Increasing wastewater treatment plant capacity by cellulose recovery with a rotating belt filter : lab and plant-wide modelling studies

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Increased population pressure in urban areas and the associated increase in hydraulic and organic loads causes wastewater facilities to be pushed closer to their design capacities. However, retrofitting an existing plant to increase its capacity is not easily done as space requirements and capital investments are typically large. Rotating Belt Filters (RBFs) represent an innovative small footprint alternative with a lower capital cost and relative ease of installation. An RBF works as a sieve and can be installed as a pre-treatment to remove some of the incoming waste load thus reducing the pressure on the subsequent treatment steps. Moreover, the solids that are retained by the RBF can be potentially recovered for either reuse or conversion to energy. Cellulose has shown great potential in this respect as it is removed in great quantities by RBFs. This project aims to assess the feasibility of retrofitting overloaded treatment plants with an RBF taking into consideration plant-wide performance improvement, capex costs as well as the potential for resource and energy recovery. In order to accomplish these goals a plant-wide modelling study is proposed. Trojan Technologies with their detailed knowledge on the practical operation and modelling of RBFs will work together with Université Laval's research team modelEAU who have a vast experience with full-plant wastewater treatment modelling, to develop a model that is able to describe the fate of cellulose throughout a treatment plant. Subsequently this model will be applied to compare plant extension with an RBF to conventional retrofitting strategies in order to obtain a decision making tool to support future investments.