The interest in high-rate anaerobic (pre-)treatment of sewage using UASB reactors is steadily growing since its introduction in the mid-1980s. Today there are hundreds of full-scale plants in ...operation in various parts of the tropical world, notably in Latin America and India. The main advantage of UASB technology is the very low or even zero energy demand, leading to an up to tenfold drop in operational costs compared to activated sludge. This paper presents a literature review focussing on current design criteria and post-treatment options, alongside discussing the centralized and decentralized approach. The current limitations and constraints regarding temperature, nutrients, pathogen removal, odour nuisance, operational constrictions and methane emissions are also presented and discussed. Further, recent challenges in relation to energy recovery from biogas, sludge and scum are discussed, alongside with advances related to recovery of dissolved methane and sludge management. Finally, the paper provides some outlooks for upcoming developments.
•Long-term operation of a sponge-bed trickling filter treating anaerobic effluents.•First model to describe associated nitrogen conversions.•Ammonium conversion was limited by inorganic carbon rather ...than alkalinity.•NOB activity was little affected by the inorganic carbon limitation.•Full-scale data confirmed inorganic carbon limitation of anaerobic effluents.
Anaerobic sewage treatment is a proven technology in warm climate regions, and sponge-bed trickling filters (SBTFs) are an important post-treatment technology to remove residual organic carbon and nitrogen. Even though SBTFs can achieve a reasonably good effluent quality, further process optimization is hampered by a lack of mechanistic understanding of the factors influencing nitrogen removal, notably when it comes to mainstream anaerobically treated sewage. In this study, the factors that control the performance of SBTFs following anaerobic (i.e., UASB) reactors for sewage treatment were investigated. A demo-scale SBTF fed with anaerobically pre-treated sewage was monitored for 300 days, showing a median nitrification efficiency of 79% and a median total nitrogen removal efficiency of 26%. Heterotrophic denitrification was limited by the low organic carbon content of the anaerobic effluent. It was demonstrated that nitrification was impaired by a lack of inorganic carbon rather than by alkalinity limitation. To properly describe inorganic carbon limitation in models, bicarbonate was added as a state variable and sigmoidal kinetics were applied. The resulting model was able to capture the overall long-term experimental behaviour. There was no nitrite accumulation, which indicated that nitrite oxidizing bacteria were little or less affected by the inorganic carbon limitation. Overall, this study indicated the vital role of influent characteristics and operating conditions concerning nitrogen conversions in SBTFs treating anaerobic effluent, thus facilitating further process optimization.
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The recent determination of the partial decay widths for the one-proton and the two-nucleon induced Non-Mesonic Weak Decay of Λ-Hypernuclei in the A=5–16 range permitted to reconstruct the full ...pattern of decay widths for 5ΛHe and 11ΛB. A consistency check on 12ΛC decay widths confirms the validity of the adopted method.
We have searched for a deeply bound kaonic state by using the FINUDA spectrometer installed at the e(+)e(-) collider DAPhiNE. Almost monochromatic K(-)'s produced through the decay of phi(1020) ...mesons are used to observe K(-) absorption reactions stopped on very thin nuclear targets. Taking this unique advantage, we have succeeded to detect a kaon-bound state K(-)pp through its two-body decay into a Lambda hyperon and a proton. The binding energy and the decay width are determined from the invariant-mass distribution as 115(+6)(-5)(stat)(+3)(-4)(syst) MeV and 67(+14)(-11)(stat)(+2)(-3)(syst) MeV, respectively.
Previous studies of proton and neutron spectra from Non-Mesonic Weak Decay of eight Λ-Hypernuclei (A=5–16) have been revisited. New values of the ratio of the two-nucleon and the one-proton induced ...decay widths, Γ2N/Γp, are obtained from single proton spectra, Γ2N/Γp=0.50±0.24, and from neutron and proton coincidence spectra, Γ2N/Γp=0.36±0.14stat−0.04sys+0.05sys, in full agreement with previously published ones. With these values, a method is developed to extract the one-proton induced decay width in units of the free Λ decay width, Γp/ΓΛ, without resorting to Intra Nuclear Cascade models but by exploiting only experimental data, under the assumption of a linear dependence on A of the Final State Interaction contribution. This is the first systematic determination ever done and it agrees within the errors with recent theoretical calculations.
In recent years, several experiments using magnetic spectrometers provided high precision results in the field of Hypernuclear Physics. In particular, the accurate determination of the Λ-binding ...energy, BΛ, contributed to stimulate considerably the discussion about the Charge Symmetry Breaking effect in Λ-hypernuclei isomultiplets.
We have reorganized the results from the FINUDA experiment and we have obtained a series of BΛ values for Λ-hypernuclei with A≤ 16 by taking into account data only from magnetic spectrometers implementing an absolute calibration of the energy scale (FINUDA at DAΦNE and electroproduction experiments at JLab and at MaMi). We have then critically revisited the results obtained at KEK by the SKS Collaboration in order to make possible a direct comparison between data from experiments with and without such an absolute energy scale. A synopsis of recent spectrometric measurements of BΛ is presented, including also emulsion experiment results.
Several interesting conclusions are drawn, among which the equality within the errors of BΛ for the A=7,12,16 isomultiplets, based only on recent spectrometric data. This observation is in nice agreement with a recent theoretical prediction.
Ideas for possible new measurements which should improve the present experimental knowledge are finally put forward.
There are hundreds of full-scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors in operation in various parts of the tropical world, notably in India and Latin America, Brazil being the holder of ...the largest park of anaerobic reactors for sewage treatment in the world. Despite the recognized advantages of UASB reactors, there are problems that have prevented their maximum operational performance. Neglecting the existence and delaying the solution of these challenges can jeopardize the important advances made to date, impacting the future of anaerobic technology in Brazil and in other countries. This work aims to evaluate the operational performance of five full-scale UASB reactors in Brazil, taking into account a monitoring period ranging between two and six years. The main observed design, construction, and operational constraints are discussed. Some outlooks for important upcoming developments are also provided, considering that most of the observed drawbacks can be tackled without significant increases on reactor costs.
The decay of Λ-hypernuclei without π emission, known as Non-Mesonic Weak Decay (NMWD), gives an effective tool to investigate ΔS=1 four-baryon interactions. It was theoretically suggested that the ...two-nucleon induced mechanism could play a substantial role in reproducing the observed NMWD decay rates and nucleon spectra, but at present no direct evidence of such a mechanism has been obtained. The FINUDA experiment, exploiting the possibility to detect both charged and neutral particles coming from the hypernucleus decay, has allowed us to deduce the relative weight of the two nucleon induced decay rate to the total NMWD rate. The value of Γ2N/ΓNMWD=0.21±0.07stat−0.02sys+0.03sys has been deduced, well consistent with the previous determinations.
This Letter is concerned with the study of the Kstop−A→π±Σ∓A′ reaction in p-shell nuclei, i.e., 6,7Li, 9Be, 13C and 16O. The π±Σ∓/Kstop− emission rates are reported as a function of A. These rates ...are discussed in comparison with previous findings. The ratio π−Σ+/π+Σ− in p-shell nuclei is found to depart largely from that on hydrogen, which provides support for large in-medium effects possibly generated by the sub-threshold Λ(1405). The continuum momentum spectra of prompt pions and free sigmas are also discussed as well as the π±Σ∓ missing mass behavior and the link with the reaction mechanism. The apparatus used for the investigation is the FINUDA spectrometer operating at the DAΦNEϕ-factory (LNF-INFN, Italy).
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