Theses and Dissertations Collection

Conventional post-anoxic denitrification can produce lower effluent nitrate concentrations than preanoxic configurations, but at the expense of either large tank volumes (associated with endogenous decay) or external carbon substrate addition such as methanol. Recent research has indicated that when post-anoxic denitrification is coupled with EBPR, the denitrification process can be driven by glycogen and PHA carbon polymers stored within the cells of denitrifying bacteria, thereby eliminating the need for carbon substrate addition. Moreover, denitrification kinetics are enhanced vs. endogenous decay. Collectively, very low effluent ammonia, nitrate, and phosphorous concentrations are achievable. A metabolic model is developed to simulate this internal carbon driven post-anoxic EBPR process (hereby termed Biopho-PX) with specific focus on anoxic glycogen degradation and evaluation of the overall model through lab scale and pilot scale testing on municipal wastewater.