In conventional wastewater treatment, there are three distinct steps that it must undergo – primary, secondary, and tertiary phases. Primary wastewater treatment involves the removal of solids by sedimentation or floatation. The secondary treatment phase involves the removal of organic matter which can be through microbial decomposition. When the effluent leaves the primary phase, it is introduced into a specially designed bioreactor where the matter is utilized by microorganisms such as bacteria (aerobically or anaerobically), algae and fungi (aerobically). Once the aerobic or anaerobic digestion is carried out, the tertiary treatment occurs which is an additional wastewater treatment used if the water is reused, recycled, or discharged into the environment.
The selection of the secondary treatment depends on multiple factors such as:
The optimum configuration would be to utilize a combination of these two technologies.
Typically, aerobic treatment is applied to treat low strength wastewater (COD <1000 mg/L) when the treatment requires the presence of oxygen. However, anaerobic treatment is commonly applied to treat wastewater with higher organic loading (COD > 4000 mg/L). The mass flow meters monitor fast, accurate and stable flows of methane and carbon dioxide in anaerobic processes.
Aerobic treatment employs oxygen and bacterial biomass to assimilate organic matter and other pollutants like nitrogen and phosphorus into carbon dioxide, water, and another biomass. Anaerobic treatment, on the other hand, breaks down organic impurities in the absence of oxygen to produce methane, carbon dioxide and another biomass. Mass flow controllers and meters are critical to achieving fast, accurate and stable flows of air and oxygen in an aerobic process. These can monitor flows of methane and carbon dioxide in an anaerobic process.
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