[WATER] Optimising biological nutrient removal processes in a future of low carbon and low cost in the water industry

水务行业面临越来越大的压力，需要达到高标准的处理废水排放，特别是在营养方面，尽量减少碳足迹，同时尽量减少资本和运营成本。这为废水处理技术优化提供了一个新的、具有挑战性的框架，不仅要实现合规性、过程稳健性和弹性，还要减少相关的碳排放和经济成本。因此，水行业需要新的方法来提供环境和健康保护的解决方案。该计划研究了固定膜工艺（旋转生物接触器- RBC）的新生物建模方法，这是英国数千个小型处理厂使用的最突出的低能耗技术之一。这项工作的目的是通过开发和应用一种新的生物固定膜模型来去除营养物质，探索影响和限制红细胞性能的潜在机制。众所周知，转速、空气和介质类型等工程方面的因素会影响生物膜对污染物的去除。对生物膜发育、硝化过程要求、转速的潜在影响（Di Palma and Verdone 2009）的理解以及对氧转移建模的尝试（Kubsad et al. 2004, Chavan and Mukherji 2008）的最新进展为优化和合理化生物膜建模以及RBC设计和操作提供了新的机会。工作计划将包括对过去RBC优化方法和生物膜发展模型的批判性审查。此外，将对Severn Trent的记录进行数据挖掘，以表征该过程的稳健性和弹性。在过去的20年里，项目伙伴有超过350个小型污水处理厂使用红细胞对生活污水进行二级处理。将进行实验试验以验证建模方法。该项目对培养未来的研究人员有重大影响。博士生将被嵌入在水行业的前沿研究课题。学生将参加学院的研究训练计划（http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/soe/esrstp/），从而发展研究调查和沟通技巧。此外，技术培训将通过在水科学中心完成授课的理学硕士模型来实现，这将使研究人员在生物过程的专业领域拥有专业知识，也能够部署平衡社会，环境，经济和工程考虑的方法和技术。在完成他们在塞文特伦特大学的研究项目的同时，他们将接受有关有效项目管理的业务培训，并将熟悉业务流程和客户需求。这项工作的结果将使人们更好地了解一种强大的低能耗技术，以实现对环境和健康保护日益严格的要求，从而有助于科学地了解反应堆内的过程，并为水工业中技术应用的设计提供信息。该项目必然需要实施来自不同学科的研究方法，例如过程工程和环境科学等，以提供生物膜模型，从而改进RBC的操作和设计，不仅在处理性能方面，而且在废水处理过程优化中嵌入碳足迹的重要性。这项工作的影响将是为生物固定膜过程提供一种新的建模方法，该方法可以应用于数千个地点，以最低的碳成本优化污染物去除。

The water industry is increasingly under pressure to achieve high standards of treated waste water discharges in particular in relation to nutrients, minimising carbon footprint, and at the same time, minimising capital and operational costs. This generates a new and challenging framework for waste water treatment technology optimisation to achieve, not only compliance, process robustness and resilience but also to reduce associated carbon and economic costs. Therefore, the water industry need new approaches to provide solutions for environmental and health protection. This programme examines new biological modelling approaches for a fixed film process (rotating biological contactor - RBC) which is one of the most prominent low energy technologies used at thousands of small scale treatment works in the UK. The purpose of this work is to explore the underlying mechanisms that influence and limit RBC performance through the development and application of a new approach to biological fixed film models for nutrient removal. Engineering aspects such as rotation speed, aeartion and media type are known to affect pollutant removal by the biofim. Recent advances in the understanding of biofilm development, nitrification process requirements, potential effects of rotational speed (Di Palma and Verdone 2009), and attempts to model oxygen transfer (Kubsad et al. 2004, Chavan and Mukherji 2008) provide a new opportunity for optimising and rationalising biofim modelling and thus RBC design and operation. The work programme will include a critical review of past approaches to RBC optimization and biofilm development models. In addition, data mining will be conducted on Severn Trent's records to characterise the robustness and resilience of the process. The project partner has over 350 small sewage works which have employed RBCs for secondary treatment of domestic waste waters throughout the past 20 years. Experimental trials will be conducted to validate the modelling approach. The project has a significant impact in the training of the researchers of the future. The doctoral student will be embedded within the water industry on a leading-edge research topic. The studnet will attend the Schools Research Training Programme (http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/soe/esrstp/) and so develop research investigation and communication skills. In addition technical training will be achieved through the completion of taught MSc models in the Centre for Water Science this will enable the researcher to possess expert knowledge in their specialist field of biological processes and also be able to deploy methods and techniques that balance social, environmental, economic, and engineering considerations. Whilst completing their research programme at Severn Trent they will receive business training relating to effective project management and will become familiar with business processes and client needs. The results from this work will provide a better understanding of a robust, low energy technology for achieving increasingly tighter demands for environmental and health protection, thus contributing both to the scientific understanding of processes within the reactors and informing the design of the technological application within the water industry. The project will necessarily entail the implementation of research methods from various disciplines, such as process engineering and environmental science among others, to deliver a biofim model and thus improved RBC operation and design that is robust not only in terms of treatment performance but is also embedding the importance of carbon footprint in waste water treatment process optimisation. The impact of this work will be to deliver a new modelling approach for biological fixed film processes which can be applied to thousands of sites to optimise pollutant removal at the lowest carbon cost.