Wastewater treatment with a new electrically enhanced biomass concentrator reactor: trial application and technological perspectives

ABSTRACT

Biomass concentrator reactors (BCRs) are an alternative wastewater treatment technology developed as a possible solution to membrane bioreactors’ (MBRs) high construction and energetic costs. BCRs are an alternative based on the same principle of biomass retention, using a coarser filter medium instead of a membrane. A BCR-derived technology enhanced by an electric field called electrically enhanced biomass concentrator reactor (E₂BCR) was developed, designed, and tested for wastewater treatment at different organic loads for a period of 100 days. The electrically enhanced reactor showed better chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal performances that the non-enhanced control reactor (90% and 84%, respectively), and a lower fouling tendency. The E₂BCR proved to be more energy efficient in comparison with the control reactor in terms of energy consumption per mass of COD removed.

KEYWORDS:

• BCR
• electrically enhanced biological process
• wastewater treatment
• MBR
• fouling

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr Daniele Molognoni (LEITAT Technological Center, Terrassa, Spain) and Dr Alessandro Liberale (Department of Industrial and Information Engineering, University of Pavia, Italy) for their help and suggestions in the design and assembling of the system.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.