Grantee Research Project Results
Bubbleless Oxygen Dissolution for Reducing VOC Emissions from Wastewater Treatment Plants
EPA Contract Number: 68D40037Title: Bubbleless Oxygen Dissolution for Reducing VOC Emissions from Wastewater Treatment Plants
Investigators: Gantzer, Charles J.
Small Business: Membran Corporation
EPA Contact: Richards, April
Phase: I
Project Period: September 1, 1994 through March 1, 1995
Project Amount: $54,700
RFA: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) - Phase I (1994) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Watersheds , SBIR - Water and Wastewater , Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
Description:
The sparging of aerobic biological processes with air can result in the emission of odors and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that exceed acceptable rates. Because emission rates for many VOCs from sparged bioreactors are equilibrium limited and not mass transfer limited, VOC emission rates are directly proportional to the volumetric rate at which air bubbles are added to the bioreactor. A means of reducing the volumetric gas flow rates is to supply a portion or all of the required oxygen in a bubbleless manner. That portion of the oxygen supplied in a bubbless manner would be emission-free, because no bubbles are added to the bioreactor.While is can be demonstrated that the use of bubbleless in-pipe membrane oxygenators provide significant operating cost savings by reducing VOC emissions, the in-pipe module are not suited for large scale applications, have high energy requirements, and may be fouled with the flocculent and filamentous materials found in activated sludge systems.
The overall goal of the proposed work is to develop a low-cost means of dissolving oxygen without bubbles into aeration basin to reduce VOC emissions. In particular, the study will collect data needed for the rational design of a bubbleless oxygen dissolution technology that used unconfined membranes in a mixed tank reactor.
Supplemental Keywords:
Wastewater Treatment, VOC Emissions, Membranes, Aeration, Oxygen, Air Pollution Control., Scientific Discipline, Toxics, Waste, Water, Chemical Engineering, Wastewater, Municipal, Environmental Chemistry, VOCs, Chemistry, Civil/Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering, Engineering, Chemistry, & Physics, Environmental Engineering, wastewater treatment, VOC emissions, wastewater treatment plants, dissolutionProgress and Final Reports:
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.