Industrial Innovations

Industrial Innovations

Performance and economic evaluation of municipal wastewater treatment plant using extended aeration activated sludge technology and its comparison with moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) technology

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Meysam Soleymani 1
Mohammad Velashjerdi 2
1 Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Arak University, Arak, 38156-8-8349, Iran
2 Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Arak University, Arak, Iran
10.61882/jii.2.3.212
Abstract
Among the municipal and industrial wastewater treatment processes, the moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) technology has attracted much attention due to its ability to remove organic matter, nutrients, and some resistant compounds. In this study, technical performance and economic evaluation of a municipal wastewater treatment plant in Tehran, Iran, with the extended aeration activated sludge (EAAS) technology and its comparison with the MBBR technology were evaluated by process simulation using CapdetWorks software. The simulation results showed that the characteristics of the effluents from the wastewater treatment plant are in accordance with the FAO and Iranian Environmental Organization standards for green space irrigation. Also, economic analyses indicated that the total project cost of a wastewater treatment plant utilizing MBBR technology is approximately 14% less than that of EAAS technology, which could be due to the significant reduction in the volume of the moving bed biofilm reactor (649.2 m3) compared to the EAAS reactor (4148.1 m3). The results also indicated that the operating, maintenance, and chemical costs required in the MBBR method are 9.2, 16.4, and 18.3% lower, respectively, compared to the EAAS technology, whereas the amount of energy consumed in both technologies is almost the same. The effect of the media fill fraction (biofilm carrier) on the total project cost in the MBBR technology was also investigated. The results revealed that by increasing the media fill fraction from 30% to 70%, the total project cost decreases from $9.37 to $9.16 million, highlighting the significant role of the media fill fraction in the economic costs and performance of biofilm reactors.
Keywords
Moving Bed Biofilm reactor
Activated Sludge
municipal wastewater
Extended aerated
Simulation
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Industrial Innovations
Volume 2, Issue 3 - Serial Number 7
Summer 2024
Pages 212-224

  • Receive Date 02 March 2025
  • Revise Date 22 April 2025
  • Accept Date 27 April 2025