DEMON technology for high-strength ammonia liquors

B. Wett and T. Puempel

Deammonification Stoichiometry

1 mol NO2-

1.9 mol O2

1 mol NO3-

34 g CSBSubstrat→

10 g CSBBiomasse

≈ 60 %

1.4 mol O2

≈ 75 %

1 mol NH4+ 0.44 mol N2

+ 0.11 NO3-

0.57 mol NO2-

0.8 mol O2

≈ 40 %(Anammox)

partial

nitritation

anaerobic ammonia oxidation

autotrophic

nitrite reduction1.14 mol H+

Cinorganic

0.03 mol H+

Cinorganic

1 mol NO2-

1.9 mol O2

1 mol NO3-

34 g CSBSubstrat→

10 g CSBBiomasse

≈ 60 %

1.4 mol O2

≈ 75 %

1 mol NH4+ 0.44 mol N2

+ 0.11 NO3-

0.57 mol NO2-

0.8 mol O2

≈ 40 %(Anammox)

partial

nitritation

anaerobic ammonia oxidation

autotrophic

nitrite reduction1.14 mol H+

Cinorganic

0.03 mol H+

Cinorganic

Deammonification Stoichiometry

0

1

2

3

4

5

0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360 390 420 450 480

influent flow [L/s]

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

DO [mg O2/L]

6.8

6.9

7.0

7.1

7.2

7.3

0 60 120 180 240 300 360 420 480

pH

0

200

400

600

800

1000

0 60 120

180

240

300

360

420

480

water depth [mm]

resource requirements of sidestream deammonification Strass (DEMON)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

reso

urc

es d

em

an

d

[kW

h/k

g N

], [

kg

VS

S/k

g N

]

sp

ecif

ic a

mm

on

ia l

oad

[kg

N/m

3/d

]

specif. NH4-load specific energy spec VSS dosage

Nitritation/Denitritation DEMON

N-removal efficiency of sidestream deammonification Strass (DEMON)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

am

mo

nia

rem

oval

eff

icie

ncy [

%]

sp

ecif

ic a

mm

on

ia l

oad

[kg

N/m

3/d

]

specif. NH4-load ammonia removal

Nitritation/Denitritation DEMON

Einleitung

Energy self-sufficiency

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Au

g. 0

3

No

v. 0

3

Fe

b. 0

4

Ma

y. 0

4

Au

g. 0

4

No

v. 0

4

Fe

b. 0

5

Ma

y. 0

5

Au

g. 0

5

No

v. 0

5

Fe

b. 0

6

Ma

y. 0

6

Au

g. 0

6

No

v. 0

6

Fe

b. 0

7

Ma

y. 0

7

Au

g. 0

7

No

v. 0

7

Wh/PE

0

25

50

75

100

125

%production [Wh/PE] consumption [Wh/PE] self-sufficiency [%]Im

ple

me

nta

tio

n D

EMO

N

Cofermentation at WWTP Strass

- with cofermentation of food wastes - degree of self-sufficiency up to 200%

0

25

50

75

100

125

150

175

200

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Au

g. 0

3

No

v. 0

3

Fe

b. 0

4

Ma

y. 0

4

Au

g. 0

4

No

v. 0

4

Fe

b. 0

5

Ma

y. 0

5

Au

g. 0

5

No

v. 0

5

Fe

b. 0

6

Ma

y. 0

6

Au

g. 0

6

No

v. 0

6

Fe

b. 0

7

Ma

y. 0

7

Au

g. 0

7

No

v. 0

7

Fe

b. 0

8

Ma

y. 0

8

Au

g. 0

8

No

v. 0

8

Fe

b. 0

9

Ma

y. 0

9

Au

g. 0

9

No

v. 0

9

%Wh/PE production [Wh/PE] consumption [Wh/PE] self-sufficiency [%]Im

ple

men

tati

on

DE

MO

N

co-f

erm

en

tati

on

FISH image of Demon biomass sample from Strass WWT plant. no evidence of a comprehensive AOB layer around the granule

AMX granule (probe Amx820-Cy3)

AOB(probe Nso1225-Cy5)

DEMON-features – • pH-based process control • cyclone for anammox enrichment

Side-stream applications: DEMON

2004 2013

pH-based process control

Ae

rati

on

an

d fi

llin

g

Ae

rati

on

Stir

rin

g

Stir

rin

g an

d f

illin

gpH

wat

er le

vel

dp

H

time

time-band

d t2 d t3 d t4

pH-band

reaction sub-cycle

d t1

water level

DO 1.0

0.5

0.0

7.5 pH

7.0

6.5

General control philosophy of the DEMON® process operating individual process steps within set bands of pH and time (left) resulting in stable intermittent aeration pattern (right)

cyclone for anammox enrichment

Set-up of a triple DEMON® cyclone configuration (left) selecting for a high anammox retention time based on density difference between the flocculant- and the granular sludge fraction

Cyclon for selective SRT

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55

NH4-N NO3-N NO2-N

N-c

on

cen

trat

ion

(mgN

/L)

time (min)

cyclone under-flow (recycled) and overflow (wasted)

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55

NH4-N NO3-N NO2-N

N-c

on

cen

trat

ion

(mgN

/L)

time (min)

Einleitung

Start-up DEMON Heidelberg

High alkalinity in landfill leachate

Leachate collection in Bogota ... and in Quito

Alkalinity balance – landfill leachate

NH3 NH4

+

+OH-

NOx-+

H+

N2

digestion

anaerobic

oxidation

aerobic

reduction

anoxic

Σ sum of ions = 0 0 0 0

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

1-J

ul-0

7

31-J

ul-07

30-A

ug-0

7

29-S

ep-0

7

29-O

ct-0

7

28-N

ov-

07

28-D

ec-

07

NH4-N Abl. PRZW [mg/l]

Sickerwasser [m³/d]

High COD/N ratio

• High COD concentration challenges selection to maintain high SRT for anammox • Applications for biowaste digestion liquors and rejects from thermal-hydrolyses plants

Feed characterisation and ramp-up of loading

0102030405060708090

100

% Cambi

% Cambi

NH4-N CODtotal CODsol CODsol NH4-N NO3-N NO2-N Norg,sol

02.07.2010 2340 6000

21.07.2010 2060 7850 5500 1190 127 75 1

26.07.2010 2050 6385 4855 2105 183 82 1.5

02.08.2010 3055 213 127 1.6

09.08.2010 2910 128 51 1.8

10.08.2010 2260 9500 6130

17.08.2010 2350 15650 7200 2590 202 136 0.6 132

CAMBI-liquor effluent

High COD/N ratio – Cambi liquors

DC Water Blue Plains

DC Water’s Thermal Hydrolysis and Anaerobic Digestion

Einleitung

Operating temperature

Start-up DEMON Pustertal

6.12.2012 – 31.1.2013: 7 weeks from seeding to end of performance test

Performance test DEMON Pustertal: Hydraulic load 10% beyond design load of 1828 m3/d at HRT of 0.75 days and ammonia removal efficiency beyond model-prediction of 74% (limited alkalinity in condensate)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

0 mg/l

50 mg/l

100 mg/l

150 mg/l

200 mg/l

250 mg/l

300 mg/l

350 mg/l

400 mg/l

450 mg/l

500 mg/lNH4in NH4-Nout NO3-Nout NO2-Nout

nitrit

e (mg

N/L)

0.00 g/l

0.50 g/l

1.00 g/l

1.50 g/l

2.00 g/l

2.50 g/l

0 mg/l

50 mg/l

100 mg/l

150 mg/l

200 mg/l

250 mg/l

300 mg/l

350 mg/l

400 mg/l

450 mg/l

500 mg/lfiltered CODin filtered CODout TSS (g/l)

During start-up nitrite concentrations never exceeded 10 mgN/L and leveled off towards the nitrite half-saturation value of 1 mgNO2-N/L and MLSS-concentration plateaued at 2 g/L

Simulated shifts in microbial populations in mgCOD/L during the 7 weeks’ start-up period of the DEMON-plant Pustertal (Italy) showing a steady enrichment of anammox biomass

Modeled population dynamics

DEMON-plant Lavis for leachate treatment

0

50

100

150

200

250

22-Jul 22-Aug 22-Sep 22-Oct 22-Nov 22-Dec

Qd NH4-load

Q (m

3/d

); L

(kgN

/d)

phase I start-up

phase II COD>>

phase III + IV COD<<; T<<

Measured daily hydraulic- and ammonia loads of the leachate treatment system Lavis during the first 6 months of operation

Profiles for nitrogen fractions, COD and temperature