Role of Air in Improving First-Stage RBC Performance

Surampalli, Rao Y.; Baumann, E. Robert; ,

Role of Air in Improving First-Stage RBC Performance

by Rao Y. Surampalli, Iowa State Univ, Ames, IA, USA,
E. Robert Baumann, Iowa State Univ, Ames, IA, USA,

Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Environmental Engineering

Abstract:

A four-stage RBC (rotating biological contactor) treatment plant having two parallel trains is used to treat combined municipal and industrial dairy waste from a city with a population of 6,000. The plant performance did not meet effluent limit requirements because of overloaded conditions in the first and second stages, resulting in very low dissolved oxygen levels which further resulted in heavy beggiatoa growth, thereby deteriorating process efficiency. The city-employed consultant recommended that the existing plant be enlarged with additional media to meet effluent permit limits. A recent nationwide RBC teleconference suggested that the first-stage design load be limited to 2. 5 lbs of soluble BOD (or a total BOD of 6 lbs) per day per 1000 sq ft of media. It has also been suggested that overloaded RBC plant performance could be improved by making minor process modifications. A research program to evaluate the effectiveness of those alternatives is described.

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