Last Wednesday (29), the São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (FAPESP), a new purification system sewage It can reduce the concentration of nitrogen compounds in sanitary sewers by up to 70%..
The work was carried out during Bruno Garcia Silva’s PhD in hydraulic engineering and sanitation at the University of São Paulo (USP) with support from a FAPESP grant and was published in the journalism. Environmental technology.
The researchers of the project created a new Low-cost anaerobic reactor model “operated with a bacterial biofilm bonded to a polyurethane foam”. According to them, the difference is precisely the biofilm and can start a process where bacteria form a kind of film on the polyurethane foam.
They developed a mathematical model to build the reactor able to predict the nitrogen removal mechanism in the biofilm formed by bacteria, thereby converting nitrogen compounds to nitrogen. – the resulting gas is considered harmless to the environment.
Removal of nitrogenous compounds such as nitrites, nitrates and ammonia from sewage and industry is extremely important to prevent pollution of lakes, dams, streams and even large aquifers. Additionally, contamination can aid the development of diseases in humans, such as blue baby syndrome.
nitrogen removal
“While nitrogen removal is still being performed at several sewage treatment plants in Brazil, it is already easier in Europe and the United States. is to bring ideas [a infraestrutura necessária] to our reality. An anaerobic reactor is often used here, which produces a waste with a low organic load, which complicates the nitrogen removal process,” Garcia told the FAPESP agency.
The work was carried out under the guidance of Professor Eugenio Foresti from the São Carlos School of Engineering (EESC-USP) and is the result of the Thematic Project “Application of the biorefinery concept to biological wastewater treatment plants: control of environmental control”. pollution together with the recovery of matter and energy”. The work also includes teams from the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) and the Instituto Mauá de Tecnologia.
Source: Tec Mundo