2003 Volume 1 Issue 1 Pages 61-66
A new method was developed using the carbon dioxide detected in the headspace of a batch reactor to determine the carbon source addition in the biological nutrient removal (BNR) process. The activated sludge used in this study was taken from the University of British Columbia (UBC) Wastewater Treatment Pilot Plant aerobic tanks undergoing simplified UCT process. Experiments showed that detectable changes of carbon dioxide concentration in the headspace reflected the acetate utilization in the anaerobic condition, i.e. the P release reaction. In the sodium acetate addition cases, the elapsed time (E Time) of carbon dioxide evolution rate changes was proportional to the amount of acetate added in solution. Results were successfully used to estimate the amount of acetate added in tests. This new methodology was also capable of estimating the amount of VFAs recovered from the thermophilic aerobic digestion (TAD) supernatant.This on-line “E Time” monitoring approach has the potential to optimize the carbon source addition in BNR processes.
