Modelling the iron, phosphorus, sulphur, carbon nexus in wastewater treatment

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Wastewater treatment is evolving to improve resource recovery that will enhance the sustainability of wastewater management. The strategies to achieve resource recovery need to be founded on a sound understanding of the chemistry and biology of wastewater treatment. Iron is often added to wastewater streams to produce high-quality treated effluents with low phosphorous concentrations however this practice invokes complex interactions with organic and inorganic (i.e. phosphorus and sulfur) species. Processing of sludge streams for resource recovery (energy, nutrients, etc) will need to address the presence of high concentrations of iron. To better manage resource recovery, process designers and operators require tools (i.e. models) that can be employed to reliably describe the chemical and biological processes that impact on iron and its interactions with phosphorous and sulfur species. However, the interactions between organic and inorganic species are not well described in wastewater process models. The proposed research will address the development of submodels to describe the interactions between organic components in wastewater and sludge treatment and the formation of precipitates and complexes. These sub-models will be developed such that they can be readily integrated into commercially available wastewater process simulators. The enhanced capabilities of these simulators will allow wastewater engineers to evaluate the impact of wastewater properties as well as process design and operating conditions on the fate of inorganic species in wastewater treatment and sludge digestion. The insights generated in the research will assist in the design of future resource recovery processes for inorganic species in wastewater treatment. Wastewater treatment plants in Canada represent a multi-billion dollar investment, hence it is crucial that any changes made to these plants are effective and efficient. The improved models generated through the proposed work will be useful tools to ensure that tax dollars are invested efficiently. Further, it will situate Canadian researchers, engineers and technology providers to be well positioned to market this expertise abroad. where resource recovery from wastewater is also developing.