Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Improvement of MBBR Performance by the Addition of 3D-Printed Biocarriers Fabricated with 13X and Bentonite

Dimitra C. Banti
* ORCID logo ,
Petros Samaras
ORCID logo ,
Afroditi G. Chioti
,
Anastasios Mitsopoulos
,
Michail Tsangas
ORCID logo ,
Antonis Zorpas
,
Themistoklis Sfetsas
Version 1 : Received: 2 June 2023 / Approved: 2 June 2023 / Online: 2 June 2023 (13:44:32 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Banti, D.C.; Samaras, P.; Chioti, A.G.; Mitsopoulos, A.; Tsangas, M.; Zorpas, A.; Sfetsas, T. Improvement of MBBR Performance by the Addition of 3D-Printed Biocarriers Fabricated with 13X and Bentonite. Resources 2023, 12, 81. Banti, D.C.; Samaras, P.; Chioti, A.G.; Mitsopoulos, A.; Tsangas, M.; Zorpas, A.; Sfetsas, T. Improvement of MBBR Performance by the Addition of 3D-Printed Biocarriers Fabricated with 13X and Bentonite. Resources 2023, 12, 81.

Abstract

In the present work, a comparative evaluation of an MBBR unit performance was carried out for the following cases: when adding 3D-printed biocarriers fabricated with 13X and bentonite, when using K1 commercial biocarriers and when not adding biocarriers at all. For the evaluation of the MBBR efficiency, various physicochemical parameters were measured, while static light scattering and optical microscopy observations were additionally used. Finally, biofilm extracted from the biocarriers was evaluated. The findings suggest that there is an optimal biodegradation of the organic load in all MBBR units. The nitrification and denitrification process were improved at the 3D MBBR as compared to the control MBBR and MBBR K1. The dry mass of the biofilm in the 3D-printed biocarriers was two orders of magnitude larger than the one in the K1 biocarriers. What is more, in the K1 biocarriers the mass of the biofilm varied in relation to time, due to the fact that it could not be kept inside the holes, something that was not observed to happen with the 3D-printed biocarriers. Finally, it was observed, mostly in the 3D MBBR and less in the K1 MBBR, that the growth of nitrifying bacteria and heterotrophs inside the units increased the biomass production in the form of SMP, which in turn favored the adhesion of biomass on the surface of biocarriers.

Keywords

moving bed biofilm reactor; K1 biocarriers; 3D-printed biocarriers; biofilm; SMP; EPS; activated sludge; wastewater treatment

Subject

Environmental and Earth Sciences, Water Science and Technology

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Download PDF

Comments (0)

We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our Diversity statement.

Leave a public comment
Send a private comment to the author(s)
* All users must log in before leaving a comment
Views 0
Downloads 0
Comments 0
Metrics 0
Get PDF Cite Share 0
Bookmark BibSonomy Mendeley Reddit Delicious
×
Alerts
Notify me about updates to this article or when a peer-reviewed version is published.
We use cookies on our website to ensure you get the best experience.
Read more about our cookies here.