Intended process water management concept for the mechanical biological treatment of municipal solid waste

AbstractAccumulating operational experience in both aerobic and anaerobic mechanical biological waste treatment (MBT) makes it increasingly obvious that controlled water management would substantially reduce the cost of MBT and also enhance resource recovery of the organic and inorganic fraction. The MBT plant at Gescher, Germany, is used as an example in order to determine the quantity and composition of process water and leachates from intensive and subsequent rotting, pressing water from anaerobic digestion and scrubber water from acid exhaust air treatment, and hence prepare an MBT water balance. The potential of, requirements for and limits to internal process water reuse as well as the possibilities of resource recovery from scrubber water are also examined. Finally, an assimilated process water management concept with the purpose of an extensive reduction of wastewater quantity and freshwater demand is presented

Electrochemical oxidation of drug residues in water by the example of tetracycline, gentamicine and aspirin®

Electro-chemical oxidation as a method to destroy drug residues like aspirin®, tetracycline or gentamicine in water was investigated with C-anodes (modified by manganese oxides) and Pt anodes. The mechanism of aspirin® and tetracycline oxidation and the influence of the biocide effect was observed using GC-MS and three different microbiological tests. In general, the biological availability increases with progressive oxidation of the antibiotics.</jats:p

DAUMEN-Energy “Design for Augmented Methanisation” a contribution to sustainable biomethanation

The competition for cultivable acreage between energy and food crops increases in Germany. One part of the problem are the currently installed biogas plants for energy crops, which use mainly the fruit parts of the plants. To mitigate this problem, cellulose may well be used as a main substrate. For the disintegration of cellulosic indigenous plants the principle of the gastrooesophageal vestibule system of ruminant animals - which nature has honed in millions of years of evolution as the most efficient system of cellulose disintegration - could be used. The implementation of the cellulose digestion of ruminants to a technical concept and the comparison with conventional process technology is the central point for the research project DAUMEN Energy. The objectives are to increase the efficiency of biogas technology and the prevention of food crops being used as energy crops. Laboratory tests showed, that the specific methane yield from wheat straw and spent grains could be increased through the application of rumen microorganisms to a value that was ca. 30% respectively 45% higher than that of the microorganisms of digested sludge. Also test-plants on a pilot-scale, with augmented hydrolysis and methanogenesis are described in this paper.</jats:p