Markkleeberg, 5.07.2019 - The treatment of municipal wastewater is very energy-intensive. Growing environmental awareness and rising energy costs are increasingly presenting disposal companies with the challenge of reducing energy requirements. Researchers under the leadership of VertUm GmbH, Markkleeberg, have further developed and successfully tested an existing process for the removal of nitrogen for use in municipal wastewater treatment plants in the DeHaKeS joint project. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has funded the recently completed project with almost 500.000 euros.
Highly concentrated wastewater sub-streams are already being treated successfully in many cases with a relatively new energy-efficient process for nitrogen removal: deammonification. The partners in the DeHaKeS joint project have now tested this in the mainstream of a wastewater treatment plant to reduce the energy requirement in municipal wastewater treatment. Compared to partial-flow treatment, deammonification here must cope with lower temperatures, higher COD loads, and hydraulic and load-specific fluctuations.
The adapted deammonification was tested in a pilot plant operated as a two-stage activated sludge system. The results of the pilot tests showed, among other things, that the oxygen concentration and the optimal adjustment of the sludge age were the decisive parameters for stable operation. In principle, the two-stage deammonification process is suitable for implementation in the mainstream, concludes the DeHaKeS project participants. However, further investigations are required regarding the design, stable plant operation, and further optimization potential, for example about greenhouse gas emissions.
The joint project "Development of a process for the use of deammonification in the mainstream of municipal wastewater treatment plants for energy-efficient nitrogen elimination (DeHaKeS)" was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). It was part of the funding measure "KMU-innovativ", application area "sustainable water management", in the technology field "resource efficiency and climate protection". Project partners were the coordinator VertUm GmbH, Markkleeberg, the TU Darmstadt, and the Institute for Sanitary Engineering and Waste Management (ISAH) of the University of Hannover.
Contact person:
Dr. C. Ochmann
An der Harth 10
04416 Markkleeberg
Partner:
VertUm GmbH
Engineering office for process and environmental technology
An der Harth 10
04416 Markkleeberg
Dr. Clemens Ochmann
Technical University Darmstadt
IWAR Institute
Fachgebiet Abwasserwirtschaft II
Franziska-Braun-Straße 7
64287 Darmstadt
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Susanne Lackner
Leibniz University Hannover (ISAH)
Institute of Sanitary Engineering and Waste Management
Welfengarten 1
30167 Hannover
0511/762-2898
Dr. Maike Beier (beier@isah.uni-hannover.de)
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Stephan Köster
