DEMON technology for high-strength ammonia liquors
B. Wett and T. Puempel
Deammonification Stoichiometry
1 mol NO2-
1.9 mol O2
1 mol NO3-
34 g CSBSubstrat→
10 g CSBBiomasse
≈ 60 %
1.4 mol O2
≈ 75 %
1 mol NH4+ 0.44 mol N2
+ 0.11 NO3-
0.57 mol NO2-
0.8 mol O2
≈ 40 %(Anammox)
partial
nitritation
anaerobic ammonia oxidation
autotrophic
nitrite reduction1.14 mol H+
Cinorganic
0.03 mol H+
Cinorganic
1 mol NO2-
1.9 mol O2
1 mol NO3-
34 g CSBSubstrat→
10 g CSBBiomasse
≈ 60 %
1.4 mol O2
≈ 75 %
1 mol NH4+ 0.44 mol N2
+ 0.11 NO3-
0.57 mol NO2-
0.8 mol O2
≈ 40 %(Anammox)
partial
nitritation
anaerobic ammonia oxidation
autotrophic
nitrite reduction1.14 mol H+
Cinorganic
0.03 mol H+
Cinorganic
Deammonification Stoichiometry
0
1
2
3
4
5
0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360 390 420 450 480
influent flow [L/s]
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DO [mg O2/L]
6.8
6.9
7.0
7.1
7.2
7.3
0 60 120 180 240 300 360 420 480
pH
0
200
400
600
800
1000
0 60 120
180
240
300
360
420
480
water depth [mm]
resource requirements of sidestream deammonification Strass (DEMON)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
reso
urc
es d
em
an
d
[kW
h/k
g N
], [
kg
VS
S/k
g N
]
sp
ecif
ic a
mm
on
ia l
oad
[kg
N/m
3/d
]
specif. NH4-load specific energy spec VSS dosage
Nitritation/Denitritation DEMON
N-removal efficiency of sidestream deammonification Strass (DEMON)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
am
mo
nia
rem
oval
eff
icie
ncy [
%]
sp
ecif
ic a
mm
on
ia l
oad
[kg
N/m
3/d
]
specif. NH4-load ammonia removal
Nitritation/Denitritation DEMON
Einleitung
Energy self-sufficiency
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Au
g. 0
3
No
v. 0
3
Fe
b. 0
4
Ma
y. 0
4
Au
g. 0
4
No
v. 0
4
Fe
b. 0
5
Ma
y. 0
5
Au
g. 0
5
No
v. 0
5
Fe
b. 0
6
Ma
y. 0
6
Au
g. 0
6
No
v. 0
6
Fe
b. 0
7
Ma
y. 0
7
Au
g. 0
7
No
v. 0
7
Wh/PE
0
25
50
75
100
125
%production [Wh/PE] consumption [Wh/PE] self-sufficiency [%]Im
ple
me
nta
tio
n D
EMO
N
Cofermentation at WWTP Strass
- with cofermentation of food wastes - degree of self-sufficiency up to 200%
0
25
50
75
100
125
150
175
200
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Au
g. 0
3
No
v. 0
3
Fe
b. 0
4
Ma
y. 0
4
Au
g. 0
4
No
v. 0
4
Fe
b. 0
5
Ma
y. 0
5
Au
g. 0
5
No
v. 0
5
Fe
b. 0
6
Ma
y. 0
6
Au
g. 0
6
No
v. 0
6
Fe
b. 0
7
Ma
y. 0
7
Au
g. 0
7
No
v. 0
7
Fe
b. 0
8
Ma
y. 0
8
Au
g. 0
8
No
v. 0
8
Fe
b. 0
9
Ma
y. 0
9
Au
g. 0
9
No
v. 0
9
%Wh/PE production [Wh/PE] consumption [Wh/PE] self-sufficiency [%]Im
ple
men
tati
on
DE
MO
N
co-f
erm
en
tati
on
FISH image of Demon biomass sample from Strass WWT plant. no evidence of a comprehensive AOB layer around the granule
AMX granule (probe Amx820-Cy3)
AOB(probe Nso1225-Cy5)
DEMON-features – • pH-based process control • cyclone for anammox enrichment
Side-stream applications: DEMON
2004 2013
pH-based process control
Ae
rati
on
an
d fi
llin
g
Ae
rati
on
Stir
rin
g
Stir
rin
g an
d f
illin
gpH
wat
er le
vel
dp
H
time
time-band
d t2 d t3 d t4
pH-band
reaction sub-cycle
d t1
water level
DO 1.0
0.5
0.0
7.5 pH
7.0
6.5
General control philosophy of the DEMON® process operating individual process steps within set bands of pH and time (left) resulting in stable intermittent aeration pattern (right)
cyclone for anammox enrichment
Set-up of a triple DEMON® cyclone configuration (left) selecting for a high anammox retention time based on density difference between the flocculant- and the granular sludge fraction
Cyclon for selective SRT
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55
NH4-N NO3-N NO2-N
N-c
on
cen
trat
ion
(mgN
/L)
time (min)
cyclone under-flow (recycled) and overflow (wasted)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55
NH4-N NO3-N NO2-N
N-c
on
cen
trat
ion
(mgN
/L)
time (min)
Einleitung
Start-up DEMON Heidelberg
High alkalinity in landfill leachate
Leachate collection in Bogota ... and in Quito
Alkalinity balance – landfill leachate
NH3 NH4
+
+OH-
NOx-+
H+
N2
digestion
anaerobic
oxidation
aerobic
reduction
anoxic
Σ sum of ions = 0 0 0 0
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
1-J
ul-0
7
31-J
ul-07
30-A
ug-0
7
29-S
ep-0
7
29-O
ct-0
7
28-N
ov-
07
28-D
ec-
07
NH4-N Abl. PRZW [mg/l]
Sickerwasser [m³/d]
High COD/N ratio
• High COD concentration challenges selection to maintain high SRT for anammox • Applications for biowaste digestion liquors and rejects from thermal-hydrolyses plants
Feed characterisation and ramp-up of loading
0102030405060708090
100
% Cambi
% Cambi
NH4-N CODtotal CODsol CODsol NH4-N NO3-N NO2-N Norg,sol
02.07.2010 2340 6000
21.07.2010 2060 7850 5500 1190 127 75 1
26.07.2010 2050 6385 4855 2105 183 82 1.5
02.08.2010 3055 213 127 1.6
09.08.2010 2910 128 51 1.8
10.08.2010 2260 9500 6130
17.08.2010 2350 15650 7200 2590 202 136 0.6 132
CAMBI-liquor effluent
High COD/N ratio – Cambi liquors
DC Water Blue Plains
DC Water’s Thermal Hydrolysis and Anaerobic Digestion
Einleitung
Operating temperature
Start-up DEMON Pustertal
6.12.2012 – 31.1.2013: 7 weeks from seeding to end of performance test
Performance test DEMON Pustertal: Hydraulic load 10% beyond design load of 1828 m3/d at HRT of 0.75 days and ammonia removal efficiency beyond model-prediction of 74% (limited alkalinity in condensate)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
0 mg/l
50 mg/l
100 mg/l
150 mg/l
200 mg/l
250 mg/l
300 mg/l
350 mg/l
400 mg/l
450 mg/l
500 mg/lNH4in NH4-Nout NO3-Nout NO2-Nout
nitrit
e (mg
N/L)
0.00 g/l
0.50 g/l
1.00 g/l
1.50 g/l
2.00 g/l
2.50 g/l
0 mg/l
50 mg/l
100 mg/l
150 mg/l
200 mg/l
250 mg/l
300 mg/l
350 mg/l
400 mg/l
450 mg/l
500 mg/lfiltered CODin filtered CODout TSS (g/l)
During start-up nitrite concentrations never exceeded 10 mgN/L and leveled off towards the nitrite half-saturation value of 1 mgNO2-N/L and MLSS-concentration plateaued at 2 g/L
Simulated shifts in microbial populations in mgCOD/L during the 7 weeks’ start-up period of the DEMON-plant Pustertal (Italy) showing a steady enrichment of anammox biomass
Modeled population dynamics
DEMON-plant Lavis for leachate treatment
0
50
100
150
200
250
22-Jul 22-Aug 22-Sep 22-Oct 22-Nov 22-Dec
Qd NH4-load
Q (m
3/d
); L
(kgN
/d)
phase I start-up
phase II COD>>
phase III + IV COD<<; T<<
Measured daily hydraulic- and ammonia loads of the leachate treatment system Lavis during the first 6 months of operation
Profiles for nitrogen fractions, COD and temperature