1264 © IWA Publishing 2013 Water Science & Technology | 68.

6 | 2013

Treatment of tapioca starch wastewater by a novel

combination of physical and biological processes
J. Fettig, V. Pick, U. Austermann-Haun, M. Blumberg and N. V. Phuoc

ABSTRACT
J. Fettig (corresponding author)
A pilot plant combining dissolved air flotation, anaerobic degradation in an expanded granular sludge
V. Pick
bed (EGSB) reactor and aerobic post-treatment in a vertical flow constructed wetland has been used University of Applied Sciences Ostwestfalen-Lippe,
Campus Hoexter, D-37671 Hoexter,
to treat tapioca starch wastewater for more than 2.25 years. It is demonstrated that organic Germany
E-mail: joachim.fettig@hs-owl.de
matter (chemical oxygen demand by >98%), nitrogen (Kjeldahl-N by >90%) and cyanide (total
U. Austermann-Haun
cyanide by >99%) can be removed very efficiently under stable operating conditions. The removal University of Applied Sciences Ostwestfalen-Lippe,
Campus Detmold, D-32756 Detmold,
efficiency for phosphorus is lower (total-P by 50%). The treatment concept, which includes several
Germany
sustainable aspects, e.g. production of energy to be used on-site, low operation demands and
M. Blumberg
minimal use of chemicals, could be interesting for small- and middle-sized tapioca processing plants. Blumberg Consultants, Gaensemarkt 10, D-37120
Bovenden,
Key words | anaerobic treatment, constructed wetland, dissolved air flotation, tapioca wastewater Germany

N. V. Phuoc
Institute for Environment and Resources,
Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City,
142 To Hien Thanh Street, District 10, Ho Chi Minh
City,
Vietnam

INTRODUCTION

A joint Vietnamese–German group of research institutions
and companies is working on concepts to reduce water pol-
lution in the Saigon Dong Nai river basin in southern
Vietnam. The objective of the project is the development
of techniques and management tools to sustainably improve
the quality of surface waters in subtropical and tropical
zones. In a sub-project, the treatment of tapioca starch
wastewater has been investigated on a pilot scale.
The production of tapioca starch is an important eco-
nomic sector in several countries in Southeast Asia.
About 15 m3 of wastewater highly loaded with organic
compounds is produced per tonne of starch during the
industrial extraction process. Cyanide as a toxic species is
also found, because cyanoglucosides from tapioca roots
are released during the production process that rapidly
decay to cyanide after enzymatic hydrolysis (FAO ).
Some large tapioca starch production plants in other
Asian countries treat their wastewater anaerobically using
different reactor principles, e.g. up-flow anaerobic sludge
blanket (UASB) reactors, up-flow anaerobic filters or
anaerobic ponds, most often operated without any pre-treat-
ment (Annachhatre & Amatya ; Bal & Dhagat ;
Rajesh Banu et al. ; Rajbhandari & Annachhatre
; Colin et al. ). It has been demonstrated that
doi: 10.2166/wst.2013.354
cyanide can be removed both in anaerobic reactor systems
(Gijzen et al. ; Siller & Winter ) and under aerobic
conditions (Kaewkannetra et al. ). In a laboratory-scale
investigation the potential of natural filters including sand,
gravel, soil, coconut fibre and bamboo plait has been
assessed (Hidayat et al. ). The results indicate that wet-
land systems might also be suited to treat tapioca starch
wastewater. Recently the ideas of water reduction and
energy conservation in the production process have been
studied (Chavalparit & Ongwandee ).
In Vietnam, a concept was suggested more than 10 years
ago that includes primary sedimentation, anaerobic treat-
ment in an UASB reactor and aerobic post-treatment
comprising an attached growth reactor and oxidation
ponds (Hien et al. ). However, due to high investment
costs caused by interest rates of more than 20% and slow
enforcement of wastewater regulations, the treatment so far
has been to let the wastewater flow through a series of anaero-
bic ponds before being discharged into a river. In the period
2008–2012 a few large factories built anaerobic treatment
units, usually UASB reactors, combined with aerobic ponds
as part of clean development mechanism (CDM) projects.
Funding was provided by Japanese or European partners
via emission credits according to the UN Framework
 1265 J. Fettig et al. | Treatment of tapioca starch wastewater Water Science & Technology | 68.6 | 2013

Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC ). As a low- Table 1 | Composition of tapioca starch wastewater

cost solution, some middle-sized plants have recently started

This study (mean
to cover the first anaerobic pond with a synthetic canvas in Parameter values 2010–2012) Data from Mai (2006)
order to collect and utilize the biogas produced (Hoang
Conductivity 1,673 μS/cm –
). In addition, some small companies have constructed
pH 4.5a 4.0–4.2
anaerobic filters combined with aerobic post-treatment
TSS 1,700 mg/L 1,500–2,600 mg/L
tanks (Phuoc & Phuong ). Since there is no biogas collec-
tion, a major benefit of anaerobic processes is not utilized. COD (non-filtered) 11,800 mg/L 14,000–18,000 mg/L

The main objective of this study was to find out whether
a combination of technical and nature-based treatment pro-
cesses suited for small- and middle-sized companies can
meet the discharge requirements corresponding to 50 mg/L
biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), 30 mg/L total nitro-
gen (total-N), 6 mg/L total phosphorus (total-P) and
0.1 mg/L total cyanide according to Vietnam Standard
TCVN 5945 class B (MONRE ), and whether it can
be operated reliably.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
In small companies the starch is separated by sedimentation,
while in larger plants centrifugal screen extractors are more
common. The latter separation process provides wastewater
with a higher fraction of dissolved organic substances and a
lower portion of particulate matter. In this study the pilot
plant was located at a company that applies centrifugation.
In Table 1 the composition of the wastewater investigated
is compared with data published by Mai ().
Accordingly, the wastewater undergoes acidification
caused by anaerobic micro-organisms in the pre-treatment
units. Although there is a certain amount of nutrients,
organic matter is the main component. A comparison of
non-filtered and filtered samples reveals that total suspended
solids (TSS) make up for about 25% of the chemical oxygen
demand (COD). Therefore, TSS removal prior to biological
treatment was considered an important element of the pro-
cess scheme.
The treatment concept developed includes physical pre-
treatment, anaerobic degradation of organic substances, and
aerobic post-treatment. The process scheme is shown in
Figure 1. As far as we know the specific combination of tech-
nical and nature-based processes is a novel approach for this
type of wastewater. A detailed description of the concept is
given elsewhere (Pick et al. ).
The pilot plant was designed to treat continuously up to
12 m3/d of wastewater. Before flowing into the plant, the
water passes through three buffer tanks with a total hydrau-
lic retention time of 3.5 h. In this stage pH decreases to 4.5
BOD5 6,900 mg/L 9,000–11,000 mg/L
Total phosphorus 71 mg/L –
Kjeldahl nitrogen 280 mg/L –
COD (filtered) 8,840 mg/L –
Total cyanide 22 mg/L 5.8–96 mg/L
a
After 3.5 h of microbial acidification. TSS: total suspended solids; COD: chemical oxygen
demand; BOD5: 5-day biochemical oxygen demand.
due to rapid microbial acidification. As a result, colloidal
organic matter flocculates without adding any chemicals
and the removal efficiency in the flotation stage is much
better than with fresh wastewater. After this effect had
been observed during the first months of operation, pH
was no longer adjusted in the neutralization unit.
Dissolved air flotation (DAF) was applied in order to
remove the major portion of TSS. An Aquatector® Micro-
float® unit (Enviplan Company, Germany) was operated at
a hydraulic surface load of 2.5–3.0 m/h. Since dosing of
polymeric flocculants prior to flotation improved TSS
removal only slightly, flocculants were not added during
regular operation.
The central treatment stage was an anaerobic process
(expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactor, type
ANAFIT-AC, Hager þ Elsässer Company, Germany) which
converts organic matter into biogas. The performance of
the reactor largely depends on stable process conditions
and a low suspended solids loading. This was achieved by
an optimization of the upstream DAF process. The EGSB
W
reactor was operated at a temperature of 35 C and a hydrau-
lic load of 4–5 m/h. It was seeded with sludge from a
brewery wastewater treatment plant. pH was adjusted to
6.8 by adding sodium hydroxide. There was no need for
heating because raw wastewater temperatures were already
at the required level.
For post-treatment, a vertical flow constructed wetland
(VFCW) was designed. The hydraulic surface load of the
unit was about 30 L/(m2 · d) and the average organic surface
load corresponded to 72 g COD/(m2 · d). The effluent was
collected in a small basin which was the sampling point,
and discharged via a fluid tipper to a lagoon operated by
the tapioca starch company.
 w a t e r r e s e a r c h 7 3 ( 2 0 1 5 ) 2 9 1 e3 0 3

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journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/watres

Comprehensive microbial analysis of combined

mesophilic anaerobicethermophilic aerobic
process treating high-strength food wastewater

Hyun Min Jang a, Jeong Hyub Ha a,b,*, Jong Moon Park a,b,c,**,
Mi-Sun Kim d, Sven G. Sommer e
a
School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 77, Cheongam-Ro,
Pohang 790-784, Republic of Korea
b
Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 77, Cheongam-Ro, Pohang 790-
784, Republic of Korea
c
Division of Advanced Nuclear Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 77, Cheongam-Ro,
Pohang 790-784, Republic of Korea
d
Biomass and Waste Energy Laboratory, Korea Institute of Energy Research, 152 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon
305-343, Republic of Korea
e
Institute of Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology and Environmental Technology, Faculty of Engineering, University
of Southern Denmark, Niels Bohrs All
e 1, DK-5230 Odense M, Denmark

article info abstract

Article history:
Received 1 October 2014
Received in revised form
27 January 2015
Accepted 28 January 2015
Available online 7 February 2015
Keywords:
High-strength food wastewater
Combined biological process
Methane production
Pyrosequencing
Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR)
A combined mesophilic anaerobicethermophilic aerobic process was used to treat high-
strength food wastewater in this study. During the experimental period, most of solid
residue from the mesophilic anaerobic reactor (R1) was separated by centrifugation and
introduced into the thermophilic aerobic reactor (R2) for further digestion. Then, ther-
mophilic aerobically-digested sludge was reintroduced into R1 to enhance reactor perfor-
mance. The combined process was operated with two different Runs: Run I with hydraulic
retention time (HRT) ¼ 40 d (corresponding OLR ¼ 3.5 kg COD/m3 d) and Run II with
HRT ¼ 20 d (corresponding OLR ¼ 7 kg COD/m3). For a comparison, a single-stage meso-
philic anaerobic reactor (R3) was operated concurrently with same OLRs and HRTs as the
combined process. During the overall digestion, all reactors showed high stability without
pH control. The combined process demonstrated significantly higher organic matter
removal efficiencies (over 90%) of TS, VS and COD and methane production than did R3.
Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) results indicated that higher populations of both bacteria
and archaea were maintained in R1 than in R3. Pyrosequencing analysis revealed relatively
high abundance of phylum Actinobacteria in both R1 and R2, and a predominance of phyla
Synergistetes and Firmicutes in R3 during Run II. Furthermore, R1 and R2 shared genera
(Prevotella, Aminobacterium, Geobacillus and Unclassified Actinobacteria), which suggests
synergy between mesophilic anaerobic digestion and thermophilic aerobic digestion. For

* Corresponding author. Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 77, Cheongam-Ro, Pohang,
790-784, Republic of Korea. Tel.: þ82 54 279 8315; fax: þ82 54 279 8659.
** Corresponding author. Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 77, Cheongam-Ro, Pohang,
790-784, Republic of Korea. Tel.: þ82 54 279 2275; fax: þ82 54 279 8659.
E-mail addresses: jeonghha@postech.ac.kr (J.H. Ha), jmpark@postech.ac.kr (J.M. Park).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2015.01.038
0043-1354/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 w a t e r r e s e a r c h 7 3 ( 2 0 1 5 ) 2 9 1 e3 0 3 295

Table 2 e Summary of the reactor performance of combined (R1 and R2) and control (R3) processes at the two different
conditions.
Parameters Run I (HRT: 40 d) Run II (HRT: 20d)
Combined process R3 (control) Combined process R3 (control)
R1 (MAD) R2 (TAD) Final effluent R1 (MAD) R2 (TAD) Final effluent
pH 7.43 ± 0.11 8.25 ± 0.04 7.43 ± 0.11 7.33 ± 0.09 7.37 ± 0.01 8.21 ± 0.02 7.37 ± 0.01 6.75 ± 0.04
TA (g CaCO3/L) 3.22 ± 0.07 1.45 ± 0.08 3.22 ± 0.07 3.29 ± 0.02 3.22 ± 0.02 1.43 ± 0.02 3.22 ± 0.02 2.23 ± 0.03
ORP(mV) 405 ±8 38a ~ 67b e 402 ± 4 403 ± 6 37a ~ 67b e 402 ±3
TS (g/L) 40.06 ± 1.99 56.68 ± 0.49 8.88 ± 0.21 37.74 ± 0.28 51.08 ± 0.82 72.12 ± 0.28 8.89 ± 0.19 43.68 ± 0.12
VS (g/L) 20.47 ± 1.01 29.80 ± 0.26 3.94 ± 0.18 20.63 ± 0.31 26.10 ± 0.42 37.92 ± 0.15 3.98 ± 0.22 23.88 ± 0.24
TCOD (g/L) 30.92 ± 0.92 47.29 ± 0.26 9.49 ± 0.58 29.98 ± 0.58 43.49 ± 0.39 61.42 ± 0.42 9.07 ± 0.06 40.32 ± 0.42
SCOD (g/L) 3.43 ± 0.03 3.29 ± 0.11 3.43 ± 0.03 2.11 ± 0.08 4.81 ± 0.11 4.06 ± 0.04 4.81 ± 0.11 3.20 ± 0.01
TOA (g COD/L) 2.86 ± 0.07 e 2.86 ± 0.07 0.89 ± 0.01 3.28 ± 0.01 e 3.28 ± 0.01 1.99 ± 0.05
Acetic acid (g COD/L) 1.52 ± 0.01 e 1.52 ± 0.01 0.89 ± 0.01 1.73 ± 0.01 e 1.73 ± 0.01 1.24 ± 0.03
Propionic acid (g COD/L) 1.43 ± 0.03 e 1.43 ± 0.03 e 1.55 ± 0.01 e 1.55 ± 0.01 0.75 ± 0.01
TVFA (g acetic acid/L) 2.67 ± 0.05 e 2.67 ± 0.05 0.83 ± 0.01 3.07 ± 0.01 e 3.07 ± 0.01 1.86 ± 0.05
TVFA/TA (g acetic acid/g 0.83 ± 0.09 e 0.83 ± 0.09 0.25 ± 0.02 0.95 ± 0.01 e 0.95 ± 0.01 0.83 ± 0.06
CaCO3)
TS removal efficiency 92.52 ± 0.35 68.15 ± 0.75 92.54 ± 0.42 63.13 ± 0.39
(% of feed)
VS removal efficiency 96.31 ± 0.41 80.63 ± 0.48 96.30 ± 0.28 77.58 ± 0.27
(% of feed)
COD removal efficiency 93.20 ± 0.28 78.52 ± 0.24 93.51 ± 0.11 71.11 ± 0.65
(% of feed)
Biogas production rate 1.54 ± 0.03 1.00 ± 0.02 2.67 ± 0.04 2.00 ± 0.01
(L/L/d)
Methane content (%) 68.40 ± 0.31 63.10 ± 0.58 66.20 ± 0.48 59.42 ± 0.44
Methane production rate 1.05 ± 0.01 0.63 ± 0.01 1.77 ± 0.02 1.19 ± 0.01
(L CH4/L/d)
Methane yield (m3 CH4/kg 0.32 ± 0.01 0.23 ± 0.01 0.32 ± 0.01 0.24 ± 0.01
COD removed)
a
After the feeding.
b
About 3 h after the feeding.

A considerable amount of organic matter was degraded in
both combined and control processes. In Run I at steady state,
the control process achieved removal (%) of 68.15 ± 0.75 for TS,
80.63 ± 0.48 for VS and 78.52 ± 0.24 for COD; the combined
process achieved 92.52 ± 0.35 for TS, 96.31 ± 0.41 for VS and
93.20 ± 0.28 for COD (Table 2). In Run II at steady state, the
increase in OLR from 3.5 to 7 kg COD/m3 d caused higher
concentrations of TS, VS and COD in all reactors. After the
initial period of Run II, the control process showed slightly
decreased removal (%) (63.13 ± 0.39 for TS, 77.58 ± 0.27 for VS
and 71.11 ± 0.65 for COD) compared to Run I at steady state.
But the removal (%) in the combined process (92.54 ± 0.42 for
TS, 96.30 ± 0.28 for VS and 93.51 ± 0.11% for COD) in Run II at
steady state did not differ from those in Run I at steady state.
These results indicate that efficient degradation of separated
(concentrated) anaerobic sludge in R2 significantly increased
the removal efficiency in terms of TS, VS and COD. In addition,
the collaboration between R1 and R2 might provide remark-
able differences in organic removal between combined and
control processes (Miah et al., 2005).
To better understand the reactor performance, organic
acids that are known to be major intermediates were ana-
lysed. Only two organic acids (acetic and propionic acid) were
detected in both R1 and R3; no organic acids were detected in
R2 (Table 2). In Run I at steady state, TOA concentration was
2.86 ± 0.07 g COD/L in R1 (final effluent of combined process)
and 0.89 ± 0.01 g COD/L in R3. With increased OLR, increased
TOA concentration was observed in R1 (3.28 ± 0.01 g COD/L)
and R3 (1.99 ± 0.05 g COD/L). This suggests that HRT of R1 and
R2 were insufficient to allow consumption of all organic acids
in feedstock and produced in the reactors. The TOA concen-
tration was higher in R1 than R3, possibly because HRT was
shorter in R1 than in R3 during the overall digestion (Table S1).
Degradable organic matter recirculated from R2 might also
contribute to the relatively high concentration of TOA in R1.
Based on the organic acid analysis in the reactor, the TVFA/
TA ratio was calculated; this ratio has been used as an
acidification-risk parameter in AD (Kafle and Kim, 2013;
Schievano et al., 2012). In general, TVFA/TA < 0.4 is consid-
ered to be favourable for stable methanogenesis without in-
hibition by acidification (Rinco
n et al., 2008). In this study,
TVFA/TA was >0.8 in R1 in both Runs at steady state, and in R3
during Run II at steady state. This high TVFA/TA ratio is
mainly due to: (1) high concentration of easily-biodegradable
components (i.e., VS and SCOD) and >69 g COD/L of organic
acids in the feedstock (Table 1), and (2) relatively insufficient
retention time (especially R1). Although R1 and R3 showed
high TVFA/TA ratio, both R1 and R3 operated stably
throughout digestion. This observation is consistent with a
recent report that showed stable reactor operation with TVFA/
TA > 0.9 during the co-digestion of apple waste and swine
manure (Kafle and Kim, 2013). Further studies need to be
298 w a t e r r e s e a r c h 7 3 ( 2 0 1 5 ) 2 9 1 e3 0 3

Fig. 3 e Distribution and relative abundance of taxa in bacterial samples based on sequences derived from pyrosequencing.
Inner circle: composition at phylum level; outer circle: composition at class level. Sequences showing with percentage of
reads >1.0% in all samples were grouped into ‘Others’.

Genus-level classification was conducted to further deter-
mine the phylogenetic discrimination and possible functions
of the bacterial members in the reactors (Fig. 5a). Throughout
digestion, both R1 and R3 also showed discernible distinctions
in distribution of sequences at the genus level within phylum
Firmicutes (Fig. 5a). The members assigned into genus Clos-
tridium (belong to class Clostridia), which are syntrophic bac-
teria (Schnürer et al., 1996), were predominant (~8%) in R3, but
relatively uncommon (~1%) in R1. Interestingly, the genus
Geobacillus (belong to class Bacilli) was observed at ~6% of
abundances in R1, and was predominant (~11%) in R2; the
presence of this genus in thermophilic aerobic condition
(mainly produce lytic enzyme) has been reported previously,
but it is uncommon in anaerobic conditions. Other genera
such as Prevotella and Aminobacterium, which are mostly
anaerobic bacteria, were also detected in both R1 and R2. In
particular, R1 and R2 shared a significant proportion (4.09%
and 14.24% in R1; 19.28% and 17.64% in R2 at Runs I and II,
respectively) of one uncharacterized genus Unclassified Acti-
nobacteria throughout digestion. This may in fact be signifi-
cantly important in maintenances of bacterial population and
reactor performances. This was also highly in agreement with
 
Research Progress on Corn Starch Wastewater
Treatment Process
ZHANG Chunyang1, ZHANG Congju1, LIU Jianguang2, HAN Lichao2
1. School of Thermal Energy Engineering; Shandong Jianzhu University; Jinan 250101 China
2. School of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan, 250101,China;
Abstract: The reclamation approaches and treatment
technology process of corn starch wastewater were re-
viewed. contamination Characteristic of corn starch
wastewater were concentration high and biodegradable,
and the reclamation potential was huge. Treatment tech-
nologies included biological treatment, physical chemistry
treatment, biological pond and photosynthetic bacteria
process. The optimized combine treatment process of re-
source reclamation from corn starch wastewater and treat-
ment technology was recommended.
Keywords: anaerobic, wastewater treatment, Corn Starch
Wastewater, reclamation
1 Introduction
Starch is a kind of important industrial raw materials and
widely used in the food, chemistry, textile, pharmaceutical
industry, etc. In the production and processing process of
starch, a large amount of high concentrated organic
wastewater is discharged, which mainly contains organic
matters such as starch, fiber, protein, etc. Once these or-
ganic matters are discharged into the water, it will lead to
severe water pollution and bring repercussion to the sur-
vival environment of human beings. Therefore, starch
wastewater should be processed to meet the standard be-
fore discharging. Further, the high concentration of organic
matter in the water has revealed significant resource poten-
tial.
2 Quality of the corn starch wastewater
The wastewater generated by the production of corn starch
can be divided into two parts, namely the pickling liquid
and process water. The former contains high content of
organic matters, mostly protein, but little water; and the
latter is generated by the whole production process of
broking corn, removing embryo and drying starch and
___________________________________
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contains a lot of water which is about 4-5 times of the for-
mer. The pickling liquid is high concentrated organic
wastewater with the characteristic of four high and one low,
namely high CODCr (8,000 ~ 15000mg/L), high suspended
solids (SS) (1000 ~ 3000mg/L), high total nitrogen value
(240 ~ 540mg/L), high concentration of phosphate (in P
plan, about 15 ~ 130mg/L), and low pH (4.2 -5). The proc-
ess water is medium concentrated organic wastewater with
CODCr value in 2000 ~ 3500mg/L, not high ammonia ni-
trogen and phosphate concentration, respectively 20mg/L
and more than 14 ~ 32mg/L.
From the analysis of the above data, it can be concluded
that: (1) Corn starch wastewater is rich in carbohydrates
and nitrogen, phosphorus nutrients, belonging to better
biochemical high concentrated organic wastewater, which
is suitable for high concentration organic wastewater
treatment by biochemical process. (2) Wastewater sus-
pended solids and the colloid protein content is relatively
high, which will produce adverse impact to the develop-
ment of the anaerobic activated sludge system. (3) Corn
immersion process will produce a small number SO32 -. In
anaerobic treatment process, these sulfur-containing com-
pounds are deoxidized to hydrogen sulphide by microor-
ganisms, which is likely to produce certain inhibition on
the anaerobic system.
3 Corn starch wastewater treatment technology situa-
tion
3.1 Biological treatment method
Biological treatment method is to use the effect of the mi-
crobial metabolism, which degrades and converts the dis-
solution and colloid organic pollutants into harmless mate-
rial. The method of purifying wastewater can generally be
divided into anaerobic biological treatment and aerobic
biological treatment. Due to the characteristics of high or-
ganic matter in starch wastewater and difficulty in the
 
process, single biological treatment method is rarely used
and is usually combined to other kinds of biological treat-
ments. By this way, it can make its advantages and disad-
vantages to supplement each other and improve the effi-
ciency.
3.1.1 Anaerobic-aerobic combination
Anaerobic biological treatment can decompose a large
amount of high concentration organic compounds and
produce methane, while aerobic biological treatment is
used as the follow-up process to further remove the resid-
ual organic matters. The combination of these two methods
has a higher efficiency thereby applying in the practical
production process as a whole subject.
Wang Rongmin etc used the three-phase anaerobic-aerobic
one-piece baffle plate bioreactor and added inorganic
polymer abandoned packing rubber as the adherent grow-
ing packing for the aerobic microbes. According to the
result, in temperature between 25 to 35 ć, pH 5.0 ~ 850
and the three-phase anaerobic-aerobic one-piece baffle
plate bioreactor effluent 200mg/L COD concentration be-
low, COD total removal rate topped 98.7%;Effluent am-
monia nitrogen in 10mg/L or so, ammonia nitrogen re-
moval topped 82.3%, which makes the effluent water
standard.
Yang Kaiming and Yang Xiaolin etc introduced a UBF -
CASS combination process to handle starch wastewater in
the northwestern starch company. CODCr tanking water is
reduced by 12000mg/L to 125mg/L, NH3 - N is reduced
by the original 160mg/L to 20mg/L, BOD5 and SS re-
moval rates reached 99.4% and 87% respectively, which
makes the effluent water to achieve the secondary standard.
The system has high impact resistance for strong capability
of load, stable operation effect in biochemical treatment
unit. Moreover, the generated biogas and protein feed all
can have certain economic benefits.
Shi Hui etc used EGSB - A/O combination process to han-
dle high concentration starch wastewater in a starch com-
pany in Si Ping City. The result indicates that the process-
ing high concentration starch wastewater by methods is
completely feasible. When COD for wastewater is
8000~10000mg/L, the COD for processed wastewater is
less than 100mg/L; the reactor COD is stable in 20kg /

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(m3·d) or so; the combination process on COD, BOD5, SS
and NH3 - N can reach removal rates 99.1%, 99.6%,82%
and 96% respectively, which reaches the national sewage
comprehensive level 1 emission standard.
3.1.2 Anaerobic biological treatment method
The main processes in anaerobic biological treatment of
handling starch wastewater have ShengLiuShi anaerobic
sludge bed (UASB), anaerobic baffle plate reactor (ABR),
anaerobic fluidized bed (AFB), anaerobic contact method
(ACP), two-phase anaerobic digestion method (TPAD) and
anaerobic filter (AF), etc.
ShengLiuShi anaerobic sludge bed is a kind of anaerobic
reactor based on mature theory. It is developed success-
fully by Lettinga in Wageningen agricultural university in
the Netherlands in 1977. It has a lot of merits, such as high
volume load rate and high sludge load rate etc and it is
widely used in engineering. Li Yafeng etc introduced re-
actor UASB treatment effect used for starch wastewater
treatment in a Shandong company. This company adopted
2 UASB reactors whose diameter was 20m and height was
6.8m in starch wastewater anaerobic biological treatment.
Meanwhile, COD volume load was 8kg / (m3 · for d) with
stable treatment effect and effluent COD, BOD5, SS re-
moval rates were 83%, 90%, 62% respectively, which sat-
isfied the follow-up process requirements. Zhang Chunyan
analyzed the starch wastewater treatment process in Shan-
dong Qingyuan Food Company and proved that it was
economic and effective to use UASB to process high qual-
ity concentration corn starch wastewater, which operation
cost was low and the treatment effect was stable. It further
determined that the best temperature for the UASB treat-
ment was 35 ~ 40 ć; pH value of 6 ~ 7, CODCr reached
8kg / (d. m3) design load and the removal rate reached
above 90%.
Anaerobic baffle plate reactor used built-in vertical guide
plate to divide the reaction chambers into several relative
independent ShangLiuShi sludge bed systems. Several
small reaction chambers were installed in series, which
makes the processed wastewater flow up and down inter-
nally along its baffle plate. In the mixing effect of the flow
and the producing gases, organic matters in the wastewater
contacted with anaerobic sludge repeatedly and ware able
 
25h, COD removal rate could reach amount to 77% ~ 96%.
Both of them have obvious treatment effect.
3.2.2 Floating processing method
Floating processing uses high pressure to dissolve a large
amount of vapor gas as working liquid. After sudden de-
compression, it will release countless small bubbles, which
makes the flocculate in the wastewater stick to their surface.
Thus, the proportion of the flocculate is far less than the
actual proportion. Along with the rising of the bubbles, the
flocculate will float to the liquid surface, thereby achieving
the purpose of liquid-solid separation. Mu Jianbo etc took
the wastewater in a Hubei starch company and adopted an
air floating device to conduct an experimental research.
The wastewater infusing drug went through the pump into
the integration device. The micro bubble produced by the
dissolved gas water contacted with the counter-current
wastewater. Floc properties were clinging to the micro
bubble and ejected along with the rising, the disposed wa-
ter below the column went out through the liquid level
control device. According to the experiment and the analy-
sis of the flocculant, floating agent and the operation pa-
rameters on the treatment effect, it is concluded that the
best operating conditions can be achieved in feeding posi-
tion 70cm, air inflow 120L/h, feeding amount 100ml/min
and liquid surface height 127cm.
3.3 Other processing methods
3.3.1 Biological pond method
Biological pond technology uses the natural purification
capacity of water to handle wastewater. This technology
was developed rapidly after 1950s and mostly adopted in
sewage and organic industrial wastewater. According to
the characteristics of high organic content and rich nutri-
tion in starch wastewater, the combination of anaerobic
pond, facultative pond and aerobic pond is applied. Yang
Fengjiang etc designed a method to handle starch waste-
water with ShuiHuLu and XiLuPing based on the water
characteristic of Xinmin Starch Company in Liaoning
military logistic department. The precipitated wastewater
was ejected into the natural oxidation pond to have natural
fermentation. Then, it was ejected into the ShuiHuLu pond
to be purified by 7d and was ejected into the XILuPing to
be purified by 7d again. All these procedures made the ef-

Authorized licensed use limited to: Queensland University of Technology. Downloaded on August 15,2020 at 04:37:27 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
fluent water to achieve farm irrigation water quality. Prac-
tice has proved that through the metabolic process which
contained 4 degree of wastewater handling, 3 steps of
multi-function and multi-system, this method can achieve
all material energy conversion and recycle. Thus, it has
obvious popularized value.
3.3.2 Photosynthetic bacteria method
Photosynthetic bacteria (PSB) are mainly red pseudomonas
genera, which can conduct bad oxygen photosynthesis un-
der anaerobic condition. The organic matters are used as
the carbon sources and the hydrogen body for photosyn-
thesis, being decomposed and removed. Moreover, they are
able to withstand high concentration organic matters. Pho-
tosynthetic bacteria method is also good in removing con-
taminants, such as nitrogen and phosphorus which has
been widely applied to remove waste water in organic pol-
lutants. Wang Yuxin etc separated out a spherical red coli
L2 from the wastewater sludge in Shandong Wen Deng
Starch Company in order to handle the wastewater after
pretreatment. Under appropriate conditions, CODCr re-
moval rate could reach 95.7% which made the wastewater
to meet the effluent standard.
4 Corn starch wastewater recycling technology
There are a lot of researches at home and abroad using mi-
croorganism for starch wastewater resource disposal in-
cluding using starch wastewater to produce single cell pro-
tein, recycling protein for fodder, producing microbial
flocculants, producing polysaccharide, etc.
Li Suyu etc introduced research in a variety of microbial
purification corn starch wastewater synergy. The result
showed that per cubic meter of wastewater could be used
for producing feed additives SCP1.646 kg and could be
turn into resources of protein production. Meanwhile, mi-
crobial synergy still can make wastewater COD removal
rate more than 90% and the purified wastewater COD re-
moval under 300mg/L. Wang Yuanyuan etc used starch
wastewater to tame, and foster mixed microbial flocculants
to cultivate bacterium. Researching on the cultivated con-
dition, they found that in condition of COD concentration
was 4000mg/L; urea was the source of nitrogen; C: N: P =
100:5-2, training time was 42h, culture temperature was 30
ć, wave bed speed was 150r/min, the MBF - 17 floccula-
 
[23] LI Suyu, LI Yu, REN Jun, et al. Cooperative Effect of Varied Microor- ˖19̚23.
Wastewater[J]. China Water & Wastewater, 2007,23˄5˅
ganism in Purifying Maize Starch Wastewater[J]. Environmental Protec- ⥟ುುˈ⥟৥ϰˈ䰜Ꮰ.߽⫼⎔㉝ᑳ∈෍‫ݏ‬໡ড়ൟ㍂‫ࠖޱ‬ѻ⫳㦠ⷨお[J].
˄1˅
tion, 2003ˈ ˖22̚23. Ё೑㒭∈
ᴢ㋴⥝ˈᴢ⥝ˈӏ࿳ˈㄝ.໮⾡ᖂ⫳⠽‫㉝⎔㉇⥝࣪ޔ‬ᎹϮᑳ∈ⱘणৠᬜ
ᑨⷨお[J].⦃๗ֱᡸˈ2003ˈ ˄1˅ ˖22̚23.
[24] WANG Yunyun, WANG Xiangdong, CHEN Xi. Study on Culture of
Compound Microbial Flocculant-producing Bacteria Using Starch



Authorized licensed use limited to: Queensland University of Technology. Downloaded on August 15,2020 at 04:37:27 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
 1265 J. Fettig et al. | Treatment of tapioca starch wastewater Water Science & Technology | 68.6 | 2013

Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC ). As a low- Table 1 | Composition of tapioca starch wastewater

cost solution, some middle-sized plants have recently started

This study (mean
to cover the first anaerobic pond with a synthetic canvas in Parameter values 2010–2012) Data from Mai (2006)
order to collect and utilize the biogas produced (Hoang
Conductivity 1,673 μS/cm –
). In addition, some small companies have constructed
pH 4.5a 4.0–4.2
anaerobic filters combined with aerobic post-treatment
TSS 1,700 mg/L 1,500–2,600 mg/L
tanks (Phuoc & Phuong ). Since there is no biogas collec-
tion, a major benefit of anaerobic processes is not utilized. COD (non-filtered) 11,800 mg/L 14,000–18,000 mg/L

The main objective of this study was to find out whether
a combination of technical and nature-based treatment pro-
cesses suited for small- and middle-sized companies can
meet the discharge requirements corresponding to 50 mg/L
biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), 30 mg/L total nitro-
gen (total-N), 6 mg/L total phosphorus (total-P) and
0.1 mg/L total cyanide according to Vietnam Standard
TCVN 5945 class B (MONRE ), and whether it can
be operated reliably.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
In small companies the starch is separated by sedimentation,
while in larger plants centrifugal screen extractors are more
common. The latter separation process provides wastewater
with a higher fraction of dissolved organic substances and a
lower portion of particulate matter. In this study the pilot
plant was located at a company that applies centrifugation.
In Table 1 the composition of the wastewater investigated
is compared with data published by Mai ().
Accordingly, the wastewater undergoes acidification
caused by anaerobic micro-organisms in the pre-treatment
units. Although there is a certain amount of nutrients,
organic matter is the main component. A comparison of
non-filtered and filtered samples reveals that total suspended
solids (TSS) make up for about 25% of the chemical oxygen
demand (COD). Therefore, TSS removal prior to biological
treatment was considered an important element of the pro-
cess scheme.
The treatment concept developed includes physical pre-
treatment, anaerobic degradation of organic substances, and
aerobic post-treatment. The process scheme is shown in
Figure 1. As far as we know the specific combination of tech-
nical and nature-based processes is a novel approach for this
type of wastewater. A detailed description of the concept is
given elsewhere (Pick et al. ).
The pilot plant was designed to treat continuously up to
12 m3/d of wastewater. Before flowing into the plant, the
water passes through three buffer tanks with a total hydrau-
lic retention time of 3.5 h. In this stage pH decreases to 4.5
BOD5 6,900 mg/L 9,000–11,000 mg/L
Total phosphorus 71 mg/L –
Kjeldahl nitrogen 280 mg/L –
COD (filtered) 8,840 mg/L –
Total cyanide 22 mg/L 5.8–96 mg/L
a
After 3.5 h of microbial acidification. TSS: total suspended solids; COD: chemical oxygen
demand; BOD5: 5-day biochemical oxygen demand.
due to rapid microbial acidification. As a result, colloidal
organic matter flocculates without adding any chemicals
and the removal efficiency in the flotation stage is much
better than with fresh wastewater. After this effect had
been observed during the first months of operation, pH
was no longer adjusted in the neutralization unit.
Dissolved air flotation (DAF) was applied in order to
remove the major portion of TSS. An Aquatector® Micro-
float® unit (Enviplan Company, Germany) was operated at
a hydraulic surface load of 2.5–3.0 m/h. Since dosing of
polymeric flocculants prior to flotation improved TSS
removal only slightly, flocculants were not added during
regular operation.
The central treatment stage was an anaerobic process
(expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactor, type
ANAFIT-AC, Hager þ Elsässer Company, Germany) which
converts organic matter into biogas. The performance of
the reactor largely depends on stable process conditions
and a low suspended solids loading. This was achieved by
an optimization of the upstream DAF process. The EGSB
W
reactor was operated at a temperature of 35 C and a hydrau-
lic load of 4–5 m/h. It was seeded with sludge from a
brewery wastewater treatment plant. pH was adjusted to
6.8 by adding sodium hydroxide. There was no need for
heating because raw wastewater temperatures were already
at the required level.
For post-treatment, a vertical flow constructed wetland
(VFCW) was designed. The hydraulic surface load of the
unit was about 30 L/(m2 · d) and the average organic surface
load corresponded to 72 g COD/(m2 · d). The effluent was
collected in a small basin which was the sampling point,
and discharged via a fluid tipper to a lagoon operated by
the tapioca starch company.
 1265 J. Fettig et al. | Treatment of tapioca starch wastewater Water Science & Technology | 68.6 | 2013

Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC ). As a low- Table 1 | Composition of tapioca starch wastewater

cost solution, some middle-sized plants have recently started

This study (mean
to cover the first anaerobic pond with a synthetic canvas in Parameter values 2010–2012) Data from Mai (2006)
order to collect and utilize the biogas produced (Hoang
Conductivity 1,673 μS/cm –
). In addition, some small companies have constructed
pH 4.5a 4.0–4.2
anaerobic filters combined with aerobic post-treatment
TSS 1,700 mg/L 1,500–2,600 mg/L
tanks (Phuoc & Phuong ). Since there is no biogas collec-
tion, a major benefit of anaerobic processes is not utilized. COD (non-filtered) 11,800 mg/L 14,000–18,000 mg/L

The main objective of this study was to find out whether
a combination of technical and nature-based treatment pro-
cesses suited for small- and middle-sized companies can
meet the discharge requirements corresponding to 50 mg/L
biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), 30 mg/L total nitro-
gen (total-N), 6 mg/L total phosphorus (total-P) and
0.1 mg/L total cyanide according to Vietnam Standard
TCVN 5945 class B (MONRE ), and whether it can
be operated reliably.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
In small companies the starch is separated by sedimentation,
while in larger plants centrifugal screen extractors are more
common. The latter separation process provides wastewater
with a higher fraction of dissolved organic substances and a
lower portion of particulate matter. In this study the pilot
plant was located at a company that applies centrifugation.
In Table 1 the composition of the wastewater investigated
is compared with data published by Mai ().
Accordingly, the wastewater undergoes acidification
caused by anaerobic micro-organisms in the pre-treatment
units. Although there is a certain amount of nutrients,
organic matter is the main component. A comparison of
non-filtered and filtered samples reveals that total suspended
solids (TSS) make up for about 25% of the chemical oxygen
demand (COD). Therefore, TSS removal prior to biological
treatment was considered an important element of the pro-
cess scheme.
The treatment concept developed includes physical pre-
treatment, anaerobic degradation of organic substances, and
aerobic post-treatment. The process scheme is shown in
Figure 1. As far as we know the specific combination of tech-
nical and nature-based processes is a novel approach for this
type of wastewater. A detailed description of the concept is
given elsewhere (Pick et al. ).
The pilot plant was designed to treat continuously up to
12 m3/d of wastewater. Before flowing into the plant, the
water passes through three buffer tanks with a total hydrau-
lic retention time of 3.5 h. In this stage pH decreases to 4.5
BOD5 6,900 mg/L 9,000–11,000 mg/L
Total phosphorus 71 mg/L –
Kjeldahl nitrogen 280 mg/L –
COD (filtered) 8,840 mg/L –
Total cyanide 22 mg/L 5.8–96 mg/L
a
After 3.5 h of microbial acidification. TSS: total suspended solids; COD: chemical oxygen
demand; BOD5: 5-day biochemical oxygen demand.
due to rapid microbial acidification. As a result, colloidal
organic matter flocculates without adding any chemicals
and the removal efficiency in the flotation stage is much
better than with fresh wastewater. After this effect had
been observed during the first months of operation, pH
was no longer adjusted in the neutralization unit.
Dissolved air flotation (DAF) was applied in order to
remove the major portion of TSS. An Aquatector® Micro-
float® unit (Enviplan Company, Germany) was operated at
a hydraulic surface load of 2.5–3.0 m/h. Since dosing of
polymeric flocculants prior to flotation improved TSS
removal only slightly, flocculants were not added during
regular operation.
The central treatment stage was an anaerobic process
(expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactor, type
ANAFIT-AC, Hager þ Elsässer Company, Germany) which
converts organic matter into biogas. The performance of
the reactor largely depends on stable process conditions
and a low suspended solids loading. This was achieved by
an optimization of the upstream DAF process. The EGSB
W
reactor was operated at a temperature of 35 C and a hydrau-
lic load of 4–5 m/h. It was seeded with sludge from a
brewery wastewater treatment plant. pH was adjusted to
6.8 by adding sodium hydroxide. There was no need for
heating because raw wastewater temperatures were already
at the required level.
For post-treatment, a vertical flow constructed wetland
(VFCW) was designed. The hydraulic surface load of the
unit was about 30 L/(m2 · d) and the average organic surface
load corresponded to 72 g COD/(m2 · d). The effluent was
collected in a small basin which was the sampling point,
and discharged via a fluid tipper to a lagoon operated by
the tapioca starch company.
 1267 J. Fettig et al. | Treatment of tapioca starch wastewater Water Science & Technology | 68.6 | 2013

Figure 3 | Mean COD concentrations during the last five operating phases.

COD elimination is on the order of 60%. Further removal
takes place in the wetland, which has been operated
mainly under aerobic conditions. The mean COD effluent
concentration in all phases based on 62 samples was
137 ± 73 mg/L, corresponding to an overall COD removal
efficiency of more than 98%. It can be assumed that
the remaining organics are predominantly non-
biodegradable, because BOD5 values were well below the
Vietnamese standard of 50 mg/L in all of the effluent
samples measured.
The organic load of the EGSB reactor is shown in
Figure 4 as a function of time. It was quite low in the begin-
ning because of the adaption period of the anaerobic sludge.
The design load of 15 kg COD/(m³ · d) is indicated in the
figure as a 100% line. After more than 1 year of operation
this value was clearly exceeded, and during a short-term
stress test, a maximum value of 44 kg COD/(m³ · d) has
been obtained. Some lower values observed occasionally
are caused by the fact that the flow rate was not always
constant because of uneven wastewater flow during the
starch production campaign.
The biogas produced in the EGSB reactor has been
measured with respect to quantity and composition. On an
average more than 70% of methane was found. The specific
methane yield calculated after correction to normal con-
ditions (VN) was 0.31 m³ CH4 per kg COD (eliminated).
This value is close to the stoichiometric methane production
of VN ¼ 0.35 m³ per kg COD (eliminated) showing that the
data are conclusive (Austermann-Haun ).
During the first phases of plant operation, only KN and
ammonia were determined as nitrogen components. It was
found that TSS removal by flotation contributes to KN elim-
ination by 10–40%. KN removal in the anaerobic reactor
was observed to be quite small, whereas it was significant
in the wetland. The latter can be attributed to further degra-
dation of organic matter as well as nitrification.
This conclusion is supported by the concentrations of
nitrogen components including nitrate given in Table 2 for
the last two operating phases. Accordingly, both organic
nitrogen (Org.-N) and NH4-N concentrations are very low
in the VFCW effluent. It is interesting to note that the

Table 2 | Mean concentrations of different nitrogen components

Operating phase VII Operating phase VIII

Org.-N NH4-N NO3-N Org.-N NH4-N NO3-N

Sample (mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L)

Influent 292 11.3 18.8 228 12.2 15.5

Effluent flotation 230 12.2 18.0 167 12.0 18.0
Effluent EGSB 157 92 0.8 87 80 0.9
Effluent VFCW 5.5 5.3 0.6 17 1.9 115
Figure 4 | Organic load of the EGSB reactor.
 Reproduced with permission of copyright owner.
Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Geotechnical Engineering Bored pile design in stiff clay I: codes of
Volume 165 Issue GE4 practice
Vardanega, Kolody, Pennington, Morrison and
Simpson

ðL !,
For a single pile, not a group, Ed will be taken as the load
Qd ¼ G þ V ¼ DÆ cu dz þ Ab N c cu 3: 0 imparted from the pile cap to the individual pile. The code
10: o
defines Rd,g

14: Rd,g ¼ g Rd,ug

Qd ¼ G þ V
ð 12 !,
Rd,ug is the design ultimate geotechnical strength, determined
¼ D(0:5) (40 þ 11z)dz þ Ab Nc cu 3: 0 from site data and calculation methods;  g is the geotechnical
11: 0
reduction factor (not to be confused with friction angle)

15: g ¼ gb þ (tf  gb )K > gb

(Æ ¼ 0.5 for bored piles in London).

12: Qd ¼ G þ V ¼ ð899:1 þ 246:2Þ=3:0 tf is the intrinsic test factor; K is the testing benefit factor; and
gb is the basic geotechnical reduction factor.

In this example no load testing is being considered so g ¼ gb

13: Qd ¼ G þ V ¼ 381:8 kN as calculated in the next section. There is a testing benefit factor
(K) in the Australian code which allows g to be reduced if load
testing is performed. K is determined using the percentage of
In this case Qd ¼ Qwork as no factors are applied to the loads. piles statically or dynamically tested (see clause 4.3.1 of
AS2159-2009).
The split between G and V based on V being 25% of G returns
values of 7.1 Determination of basic geotechnical reduction
G ¼ 305.4 kN factor
V ¼ 76.4 kN To determine the basic geotechnical reduction factors the indivi-
Qwork ¼ 381.8 kN. dual risk ratings (IRRs) (Table 2) are assigned to each of the risk
factors listed in Table 3. This approach to determine geotechnical
7. AS2159-2009 (Australia) reduction factors was explained in Poulos (2004).
The Australian approach to designing piles makes use of partial
factors with loads being factored separately from the capacities. gb is determined from the average risk rating (ARR), calculated
A single factor is applied to the calculated geotechnical resis- using Equation 16, and then using Table 4. Design of a single
tance, termed the ‘geotechnical reduction factor’, applied to the pile, not in a large group, is treated as a design with low
calculated resistances, not the soil parameters. redundancy.

AS2159-2009 (Standards Australia, 2009) directs the engineer to 16: ARR ¼ Ó(w i IRR i )=Ów i
AS/NZS 1170.0 (Standards Australia, 2002) (structural design
actions) for the load factors. The two relevant combinations for a
pile are most likely to be the greater of: 1.2G + 1.5V or 1.35G.
16a: ARR ¼ 36:5=14:5 ¼ 2:52
Since, for this design, V/G ¼ 0.25, the critical case is
1.2G + 1.5V. Since this paper is only considering collapse limit
states, serviceability and actions induced by ground movements
are not considered. Earthquake loading is also not considered. 16b: gb ¼ 0:52 (low to moderate risk)

Clause 4.3.1 of AS2159-2009 states that the design geotechnical

strength (Rd,g ) must not be less than the design action effect (Ed ). The Australian method gives more responsibility to the engineer

Risk level Very low Low Moderate High Very high

Individual risk rating 1 2 3 4 5

Table 2. Individual risk rating (after T4.3.2(B) AS2159)

219
Geotechnical Engineering Bored pile design in stiff clay I: codes of
Volume 165 Issue GE4 practice
Vardanega, Kolody, Pennington, Morrison and
Simpson

2 ðL 3
,
Description Partial factor  term
6DÆ cu dz 7
4 A b N c cu 5
:
Qd ¼ G þ 1 3V ¼ o
þ 1: 4
Variable load 1.3 2 22: 1: 6 2: 0
Permanent load 1.0 1
Skin friction 1.5 (driven piles) 5
1.6 (bored piles)
Base resistance 1.7 (driven piles) 6 For the 15 m pile (12 m into the clay) of 0.45 m diameter
2.0 (bored piles) DA1-1
Note: Partial factors on resistances can be reduced with explicit
verification of serviceability limit state (not applicable for this  
example).
: : : 832:6 225:2
Qd ¼ 1 35G þ 1 5(0 25G) ¼ þ : 1: 4
23: 1: 0 10
Table 6. DA1-2 partial factors used

if the modification of the results makes use of a model factor, it 24: 1:725G ¼ ½832:6 þ 225:2=1:4
should take account of: the range of uncertainty in the results of the
method of analysis; any systematic errors known to be associated with
the method of analysis.
G ¼ 438.0 kN
V ¼ 109.5 kN
The UK NA introduces a model factor termed ªRd : In this Qwork ¼ 547.5 kN
example it is applied to the calculated shaft and base resistances The equivalent factor of safety is 1057.8/547.5 ¼ 1.93.
to account for the fact that the analysis model is empirically DA1-2 (governs)
based. The UK NA requires a value of 1.4 (which would be
reduced to 1.2 if there were load testing). This term is represented
in Equation 6 at the 7 term; for more information on pile design  
: : : 832:6 225:2
to Eurocode 7 see Bond and Simpson (2010). Qd ¼ 1 0G þ 1 3(0 25G) ¼ þ : 1: 4
25: 1: 6 20
9.3 Design calculations
For a DA1-1 calculation Equation 5 reduces to Equation 25 and
for a DA1-2 calculation Equation 5 reduces to Equation 22,
assuming that no load testing is carried out 26: 1:325G ¼ ð832:6=1:6 þ 225:2=2Þ=1:4

Qd ¼ 1 G þ 2 V
G ¼ 341.2 kN
2 ð 3
L , V ¼ 85.3 kN
6DÆ ð cu =3 Þdz 7 Qwork ¼ 426.5 kN
4 Ab Nc ð cu =4 Þ5
¼ o
þ 7 The equivalent factor of safety is 1057.8/426.5 ¼ 2.48.
5: 5 6
10. EC 7 – design approach 2 (Irish national
annex)
To demonstrate the use of DA2 for the calculation of pile load
DA1-1; terms 3 , 4 , 5 and 6 are equal to unity and have been carrying capacity, the Irish NA (NSAI, 2005) has been selected.
omitted The Irish NA is unique in that it allows for any of the three
design approaches to be used for geotechnical works.
" ðL #,
10.1 Design parameters
Qd ¼ 1:35G þ 1:5V ¼ DÆ cu dz þ Ab Nc cu 1: 4 Table 7 presents the parameters to be used for the Irish adoption
21: o
of DA2.

10.2 Design calculation

DA1-2; terms 1 , 3 and 4 are equal to unity and have been Therefore, for DA2 design to the Irish NA Equation 5 reduces to
omitted Equation 27

222
Geotechnical Engineering Bored pile design in stiff clay I: codes of
Volume 165 Issue GE4 practice
Vardanega, Kolody, Pennington, Morrison and
Simpson

( j) The major reason SNiP appears unconservative is that the

d ¼ 35

107.7
388.4
447.5
174.0
partial factor on resistance (1.4) and the partial factor on
actions (1.2) are both relatively low. It is not known if the
estimates of skin friction are conservative or not as the source
of the data in SNiP Tables 2 and 7 (Figures 11 and 12 in this

d ¼ 30

89.2
341.1
405.1
160.5
paper) is unclear. A comparison with Æcu values derived
suggests that they are high at shallow depth and low at
greater depth. Overall for the 12 m pile, there is little
difference between the SNiP representative resistance and

d ¼ 25

79.1
303.5
365.0
146.8
that derived from the ‘Æ’ method. It would be interesting to
know performance statistics for piled foundation systems
constructed under the SNiP framework.

d ¼ 20

74.1
275.6
329.2
133.6
Acknowledgements
Thanks must go to the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust and Ove
Arup and Partners for providing financial support to the first
author. The first author offers thanks to Professor Malcolm

d ¼ 15

61.4
236.0
288.5
119.8
Bolton for his supervision. The authors would also like to thank
Professor Harry Poulos for providing a draft copy of AS2159-
2009 for examination and for his advice on an early draft of the
paper.
d ¼ 10

52.2
203.7
252.2
106.6
Appendix – SNiP design charts
For the shaft resistance of piles in clay, cubic equations of the
form in Equation 42 were fitted to the data tables from SNiP. The
47.1
186.7
234.4
100.7
d¼8

regression coefficients are shown in Table 12 and the plotted

functions in Figure 13.

42: f i ¼ a(I L )3 þ b(I L )2 þ c(I L ) þ z

41.2
168.2
214.7
93.7
d¼6

For the base resistance of piles in clay, linear equations of the

form shown below were fitted to the data tables from SNiP. The
58.9
198.2
226.4
93.0
d¼5

regression coefficients are shown in Table 13 and the plotted

functions in Figure 14.
76.6
225.8
235.1
91.1
d¼4

43: R ¼ A(I L ) þ K
48.0
168.5
195.9
80.4

Depth of stratum: m
d¼3
displacement and bored piles, fi : kPa

200
1 2
180
3 4
Shaft resistance for driven,

Table 12. Fitted coefficients (Table 2, SNiP)

160 5 6
43.8
151.3
174.5
70.6
d¼2

140 8 10
120 15 20
100 25 30
35
80
90.1
230.7
206.0
67.2
d¼1

60
40
20
Stratum depth,

0
0 0·1 0·2 0·3 0·4 0·5 0·6 0·7 0·8 0·9 1·0 1·1
Liquidity index, IL
d: m

Figure 13. Graphical representation of Table 2 in SNiP 2.02.03-85

b
a

c
z

230
Geotechnical Engineering
Volume 165 Issue GE4
Standards Australia (2009) AS2159-2009: Piling – design and
installation. Standards Australia, Sydney, New South Wales,
Australia.
Stroud MA (1974) The standard penetration test in sensitive clays
and soft rocks. Proceedings of the European Seminar on
Penetration Testing, Stockholm, Sweden, vol. 2:2, pp. 366–
375.
Tomlinson MJ (1986) Foundation Design and Construction, 5th
Bored pile design in stiff clay I: codes of
practice
Vardanega, Kolody, Pennington, Morrison and
Simpson
edn. Longman Group, Harlow, UK.
Vardanega PJ and Bolton MD (2011) Strength mobilization in
clays and silts. Canadian Geotechnical Journal 48(10):
1485–1503.
Vardanega PJ, Williamson MG and Bolton MD (2012) Bored pile
design in stiff clay II: mechanisms and uncertainty.
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers –
Geotechnical Engineering 165(4): 233–246.
Geotechnical Engineering
Volume 167 Issue GE1
the geotechnical reduction factors (similar to partial factors), and
a risk analysis matrix is used to search for a value of the
reduction factor applicable to the specific design project being
undertaken. This gives the design engineer the flexibility to
reduce the partial factors if good ground investigation data and
load testing are carried out, or increase them if designing in an
unfamiliar soil deposit. The code itself gives advice on the
elements of geotechnical risk that the designer must consider; in
other words, they recognise that a ‘one size fits all’ approach is
perhaps limited. Eurocode 7 aims to achieve a similar result by
encouraging the designer to vary the characteristic values of soil
properties in relation to the quality of the supporting data, while
keeping the values of partial factors constant.
The discussion of the adhesion factor Æ for bored pile design is
interesting. The parameter Æ relates to the soil deposit being
studied; the value Æ ¼ 0.5 is commonly used in London Clay.
Increasing Æ to account for rate effects in clay might be
warranted, but only if load-test data were also available (e.g.
Burland et al., 1966). For example, previous use of ‘constant rate
of penetration’ tests generally showed slightly higher values of Æ
for London Clay (Patel, 1992). For static loading, Æ ¼ 0.7 used in
the Caltrans amendment, as noted by the discussers, does seem
surprisingly high for a stiff clay (API, 1984); the overall
reliability of the design will depend not only on this and the
applied strength reduction factor, but also on the factors applied
to loads. We understand that, in practice, the use of this value is
often replaced by results from load testing.
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88
Discussion
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Standards Australia (2009) AS2159-2009: Piling: design
and installation. Standards Australia, Sydney, NSW,
Australia.
Vardanega PJ, Kolody E, Pennington SH, Morrison PRJ and
Simpson B (2012) Bored pile design in stiff clay I: codes of
practice. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers –
Geotechnical Engineering 165(4): 213–232.
 w a t e r r e s e a r c h 7 3 ( 2 0 1 5 ) 2 9 1 e3 0 3
(belong to order Methanosarcinales) were the two main genera
in R1. Interestingly, during Run II, the relative abundance of
genus Methanosarcina reached up to 95.02%, whereas members
of the genus Methanosaeta were completely inhibited or
washed out in R1. In contrast, in R3, >50% of sequences was
assigned to genus Methanosaeta, whereas members of the
genus Methanosarcina were never detected. Also, Meth-
anobacterium (belong to order Methanobacteriales; 17.58% in Run
I and 16.64% in Run II) and Methanoculleus (belong to order
Methanomicrobiales; 17.11% in Run I and 24.64% in Run II) were
the two main genera in R3. These genera are related to
hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis and are predominant
during AD of food-related wastes (Kim et al., 2014).
Typically, members of genus Methanosarcina can produce
methane by both aceticlastic and hydrogenotrophic meth-
anogenesis pathways (Garcia et al., 2000). Furthermore, in AD
the predominant methanogenic genera change from Meth-
anosaeta to Methanosarcina, as a result of changes in operating
parameters, particularly by increase in VFAs (especially acetic
acid) and decrease in HRT (De Vrieze et al., 2012; McMahon
et al., 2004). The change occurs mainly because these genera
have different growth characteristics. Members of genus
Methanosarcina can achieve stable growth at higher concen-
tration of VFAs and have higher specific growth rates than
genus Methanosaeta (Conklin et al., 2006). Thus, the relatively
high concentration of TVFA (3.07 ± 0.01 g acetic acid/L) (Table
2) and short HRT (13.75 day) (Table S1) during Run II probably
contributed to the predominance of genus Methanosarcina in
R1. Given this information, the predominance of Meth-
anosarcina in the methanogenic community in R1 strongly
indicates that members of the genus probably have important
functions in methanogenesis and may lead to a better per-
formance with stable conditions at low HRT, compared to R3.
4. Conclusions
In this study, a combined MAD (R1)-TAD (R2) process was used
to treat high-strength food wastewater. The specific conclu-
sions can be written as follows:
 The proposed combined MAD (R1)-TAD (R2) process
showed efficient treatment of organic matter removal (i.e.,
COD, TS and VS), and higher methane production than did
the control process (R3).
 Higher populations (based on the concentration of 16s
rRNA gene copy number) of both bacteria and archaea were
maintained in R1 than in R3 during the entire digestion.
 R1 and R2 shared a significant proportion of bacterial
genera (Prevotella, Aminobacterium, Geobacillus and Unclas-
sified Actinobacteria) and the predominant genus of meth-
anogenic archaea shifted from Methanosaeta to
Methanosarcina in R1.
 The qPCR and high-throughput pyrosequencing results
demonstrated that the synergisms between MAD and TAD
improved reactor performance by establishing substantial
microbial communities.
 To clarify the mechanism of collaboration between MAD
and TAD, further studies of the function of shared micro-
organisms should be conducted using other molecular
301
biology technologies (e.g., metagenomics, microarrays,
single cell genomics).
Acknowledgements
This work was conducted under the framework of Research
and Development Program of the Korea Institute of Energy
Research (KIER) (B4-2474-02) and supported by the Advanced
Biomass R&D Center (ABC) of Korea Grant funded by the
Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (ABC-
2013059453). The research was partially supported by
BK21 þ program through the National Research Foundation of
Korea funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and
Technology, the Manpower Development Program for Marine
Energy funded by Ministry of Land, Transportation and Mari-
time Affairs (MLTM) of Korean government. This research was
also supported by POSCO and the Korea Institute of Energy
Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) grant funded by
the Korea Government Ministry of Knowledge Economy (No.
2012K130y). This research was a part of the project titled
‘Technology Development of Marine Industrial Biomaterials’,
funded by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Korea.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data related to this article can be found at
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2015.01.038.
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