Rotating Biological Contactor

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ROTATING BIOLOGICAL CONTACTOR-

Rotating biological contactor or RBC is


a biological treatment process used in the treatment
of wastewater following primary treatment. The primary
treatment process removes the grit and other solids
through a screening process followed by a period of
settlement. The RBC process involves allowing the
wastewater to come in contact with a biological medium
in order to remove pollutants in the wastewater before
discharge of the treated wastewater to the environment,
usually a body of water (river, lake or ocean). A rotating
biological contactor is a type of secondary treatment
process. It consists of a series of closely spaced, parallel
discs mounted on a rotating shaft which is supported just
above the surface of the waste water. Microorganisms
grow on the surface of the discs where biological
degradation of the wastewater pollutants takes place.

OPERATION
 Rotating biological contactor contain a number of
rotating discs on a shaft submerged in a tank partially
or completely filled with liquid.
 Biofilm grows in immobilized form on the surface of a
large number of closely spaced discs or inside
corrugated packing units that slowly rotate in a
trough, partially immersed in liquid and partially in the
air space above the reactor (Figure 9).
 During the passage in the air or gas space, the liquid
drains from the plates or packing and oxygen can
diffuse in the remaining thin film of liquid and
ultimately reach the biomass itself, and
simultaneously CO2 can escape.
 Then the surface rotates further back in the liquid
entraining air in the liquid, effectively aerating the
fluid as well.
 The rotation and resulting mixing lead to very efficient
mass transfer of nutrients and products to and from
the film.
 As the film grows thicker, will eventually inactivate
and detach.
 The released biomass can be recovered from the
bottom of the reactor where it accumulates.
 The discs or packing are rotated at only a few rpm, and
this limits the shear but is enough to control the film
thickness to below 1-2 mm.
 As obviously some axial mixing will occur in this
reactor configuration, the reactor can be
compartmented with baffles to separate groups of
discs, yielding a cascade of stirred tanks.
 This allows for complete conversion and still high
concentrations and high conversion rates in a large
part of the equipment.

This is especially useful for dilute streams that are well described
by a first-order conversion rate and hence benefit from a plug flow
pattern, such as in dilute waste stream treatment. Advantages
offered by rotating biological contactors:

1. Short contact periods are required because of the large active surface

2. They are capable of handling a wide range of flows

3. Sloughed biomass generally has good settling characteristics and can


easily be separated from waste stream

4. Operating costs are low because little skill is required in plant operation

5. Short retention time


6. Low power requirements

7. Elimination of the channelling to which conventional percolators are


susceptible

8. Low sludge production and excellent process control

Disadvantages of Rotating Biological Contactors

1. Requirement for covering RBC units in northern climates to protect


against freezing

2. Shaft bearings and mechanical drive units require frequent maintenance

A typical complete trickling filter system for treating wastewaters. ]


Water treatment
[age 1: A schematic cross-section of the contact face of the bed media in a trickling filter.

Biofilter[4] was first introduced in England in 1893 as a trickling filter for wastewater treatment
and has since been successfully used for the treatment of different types of water. Biological
treatment has been used in Europe to filter surface water for drinking purposes since the
early 1900s and is now receiving more interest worldwide. Biofiltration is also common in
wastewater treatment, aquaculture and greywater recycling as a way to minimize water
replacement while increasing water quality.

Biofiltration process

A biofilter is a bed of media on which microorganisms attach and grow to form a biological
layer called biofilm. Biofiltration is thus usually referred to as a fixed–film process. Generally,
the biofilm is formed by a community of different microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, yeast,
etc.), macro-organisms (protozoa, worms, insect’s larvae, etc.) and extracellular polymeric
substances (EPS) (Flemming and Wingender, 2010). The aspect of the biofilm[5] is usually
slimy and muddy.

Water to be treated can be applied intermittently or continuously over the media, upflow or
downflow. Typically, a biofilter has two or three phases, depending on the feeding strategy
(percolating or submerged biofilter):

1.a solid phase (media);

2.a liquid phase (water);

3.a gaseous phase (air).

Organic matter and other water components diffuse into the biofilm where the treatment
occurs, mostly by biodegradation. Biofiltration processes are usually aerobic, which means
that microorganisms require oxygen for their metabolism. Oxygen can be supplied to the
biofilm, either concurrently or counter currently with water flow. Aeration occurs passively by
the natural flow of air through the process (three phases biofilter) or by forced air supplied by
blowers.

Microorganisms' activity is a key-factor of the process performance. The main influencing


factors are the water composition, the biofilter hydraulic loading, the type of media, the
feeding strategy (percolation or submerged media), the age of the biofilm, temperature,
aeration, etc.

Types of filtering media

Originally, biofilter was developed using rock or slag as filter media, but different types of
material are used today. These materials are categorized as inorganic media (sand, gravel,
geotextile, different shapes of plastic media, glass beads, etc.) and organic media (peat,
wood chips, coco shell fragments, compost, etc.)

Advantages
Although biological filters have simple superficial structures, their internal hydrodynamics
and the microorganisms' biology and ecology are complex and variable.[6] These
characteristics confer robustness to the process. In other words, the process has the
capacity to maintain its performance or rapidly return to initial levels following a period of no
flow, of intense use, toxic shocks, media backwash (high rate biofiltration processes), etc.

The structure of the biofilm protects microorganisms from difficult environmental conditions
and retains the biomass inside the process, even when conditions are not optimal for its
growth. Biofiltration processes offer the following advantages: (Rittmann et al., 1988):

• Because microorganisms are retained within the biofilm, biofiltration allows the
development of microorganisms with relatively low specific growth rates; • Biofilters are less
subject to variable or intermittent loadings and to hydraulic shock;[7] • Operational costs are
usually lower than for activated sludge; • Final treatment result is less influenced by biomass
separation since the biomass concentration at the effluent is much lower than for suspended
biomass processes; • Attached biomass becomes more specialized (higher concentration of
relevant organisms) at a given point in the process train because there is no biomass return.[

Advantages offered by rotating biological contactors:

1. Short contact periods are required because of the large active surface

2. They are capable of handling a wide range of flows

3. Sloughed biomass generally has good settling characteristics and can


easily be separated from waste stream

4. Operating costs are low because little skill is required in plant operation

5. Short retention time

6. Low power requirements


7. Elimination of the channelling to which conventional percolators are
susceptible

8. Low sludge production and excellent process control

Disadvantages of Rotating Biological Contactors

1. Requirement for covering RBC units in northern climates to protect


against freezing

2. Shaft bearings and mechanical drive units require frequent maintenance

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