,
activated sludge flocs, etc.)
Kinetic and financial problems
Starting point –
a key element in biological wastewater treatment
remains uncontrolled
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Suspended cell bioreactors
(activated sludge systems)
Particle size distribution ?
Diffusion limitation ?
Ratio of floc and filament
former bacteria ?
Technological functions ?
A novel concept - IASON
I
–
A –
S –
O –
N -
Intelligent
Artificial
Sludge
Operated by
Nanotechnology
An example:
the Bardenpho
IASON process
control
process
Raw
wastewater
Treated
effluent
Anaerobic
Anoxic
Oxic
Project objectives
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Control and design of floc size distribution
and settleability (density)
Control of substrate and electron acceptors
(O2 and/or NO3) within the floc
Biofilm formation
(nitrification/denitrification)
Direct regulation of technological functions
in microscopic dimensions by
nanotechnology (microreactor
development)
Wastewater bacteria on microscopic carrier
materials (PVA-PAA/starch) (biofilm development
after 1 week)
A
100 m
The first step: immobilization on designed
microreactors
Immobilization with adsorption
 Ionic bounds
 Covalent bounds
 Cross-linking
 Matrix entrapment
 Microcapsulation
 Combined methods
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Heterotrophic bacteria
(South-Pest WWTP) on
PVA-PAA hydrogels (400x)
Growth of selected (technological aims) bacteria on
hydrogels
Nitrifying bacteria
100x
Budapest Sewerage Works
Cumulated O
consumption
(mg/l)
(mgO
O22 consumption
Cummulative
2)
Comparative respirometric experiments (AS and
IASON)
130
Activatedsludge
sludge(mixed culture)
Activated
Colonized PVA-PAA
Colonizated
PVA-PAA
120
110
100
90
80
70
60
50
0
2
4
6
8
10
12days
Days
Nitrification
efficiency
(%) (%)
efficiency
Nitrification
Nitrification efficency of biomass grown on PVAPAA gels
PVA-PAA 1
PVA-PAA 2
PVA-PAA 3
100
90
Continuous upflow reactor
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0
5
10
15
20 days
Days
Development of active microreactors
1. day
2. week
3. week
Functioning of autotrophic system (upon 3 weeks
of biofilm developmen)
35
mg/l
Nyers
8,8
8,8
8,6
8,6
8,4
8,4
8,2
8,2
8,0
8
7,8
7,8
7,6
7,6
7,4
7,4
30
Nyers
Tisztított
25
20
15
Tisztított
Nyers
10
5
Nyers
Tisztított
Nyers
Tisztított
Tisztított
0
pH1
NH3-N
NH
4-N
NO2-N
NO
2-N
NO3-N
NO
3-N
oP
oP
IASON - future nanotechnological design
objectives
Establishment of microscopic size reactors
(contolled gradients)
Substrate
Oxygen
Aerobic layer
Anaerobic/anoxic layer
End-product
Solid carrier material (hydrogel)
Conclusions
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„Traditional” technologies/pollutants
Changes of wastewater composition (rapid)
New type of pollutants
Conceptual change and novel opportunitie
Nano- and biotechnology
Design of wastewater composition
Professional background (R+D and education)