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A Novel Approach for Phosphorus Recovery and No Wasted Sludge in Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal Process with External COD Addition

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Abstract

In enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) process, phosphorus (P) in wastewater is removed via wasted sludge without actual recovery. A novel approach to realize phosphorus recovery with special external chemical oxygen demand (COD) addition in EBPR process was proposed. During the new operating approach period, it was found that (1) no phosphorus was detected in the effluent; (2) with an external addition of 10 % of influent COD amount, 79 % phosphorus in the wastewater influent was recovered; (3) without wasted sludge, the MLVSS concentration in the system increased from 2,010 to 3,400 mg/L and kept stable after day 11 during 24-day operating period. This demonstrates that the novel approach is feasible to realize phosphorus recovery with no wasted sludge discharge in EBPR process. Furthermore, this approach decouples P removal and sludge age, which may enhance the application of membrane bioreactor for P removal.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of Hundred-Talent Program of CAS, Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. WK2060190007).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China

    Cheng-Wang Xia, Yun-Jie Ma, Fang Zhang, Yong-Ze Lu & Raymond J. Zeng

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  1. Cheng-Wang Xia
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  2. Yun-Jie Ma
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  3. Fang Zhang
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  4. Yong-Ze Lu
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  5. Raymond J. Zeng
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Correspondence to Raymond J. Zeng.

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Xia, CW., Ma, YJ., Zhang, F. et al. A Novel Approach for Phosphorus Recovery and No Wasted Sludge in Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal Process with External COD Addition. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 172, 820–828 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-013-0575-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-013-0575-6

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