1. “Water Resources Management:
Needs and Prospects”
Jordan, Amman, 22/04/2013
INTEGRATED SYSTEM FOR THE TREATMENT OF MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER AND BIODEGRADABLE SOLID WASTE
Dr. Malamis Dimitris
National Technical University of Athens
School of Chemical Engineering
Unit of Environmental Science and Technology

2. INTERWASTE Project INTERWASTE is co-funded by EU LIFE+ ENVIRONMENT
INTERWASTE Partners
National Technical University of Athens (Greece)
Cyprus University of Technology
University of Nicosia (Cyprus)
Proplan Ltd (Cyprus)
Department of Environment Ministry of Agriculture, natural Recourses and Environment .

3. Membrane BioReactor-Anaerobic Digester
Aim of present work
Development of an integrated system for sustainable treatment of Biodegradable Organic Waste and Municipal Wastewater with zero discharge
Production of high quality, added value products
Electricity and heat from renewable sources (organic waste)
High quality effluent that can be reused (i.e. irrigation)
High quality soil conditioner-compost
This can be achieved through the integration of aerobic and anaerobic processes by employing:
Membrane BioReactor-Anaerobic Digester
MBR - AD

4. Potential users of the integrated MBR-AD system
Generally places where production of waste and demand of the obtained products from waste treatment co-exist:
Remote de-centralized regions
Small communities
Residential areas (i.e. blocks of flats)
Hotels

5. Flow Sheet diagram MBR - AD
MBR – treating municipal wastewater
AD – treating biodegrdable organic waste ( in our case we mainly used food waste and sludge that results from the MBR unit)
BIOGAS – purification of the biogas resulting from the anaerobic digestion and energy generation
Digestate – the treatment of the digestate resulting from the AD process. Digestate is an semi-stabilized organic material.
Bagfilter - σακόφιλτρο
BIOGAS
Digestate

6. The integrated system The MBR – AD Unit

7. Operating parameters MBR AD 1,5 m3/d municipal wastewater
sludge outlet– 100 l/d => to AD AD
Daily preparation of substrate. Formation of a mixture of 150L with 10% TS consisting of food waste and sludge from the MBR
150 L of digestate are separated into liquid and solid phase
Solid phase => solar drier
Liquid phase => recirculated to the MBR
Operating volume 1.5 m3/d

8. Flow Sheet diagram MBR - AD
Bagfilter - σακόφιλτρο

9. Stainless steal vessel 8,5 m3
MBR – BUFFER TANK
Flow equalization tank that is used to regulate the wastewater flow to the MBR unit
Stainless steal vessel 8,5 m3

10. Flow Sheet diagram MBR - AD
Bagfilter - σακόφιλτρο

11. MBR Feedstock Municipal Wastewater from Buffer Tank (1,5 m3/d)
Sludge fed to the Anaerobic Digestion System
Sludge
Effluent (water)
This is the basic unit where the treatment of municipal wastewater is taking place.
So we feed the MBR tank with Municipal wastewater at a rate of (1,5 m3/d) from the buffer Tank
The Membrane BioReactor involves the biological oxidation and membrane filtration which results in the production of high quality water and sludge
Membrane BioReactor (MBR) system for wastewater treatment

12. Flow Sheet diagram MBR - AD
Bagfilter - σακόφιλτρο

13. Homogenization Unit – AD Substrate preparation
This process mainly involves the mixing of organic waste streams in order to create a homogeneous substrate that is fed to the AD
Homogenization Unit:
Sludge from the MBR
Food waste
Target 10±2% TS

14. Flow Sheet diagram MBR - AD
Bagfilter - σακόφιλτρο

15. Substrate from the Homogenization Unit
Anaerobic Digester
Biogas
Substrate from the Homogenization Unit
Total volume 8,5 m3
Operating volume 4,5 m3
Substrate feed
150 L/d with 10 % TS
Mesophilic Temperature (≈35oC)
SRT = 20-25days
Digestate

16. AD – Biogas System Biogas Storage (Balloon 3m3)
Biogas Composition Analysis
Packed bed Scrubber (H2S)
Biogas cleaning equipment
Biogas contains hydrogen sulfide that must be removed as much as possible before reaching
the gas processing equipment. Some digester vendors produce biogas with PPM
H2S which causes severe problems with the gas processing equipment.
Biogas may be converted to energy in several ways. Burning it in a Combined Heat and Power
unit generates electricity and heat. It may also be cleaned further and piped directly into gas
lines, or compressed. The method used depends on capital costs and the price the energy can
earn.
CHP unit
Biogas Meter
Scrubber for biogas cleaning (VOC, ΝΗ3)

17. Biogas Cleaning System
CHP unit for energy production
Scrubbers for biogas cleaning

18. Flow Sheet diagram MBR - AD
MBR – treating municipal wastewater
AD – treating biodegrdable organic waste ( in our case we mainly used food waste and sludge that results from the MBR unit)
BIOGAS – purification of the biogas resulting from the anaerobic digestion and energy generation
Digestate – the treatment of the digestate resulting from the AD process. Digestate is an semi-stabilized organic material.
Bagfilter - σακόφιλτρο
Digestate

19. Bag Filter – Treatment of Digestate
The liquid phase of the digestate is recireculated to the MBR unit in order to be further treated
The solid waste is dried using a solar drier and it is transformed to a compost like material

20. ΜΒR performance % COD reduction

21. ΜΒR Performance TN reduction

22. ΜΒR Performance - NH4+ reduction

23. AD Performance – Biogas Production
Biogas Composition CH4 = 59%, CO2= 40 %

24. Biogas - Energy Balance
33%
22%
55%
Heat
Biogas
100%
10%
losses
Electricity
35%
3.5 %
31.5%

25. MBR-AD potential applications
Treating Biowaste & Municipal wastewater of a community with population of 1,000 persons in Cyprus
covers the electricity needs of around 55 inhabitants or 19 households
Produces 150 m3/d of water that can be used for irrigation
Treating Biowaste & Municipal wastewater of a 5 star Hotel in Cyprus
covers 3.4% of the needs for electricity and
covers 3.6% of the heating needs
Produces 250 m3/d water that can be used for irrigation

26. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
Dr. Dimitris Malamis
National Technical University of Athens
School of Chemical Engineering
Unit of Environmental Science and Technology
Tel: Fax: