Addis Ababa Institute of Technology

School of civil and Environmental Engineering

Water supply and Environmental Engineering Stream

Waste Water Treatment and Management

Semester project on: Fluidized Bed Reactor for Waste Water Treatment.

Submitted to: Dr. Gashaw Y. (PhD)

Prepared by

1. Kewser Abdulfatah……GSR/0675/06
2. Obsa Bayissa………….GSR/2631/06

July 2014
Addis Ababa
Table of Contents Pages

1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1-2

2 Objective ............................................................................................................................... 2-2

3 Methodology......................................................................................................................... 3-2

4 Fluidized bed reactor ............................................................................................................ 4-3

4.1 Fluidized bed reactor Process ........................................................................................ 4-3

4.2 Types of Fluidized bed reactor ...................................................................................... 4-5

4.3 Advantages and Disadvantages of Fluidized Bed reactors ........................................... 4-6

4.4 Design Parameters and Criteria for FBR....................................................................... 4-7

4.5 Applications of FBR...................................................................................................... 4-8

5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 5-9

6 References .......................................................................................................................... 6-10

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1 Introduction
Wastewater treatment process involves the physical, chemical and Biological unit operations.
The chemical and biological unit processes is carried out in vessels or tanks commonly known as
reactors.

Various types of reactors are use for wastewater treatment. Among, Fluidized Bed Reactor
(FBR) is one of the recent methods used in this field. The basic concept of the process consists of
passing wastewater up through a packed bed of particles at a velocity sufficient to fluidize the
particles. As the flow of the wastewater passes upward through the biological bed, very dense
concentrations of microorganisms growing on the surface of the bed particles consume the
biodegradable waste contaminants in the liquid. Various types of packing materials can be
used.FBR combines the best features of activated sludge and trickling filtration into one process.

2 Objective
The main objective of this semester paper is to understand the basic concepts of Biological
Fluidized bed reactor in its principal process.

Additionally, identifying the types, advantages and disadvantages, design parameters and
applications of the process are the specific objectives of the pepper.

3 Methodology
The methods used to prepare this pepper are by collecting data using different sources like book,
web sources and journals. The collected data are synthesised, analysed and formed as the
following literature review.

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4 Fluidized bed reactor

4.1 Fluidized bed reactor Process
The Fluidized Bed Reactor (FBR) is a recent process innovation in wastewater
treatment, which utilizes small, fluidized media for cell immobilization and
retention. Main application of the fluidized bed reactor is in the field of biological
treatment of wastewater. Aerobic as well as anaerobic fluidized bed reactors (FBR)
have received increasing attention for being an effective technology to treat water
and wastewater. Its most important features are - the fixation of microorganisms on
the surface of small-sized particles, leading to high content of active microorganisms
and large surface area available for reaction with the liquid; the high flow rate (low
residence time) which can be achieved, leading to high degree of mixing decreased
external mass transfer resistances and to large reduction in size of the plant; and
the removal of risk of clogging.

The basic concept of the process consists of passing wastewater up through a packed
bed of particles at a velocity sufficient to impart motion to or fluidize the particles.
As the flow of the wastewater passes upward through the biological bed, very dense
concentrations of organisms growing on the surface of the bed particles consume the
biodegradable waste contaminants in the liquid. Fig. 1 is a schematic of the basic
unit of the process, showing the entire fluidized bed reactor with the wastewater
flowing upwards through the bed, fluidizing the particles in the liquid. Above the
bed is a clear water zone wherein the particles separate from the liquid.

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Fig: 1, Fluidized Bed Biofilm Reactor

From a biological point of view, the attached microorganisms on the suspended

particles may include any of the aerobic, facultative, or anaerobic organisms
typically found in trickling filters and suspended growth type of treatment systems.
The predominating species would depend entirely on the waste contaminant being
consumed and whether an aerobic or anaerobic environment is maintained, as well
as other factors that affect biological growth.

Fluidized beds combine the best features of activated sludge and trickling filtration
into one process. Offering a fixed film and a large surface area, fluidized bed
systems offer the stability and ease of operation of the trickling filter as well as the
greater operating efficiency of the activated sludge process.

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4.2 Types of Fluidized bed reactor

FBRs can be classified into two types as: –
a. Aerobic FBR, and
b. Anaerobic FBR.

Aerobic FBR is the common type of FBR is available for applications as carbon oxidation and
nitrification, which require oxygen to sustain microbial activities.
Oxygenated FBR and Aerated FBR the common methods of oxygen supply in the process.

Oxygenated FBR
In an oxygenated FBR, high purity liquid oxygen is used to maximize the transfer and utilization
of oxygen in the reactor. To avoid excessive biofilm detachment from the fluidized media by gas
effervescence, the oxygen is added and dissolved into the wastewater in an external, pressurized
oxygenator prior to FBR treatment. Fluidization of bioparticles in an oxygenated FBR is
maintained by recirculation of reactor effluent. This practice also ensures that oxygen is not a
rate-limiting factor by diluting out the feed substrate concentration. Because the expanded bed
height in an oxygenated FBR increases as the bed matures, it is intentionally controlled through
intermittent removal of overgrown particles.
Aerated FBR
In this type, the air is directly injected into an aerated FBR through an internal draft tube to
promote oxygenation and mixing. Fluidization of bioparticles in an aerated FBR is
concomitantly maintained by gas effervescence and liquid circulation. Therefore, recirculation of
reactor effluent is not needed..

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Anaerobic FBR
The Anaerobic FBR is similar in physical design to the aerobic FBR. This FBR is operated at
higher up-flow liquid velocity of about 20 m s-1 to provided about 100% bed expansion. Effluent
recycle is used to provide sufficient up-flow velocity. Reactor depth ranges from 4 to 6 m.
Activated carbon has been used in many Anaerobic FBRs for treating industrial and hazardous
waste streams. The main limitation with activated carbon is the higher cost, but for certain type
of industrial and hazardous waste streams the use of activated carbon is a necessity.
The start up of Anaerobic FBR must be done with more care than the other types of anaerobic
reactors/ a higher application rate is recommended at first to select for bacteria that more readily
attach to the reactor packing under highly turbulent condition.

4.3 Advantages and Disadvantages of Fluidized Bed reactors

Advantages of FBR
FBR has various advantages. Some of them are listed below.
1. As the media on which microorganisms grow is in fluidized state, the surface of the media
available for the development of microorganisms is quite large which leads to high concentration
of microorganisms and thus high flow rate can be achieved in FBR.
2. Because of large concentration of microorganisms, FBR bears high potential for the removal
of various parameters such as BOD, COD, nitrogen, etc.
3. Size of the FBR plant is small as compared to other types of the reactors and hence the space
requirement is less.
4. FBR is capable of accepting shock loads.
5. Treatment by FBR is economical where land cost is high.
6. If FBR is operated properly, there is no need to provide secondary setting tank, which leads to
a saving in the total cost of plant.
7. The system operation is simple and reliable
Disadvantages

Main disadvantage of FBR is the pumping power required to operate and the proper design of
inlet and outlet arrangement for proper distribution of flow.

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4.4 Design Parameters and Criteria for FBR

The development of any anaerobic system needs the evaluation of some optimal conditions
concerning several topics. For fixed film systems this includes especially the choice of the
support, the reactor geometry, the start-up procedure and the handling of excess sludge or
inert support. The FBR is operated at higher up flow liquid velocities of about 20m/hr. To
provide 100 percent bed expansion. Effluent recycle is used to provide sufficient up flow
velocity. The reactor depth ranges from4 to 6m.Besides sand, other packing materials have been
considered for use in FBRs including diatomaceous earth, union and cation exchange resins, and
activated carbon.

Solids capture is minimal in the anaerobic FBR due to the high turbulence and thin biofilms
developed. With little solids captured, the process is better suited for waste waters with mainly
soluble COD. Solids discharged in the effluent from the sloughed biofilm are minimized by
biofilm inventory in the reactor. As biomass accumulates on the FBR packing, the net particle
density decreases and the migrates to the top of the reactor. Periodic removal of these solids can
control biofilm sloughing and minimize effluent TSS concentration. The removed particles are
mechanically processed to separate the biomass from the sand, which is returned to the FBR.

For example; MacDonald, [40] reported the design criteria and evaluated the operating
performance of upflow-expanded bed biofilm reactors for denitrification at Rancho California
Wastewater Reclamation plant (Riverside County, Southern California), which has a design
capacity of 23.6 MLD. The reactor is designed for a loading of 3.0 kg of NO3 – N per day per m-
3 of expanded bed volume. The upflow velocity is 0.4 cm s-1 and the reactor has an empty bed
contact time of 10 minutes at design flows.

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Table 1.Design Criteria for FBR of Rancho California Wastewater Reclamation plant.

4.5 Applications of FBR

Fluidized Bed Reactors have been extensively studied in wastewater treatment due to their
advantages such as accumulation of a large amount of biomass on the support media, high
organic loading rates, a high specific surface area, short retention times, and mixing
characteristics. Fluidized Bed Biofilm Reactors can be used for BOD removal, Nitrification and
Denitrification. Aerobic FBBRs are frequently used to treat groundwater contaminated with
hazardous substances. In these applications activated carbon is used for the packing to provide
both carbon adsorption and biological degradation.

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5 Conclusion
By considering the advantages of FBR, it suits in the modern methods of wastewater treatment.
FBRs can maintain a high effective concentration of microorganisms, provides stability against
shock and load. , the system operation is simple and reliable, and Treatment by FBR is
economical where land cost is high.
The accumulation of a large amount of biomass on the support media, high organic loading rates,
a high specific surface area, short retention times, and mixing characteristics makes the process
preferable.

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6 References

 Metcalf and eddy, Waste water engineering treatment and reuse

Fourth edition
 Wastewater treatment with particulate biofilm reactors
nicolella a,1, m.c.m. van loosdrecht b,*, j.j. heijnen b
 Anaerobic digestion technology for industrial wastewater treatment
medhat m. a. saleh and usama f. mahmood
 Biological treatment of per chlorate-contaminated groundwater using
fluidized bed reactors
paul b. hatzinger, mark r. greene,

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