Have you ever wondered, “How does a specific wastewater treatment process really perform?” There are a number of commercially available process simulators designed for this purpose. But what happens if your process doesn’t neatly fit within previously modeled processes?
Most successful biological processes utilize modeling software to simulate a variety of design parameters and how the process will respond under variable conditions in the field. While some standard models exist for these processes, one process doesn’t fit the standard biological treatment models.
That process is the Nebula® MultiStage Biofilm System, a proprietary process developed for the treatment of municipal and industrial wastewater. In the Nebula process, treatment is achieved through a plug flow spatial separation of microbial populations fixed to a media surface. Successive stages separate microbial living conditions and food sources within the process, resulting in a highly effective microbial food chain where higher organisms prey on smaller organisms and bacteria, oxidizing biodegradable material and reducing sludge production further than would be seen in a typical biological treatment process. This additional carbon cycling process, often referred to as predation, has been observed for years, but until recently hasn’t been well defined.
To fully explain the role of predation in our system, we had one of two choices: build a new model, or modify an existing one using actual operating data, to create a process-specific model. With well over a decade of operational data from multiple plants across the country, and with the help of a team of modeling experts, we have created and refined an innovative new model that predicts the effects of predation in a multiple-stage biofilm system.
Aquarius recently launched the AQ1 SUMO model for the Nebula MultiStage Biofilm System at the 2019 WEFTEC conference. We are very grateful to our “team,” including our inside resources and everyone’s contributions over the past two years.
“The Nebula is a very simple and reliable system,” explains Aquarius Biomolecular Engineer Ian Arndt. “We look forward to using this model with our industrial and municipal customers to provide treatment solutions with the lowest cost of ownership.”
