Abstract:
In a sewage treatment plant with a membrane bioreactor (MBR), raw untreated or partially treated wastewater (influent) and/or mixed liquor in the intensified process is superoxygenated. In a preferred form of the process the influent is superoxygenated such that membrane air scouring requirements are reduced. Influent may be fed to a swing zone where denitrification and nitrification occur simultaneously through process control. In one embodiment superoxygenation is conducted in an internal recycle stream of the mixed liquor, with oxygen content supersaturated preferably to over 300 parts per million. Due to the active evolution of oxygen gas from the supersaturated stream, occurring preferably by seeding the supersaturated stream with air bubbles, the supersaturated oxygen can serve the dual purposes of meeting process oxygen demands and providing part of air scouring requirements for the membranes.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention concerns sewage treatment processes and systems, and particularly involves a method and system used in a plant having membrane bioreactors that intensify a treatment process, for lowering air scour requirements through superoxygenation of raw wastewater feed (influent) or mixed liquor in the MBR tank, while providing needed oxygen for the intensified process. The method of oxygenating the influent can also break down refractory organics, improving process efficiency. 
     Membrane air scouring is necessary to remove the solids that accumulate during filtration and generally accounts for 25%-75% of total overall system energy demand. Due to inefficient diffusers and oxygen transfer rate (OTR) limitations, much of the oxygen contained in scouring air is wasted to the atmosphere instead of being used for biological processes. Moreover, increasing mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentration for the purposes of reducing process volumes further reduces OTR, requiring systems to be larger and more complicated to operate. This invention uses a stream of supersaturated influent and/or mixed liquor to reduce the amount of air required for membrane scouring purposes and provide all or most of the biological process oxygen. This invention reduces or eliminates the need for diffused aeration. 
     Most submerged MBR technologies use diffused aeration to scour away materials that accumulate on membrane surfaces during filtration (so called jet aeration is an alternative). Generally, coarse bubble aeration has been shown to be the most efficient means of air scouring but it is the least efficient means of delivering oxygen to the biological process. Given increasing energy costs, some manufacturers have turned to fine-bubble diffusers for better oxygen delivery and to provide air scouring, with attendant maintenance issues and increased equipment costs. Regardless of the aeration technology used to provide scouring air, the oxygen transfer rate (OTR) limits how much a biological process can be intensified (volume reduced) as diffuser performance drops off precipitously with increasing mixed liquor suspended solids concentrations (MLSS). 
     Prior oxygenation systems have been proposed that introduce (pure) oxygen into mixed liquor through agitation or mixing. However, these technologies introduce oxygen into other zones in the biological flow sheet and not directly into the influent or the MBR tank, and none has suggested utilizing the supersaturated oxygen to meet some of the membrane air scour requirements. 
     Due to increased energy costs, it would be greatly advantageous if supersaturation of oxygen could be used in an MBR system for both process enhancement through increased oxygen content and for scouring aeration, to thereby reduce separate air scour requirements. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with this invention, by supersaturating an internally recycled stream of mixed liquor or influent (pre-treated sewage) with oxygen and introducing a small amount of pre-formed seed bubbles (or diffuser air bubbles), the need for diffused air can be reduced and the process made more efficient. Using the oxygen contained in a stream of supersaturated mixed liquor or influent in place of diffused air for scouring and process needs can reduce total system energy requirements by 25%-50%, increase space efficiency by 25%-50%, simplify process flow sheets, reduce system maintenance requirements and potentially partially convert refractory organics into readily biodegradable materials. 
     MBR technologies allow for what is called process intensification. Activated sludge processes are intensified as the concentration of active biomass is increased and proportionally process volume is decreased. Using membranes instead of sedimentation to remove solids allows for concentrations 3-5 times higher than for conventional technologies. However, further intensification is primarily limited by oxygen uptake rate (OTR) required for the biological process. OTR is a function of oxygen saturation, which at ambient conditions is about 10 ppm, and diffuser performance. Supersaturating process influent, an internal recycle stream or both overcomes both of these limitations and can increase the intensification factor by 25%-50% depending on process conditions (e.g. food to mass ratio). 
     Typically conventional activated sludge plants run at MLSS concentrations around 3,000 mg/l. Typical sMBR plants run at 10,000 mg/l when optimized for energy and given diffuser performance limitations at higher solids concentrations. The preferred range of MLSS concentrations is 20,000 mg/l to 30,000 mg/l for this invention. 
     Influent mixed liquor pursuant to the invention can be supersaturated (relative to ambient oxygen saturation) with oxygen to more than 50 ppm, or a range of about 250 to about 300 ppm. Superoxygenation can be to over 300 ppm (generally requiring about 100 p.s.i. pressure). However, added oxygen stays in solution or evolves as fine micro-bubbles that are not effective for air scouring purposes due to low rise velocity. It is generally accepted that a rise velocity on the order of 1.5 ft/sec will induce the most efficient hydraulic flow regime for membrane scouring purposes. 
     The invention supersaturates (relative to ambient), under pressure, a pumped influent and/or an internal recycle (IR) stream (i.e. from the membrane tank back to the same tank) with oxygen and subsequently co-mingles that stream with a small amount of pre-formed (seed) bubbles. These can constitute, for example, less than 10% of the volume of the oxygen bubbles emerging from solution. The co-mingled stream is then discharged into a reactor beneath submerged membranes where dissolved oxygen evolves as larger bubbles that rise at a sufficient velocity to induce air scouring, in a first embodiment as described below. 
     A second embodiment uses supplemental diffused aeration combined with co-mingled bubbles and a third embodiment uses only diffused bubbles for seeding purposes. Seed bubbles, however contacted with the oxygen saturated IR, allow evolving oxygen to form larger bubbles with sufficient rise velocities to induce effective membrane air scouring. 
     It is thus among the objects of the invention to improve efficiency of MBR systems in treatment plants by combining superoxygenation of influent or MLSS with the air scouring function. These and other objects, advantages and features of the invention will be apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments, considered along with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram showing a prior art membrane filtration system in a treatment plant, with air scour. 
         FIG. 2  is another diagram showing a typical MBR process flow sheet. 
         FIG. 3  is a further diagram showing an embodiment of a system of the invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a side view showing a static air eductor for mixing air into an oxygen-saturated mixed liquor stream. 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the system of the invention. 
         FIG. 6  is another schematic diagram showing a variation of the system. 
         FIG. 7  is a diagram showing a further embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 8  is another diagram showing another embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 9  is a schematic diagram showing another embodiment of the invention, with supersaturation of oxygen in an influent stream. 
         FIGS. 10 and 11  are schematics showing variations of the embodiments shown in  FIG. 9 . 
         FIG. 12  is a schematic diagram showing a variation of a system with influent being supersaturated. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 1  shows, in a simple diagrammatic form, a typical prior art membrane filtration system or MBR (membrane bioreactor) system, as used in a sewage treatment facility. The figure indicates a system  10  with a membrane filtration zone  12  that contains a series of membrane filtration units. The submerged membranes receive mixed liquor or MLSS (mixed liquor suspended solids) entering the zone as indicated by the arrow  14 , and liquid filtrate or permeate is indicated exiting the tank or zone with the arrow  16 . As also is typical, air scour is shown at  18 , with a blower  20  releasing a multiplicity of vigorously rising air bubbles from below the membranes  13 . The air scour removes sludge from the surfaces of the membranes as the filtration progresses, and also provides oxygen for the microbial action that occurs in the zone  12 . 
       FIG. 2  shows a prior art process involving membrane filtration, a typical MBR process flow sheet, with an anoxic zone or tank  22 , an aerobic zone or tank  24  and a membrane filtration zone or tank  26  (which, in many prior art systems, can be a sedimentation tank rather than an MBR tank). One recycle of MLSS is shown at  28 , from the MBR zone  26  back to the aerobic zone  24 . Another recycle stream is shown at  30 , from the aerobic zone  24  back to the anoxic zone  22  (the letter P indicates a pump). Process air is shown being admitted to the aerobic zone at  32 , and air scour is shown applied beneath the MBRs at  34  (the letter B indicates a blower). Influent wastewater is shown entering the system at  36 , and effluent permeate from the membrane filtration is shown exiting the system at  38 . Whether MBR or sedimentation is used in this zone  26 , solids must be removed periodically or continuously for further treatment usually in digesters in the solids side of a treatment plant. 
     This is a typical denitrification process at the liquid side of a sewage treatment plant. In the anoxic zone  22  the microbes acting on the MLSS are given access to a limited supply of oxygen, so that the microbes utilize the oxygen from nitrates in the wastewater being treated, thereby giving off nitrogen gas. In the aerobic zone  24 , process air  32  provides plenty of oxygen and the ammonia in solution is broken down, with the nitrogen being attached to oxygen to form nitrate. The MLSS recycle  30  brings much of this nitrate back to the anoxic zone, to be reduced to free nitrogen. In the MBR zone  26 , the MLSS is greatly concentrated by withdrawal of the permeate at  38 , and much of this concentrated MLSS is returned via the recycle  28  to the aerobic zone  24 . The resulting sludge that is removed from the zone  26  is relatively low in nitrogen. All of this is very well known in the art. 
       FIG. 3  shows a first embodiment of the system of the invention. Here, a MBR reactor zone or tank  40  receives influent MLSS at  42  and discharges liquid permeate at  44 . An internal recycle is shown at  46 , in which MLSS is moved by a pump P to be supersaturated with oxygen (“SO”), at  48 , under pressure, i.e. beyond ambient pressure saturation level. The supersaturated MLSS recycle stream is then reintroduced to the tank  40 , but is first “seeded” with pre-formed bubbles PB, at  50 . The oxygen-supersaturated recycle stream with the seed bubbles is reintroduced into the tank below the membrane units  13  and, as explained above, the seed bubbles provide a medium for the dissolved oxygen to evolve into bubbles that are large enough to have a sufficient rise velocity to provide air scour for the membranes. Thus, the evolving oxygen can provide some of the air scour requirement, while the oxygen also serves the biological needs of the intensified process. 
     Although  FIG. 3  can represent an MBR zone or tank in a system having other zones for denitrifying the mixed liquor, in a preferred embodiment the illustrated MBR zone  40  is a simultaneous nitrification/denitrification zone, wherein MBR filtration is constant and the MLSS undergoes alternating periods of aerobic and anoxic conditions. This is achieved by lowering and limiting the oxygen content of the recycled MLSS (to about 1.0 ppm oxygen) to produce anoxic conditions, even though the superoxygenation and seed bubble introduction continue. The rate of recycle pumping can be adjusted if needed, to balance the system so that oxygen demand is only met to the target limited extent while leaving some oxygen as air scour bubbles that ultimately go to atmosphere. This simultaneous nitrification/denitrification process is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,712,970, and as carried out in an MBR tank, is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,743,362, both patents owned by the assignee of this invention. Thus, in the tank  40  anoxic conditions are created to the point that microbes consume the oxygen in nitrates and thus release nitrogen gas; and aerobic conditions also exist, with adequate oxygen so that further breakdown of ammonia commences. Note that in the embodiment shown in  FIG. 3  no additional air is used for air scouring of the MBRs  13 , only the dissolved and evolving oxygen along with the seed bubbles. 
       FIG. 4  shows one method for introducing “seed” air bubbles into the oxygen-supersaturated MLSS recycle flow. Oxygen-supersaturated mixed liquor is shown at  52  entering through connections into an eductor  54  arranged in line in the recycle flow. The MLSS stream flows through the eductor  54  which has a side air port  56  for venturi-activated drawing in of air, through the end of a tube  58 . The eductor is internally configured to draw the air in the form of small bubbles, which mix together with the oxygen-supersaturated MLSS flow, emerging at  60 . This assembly serves as the seed bubble introduction device  50  shown in  FIG. 3  and also in other drawings. 
       FIG. 5  shows another embodiment of the invention, similar in many respects to the first embodiment shown in  FIG. 3  but with some air scour of the membranes  13  introduced, using a diffuser driven by a blower  62 . In this case the air scour provided by the evolving oxygen bubbles with seed air is supplemented by diffuser air scour at  64 , still at a greatly reduced air scour flow rate from that typically used in prior art systems such as in  FIG. 1 . For example, diffuser air scour in this embodiment can be reduced by 10%-50% as compared to the typical system shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 6  shows a variation of the invention in which the introduction of seed bubbles is not included. Oxygen supersaturation is shown at  48  in the recycle stream  46 , and this recycle stream is reintroduced into the tank  40  below the membrane units  13 , as in previously described embodiments. Diffuser air scour is again shown at  62 ,  64 . In this case, the air scour, at a greatly reduced rate as compared to prior art, provides “seed” bubbles for the oxygen evolving from solution, and the diffuser air and the evolving oxygen bubbles together provide sufficient air bubbles with sufficient rise velocity to perform air scour efficiently. In this embodiment the air scour rate at  64  is typically somewhat higher than in the embodiment shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     The system embodiments of  FIGS. 5 and 6  can have the influent treated directly at the inflow to the MBR zone at  42 . This can be alternative to or in addition to the IR oxygenation shown. 
       FIG. 7  shows a modified system  68  in which a recycle stream  46   a  is pumped into back into the MBR zone  40   a  as in  FIG. 5 , but the system including another process zone  70  which receives recycle  71  from the MBR zone  40   a , while also receiving influent  42 . In the recycle stream  46   a  the supersaturation of oxygen is conducted as shown at  48  and pre-formed seed bubbles are injected as indicated at  50 . This recycle is delivered into the tank  40   a  beneath the membranes  13  as in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . The aerobic or swing zone  70  serves as an anoxic and aerobic zone, receiving input wastewater  42  and the recycle stream  71 . Process air for this zone is shown at  72 , introduced by a blower. This process air  72  can be varied from a high flow rate to a low flow rate, or oxygen content can otherwise be controlled, to maintain in the zone  72  aerobic and anoxic conditions, functioning to remove nitrogen as explained above for other embodiments. The nitrogen-reduced MLSS then progresses, as indicated at  74 , into the membrane tank  40   a  (which could be a sedimentation tank). Air scour for the membranes is shown at  75 , delivered from air diffusers to clean the membranes  13 , but at greatly reduced flow because evolving bubbles from the recycle stream  46   a , i.e. oxygen bubbles which are mixed with the preformed bubbles (PB) perform significant air scour. The system of  FIG. 7  has advantages in that in the MBR zone  40   a  the MLSS has been thickened, sometimes to about 3%, and process oxygen demands are higher as reviewed above. Thus, the superoxygenated recycle is important for supplying process oxygen, as well as for producing bubbles or air scour as in the other embodiments. An important attendant advantage is that the supersaturation with oxygen at  48  can be controlled. The oxygen is introduced into solution under pressure, and that pressure can be controlled as desired, in order to finely tune the oxygen content in the MLSS in the zone  40   a . This ability for accurate process turndown, or “rangeability” of the system, provides an important process control that cannot be achieved with blowers and diffusers normally used. Diffusers are affected by thickness of the MLSS, and the efficiency of the air injection diminishes with thickening sludge. This advantage also occurs with the above described embodiments as well. In this system simultaneous nitrification/denitrification is conducted in the separate swing zone  70 . Liquid permeate is withdrawn at  76 . Again, the FIG.  7  embodiment can include oxygen supersaturation at the swing zone influent at  42 , along with or as an alternative to the recycle SO injected at  48 . 
     In the system  80  of  FIG. 8  a further modification is made from the earlier embodiments. Separate anoxic and aerobic zones  22  and  24  are included. A first recycle stream  82  recycles mixed liquor from and back to the membrane tank  40   b , as in  FIG. 7 . A second recycle stream  84  recycles MLSS from the zone  40   b  to the aerobic zone  24 , while a third recycle stream  86  recycles MLSS from the aerobic to the anoxic zone  22 . Process air  72  provides aerobic conditions in the aerobic zone  24 . A comparison of this figure to the prior art of  FIG. 2  will show that the systems are similar, except that in the MBR filtration (or sedimentation) zone  40   b  the MLSS stream in the recycle  82  includes supersaturating the stream with oxygen at  48  and introduction of seed bubbles at  50 , which, as explained above, provide accurate system rangeability for oxygen content in the zone  40   b  while also reducing air scour requirements for the membranes. Again, supersaturated oxygen could be introduced at  42 . 
       FIG. 9  shows another variation of the system, basically a variation of the system of  FIG. 3 . The difference here is that the influent wastewater stream  42   a , as well as the internal recycle, is supersaturated with oxygen, as indicated at  90 . This can be advantageous in controlling the oxygen content in the MBR zone  40 . As noted above, pressure can be varied, through an infinite range of variation, to introduce as much oxygen at  90 , as well as at  48 , as the process requires. The influent wastewater at  42   a  is much diluted as compared to the thickened MLSS resulting from the MBR zone  40 , so that oxygen content can be varied using adjustable supersaturation of oxygen at two different stages of the process. The oxygen-supersaturated influent  42   a  can be admitted directly beneath the membranes  13 , along with the oxygenated and bubble-seeded recycle stream  46 , to produce air scour. Although the zone  40  may be a swing zone (simultaneous nitrification/denitrification) as in  FIG. 3 , it can optionally be simply an aerobic zone (thus the word “anoxic” is in parentheses). 
       FIG. 10  is a variation of  FIG. 9 , with a second recycle stream  92  reintroducing MLSS with preformed bubbles as noted at  94 . This stream thus supplements the preformed bubbles introduced at  50  to involve oxygen bubbles at a position to scour the membranes. As in  FIG. 9 , this zone can be simply aerobic if desired. 
     In  FIG. 11 , the system of  FIG. 10  is modified to deliver seed bubbles only via the recycle stream  92 , without introducing preformed bubbles in the recycle stream  46 . Again, the preformed bubbles in the recycle stream  92  in both  FIGS. 10 and 11  can serve to evolve bubbles from the influent stream  42   a  as well as from the recycle stream  46 . As in  FIG. 9 , this can be simply an aerobic zone if desired. 
     In a variation, any of the systems of  FIGS. 9-11  can receive supersaturated oxygen only at the influent  42   a  if desired, eliminating the SO by recycle stream. See also  FIG. 12  and the discussion below. 
       FIG. 12  shows a variation of the system shown in  FIGS. 9-11 . Here, influent wastewater enters at  42   a , and this influent is treated with oxygen supersaturation “SO”, indicated at  48 , and then with preformed seed bubbles “BB”, indicated at  50 . In the example system illustrated, an aerobic stage  96  is positioned as a first stage in the liquid side treatment, and this stage is followed by an MBR zone  40 . As an example, oxygen content can be about 300 ppm as the influent enters the aerobic zone at  42   a . An air blower  97  can be included. The process will take up much of the oxygen, and about 100 ppm may remain in the MLSS entering the MBR zone at  98 . This oxygen will partly be taken up as process oxygen in the MBR tank  40  and partly released to atmosphere via evolved bubbles. The zone  40  may be at about 10 ppm. Optional pre-formed seed bubbles and optional blower are indicated. In this system, as explained above, the supersaturation with oxygen occurs at the initial influent to the system (as in  FIGS. 9-11 ) rather than in an internal recycle in the MBR zone from  40  as in  FIG. 3 . 
     As an alternative, the influent can be fed directly to an MBR zone  40 , with the influent treated with oxygen supersaturation and preferably introduction of seed bubbles, which would be at position  98  shown in  FIG. 12 . The MBR zone  40  can be a simultaneous nitrification/denitrification zone as in  FIG. 3 . This can have the same advantages as oxygenation of the recycle as in  FIG. 3 , and can potentially have further advantages as described above. Such a system would be similar to  FIG. 9 ,  10  or  11  without the recycle stream. 
     Supersaturating mixed liquor with oxygen drives up the DO concentration in the liquid phase to 300 ppm or 30 times typical saturation levels and can be roughly 80% more efficient than diffused aeration. The typical air scour range 0.009-0.018 SCFM. This invention reduces air scour demand to between 0.005-0.009 SCFM. The supersaturated dissolved oxygen tends to remain in solution in the liquid, not significantly evolving as bubbles until something triggers their release, such as the seed bubbles described herein. 
     The above described preferred embodiments are intended to illustrate the principles of the invention, but not to limit its scope. Other embodiments and variations to these preferred embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art and may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.