Although the number of wastewater treatment plants is steadily increasing year by year due to health and environmental concerns, 70% of the world’s wastewater is still completely untreated. Ironically, most wastewater treatment plants consume a lot of electricity. carbon dioxide Increased footprint and environmental costs. One solution for this situation is biotechnology Approaches for more sustainable operations. Life CELSIUS is an EU-funded Spanish technical project led by ACCIONA aimed at developing a new type of wastewater treatment plant for warm countries. Its secret sauce is the use of biological processes to remove organics and nitrogen compounds, reducing power requirements compared to conventional processes.
Archena’s wastewater treatment plant (Murcia, Southern Spain) is the stage for a three-year trial.In order to achieve a more efficient and environmentally friendly refining process, this technology project combines current technology with less common bacteria in wastewater treatment, and even utilizes hot water to facilitate bioprocessing. Higher temperatures in warm climates allow bioprocesses to be accelerated in a natural way without the need for external heating, reducing overall energy consumption.
“With Life CELSIUS, wastewater treatment takes advantage of the high temperatures of warm regions to facilitate bioprocessing in a natural way.”
Conventional treatment systems typically remove organics and nitrogen simultaneously through biological processes that require large amounts of oxygen. Life CELSIUS offers an alternative system by introducing independent phases throughout the treatment. Each of them requires little or no oxygen. Aeration is one of the most power consuming processes in wastewater. processing plant, By doing so, power consumption can also be reduced compared to conventional systems.
Life CELSIUS system stage
First, the new technology removes organic matter through a process that can recover large amounts of organic matter and convert it to biogas at a later stage. Second, acclimatizing bacteria from conventional treatment plants converts some of the nitrogen in the wastewater to nitrites. Until now, most systems convert all nitrogen to nitrite. life celsius model. Finally, the water treated in this process nourishes the newest bacteria in the system, anammox, closing the circulation.
These bacteria were discovered in 1990 and have been found in various natural systems since then, and are capable of anaerobically converting dissolved nitrogen to nitrogen gas without the need for oxygen. The nitrite produced in the second stage combines with untreated nitrogen, usually present as ammonium, to produce nitrogen gas that is diffused into the atmosphere.
A technology with great potential in warmer climates
According to researchers, the results of this new technology are very promising. A real-scale implementation of this technology could lead to a 25% power reduction. Wastewater treatment, a corresponding reduction in greenhouse gases. In addition, plant operating costs are reduced by 22.5%. Energy saving The amount of sludge produced is reduced by slowing anaerobic metabolic processes.
Eventually, Latin America, Africa, the Mediterranean region, and other temperate regions will Water treatment technology Life Celsius.
sauce: life celsius
