Phosphate adsorption onto granular ferric hydroxide (GFH) for wastewater reuse [Elektronische Ressource] / vorgelegt von Alexander Sperlich

© Alexander Sperlich, Der Technischen Universität Berlin, Von Der Fakultät Iii - Prozesswissenschaften -

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• Publié par: technische_universitat_berlin
• Publié le: 01 janvier 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 35
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 7 Mo

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P H O S P H AT E A D S O R P T I O N O N T O G R A N U L A R F E R R I C
H Y D R O X I D E ( G F H ) F O R WA S T E WAT E R R E U S E
vorgelegt von
Diplom-Ingenieur
Alexander Sperlich
aus Berlin
von der Fakultät III - Prozesswissenschaften -
der Technischen Universität Berlin
zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades
Doktor der Ingenieurwissenschaften
- Dr.-Ing. -
genehmigte Dissertation
Promotionsausschuss:
Vorsitzender: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Wolfgang Rotard
Berichter: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Martin Jekel Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Eckhard Worch
Tag der wissenschaftlichen Aussprache: 08. Juli 2010
Berlin 2010
D 83A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S
The research presented here was carried out in projects funded by the German Fed-
eral Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the European Commission
under the 6th Framework Programme, which is gratefully acknowledged.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Martin Jekel was the supervisor of this work and has always
supported me during this research. I thank him for giving me the opportunity to
work in his group and opening up many possibilities for me. I was glad to have
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Eckhard Worch in my committee. With his profound knowledge
of adsorption, he was always available for discussions on adsorption modeling.
Thanks also to Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Wolfgang Rotard for taking over the chair of the
thesis committee.
I would also like to thank Sebastian Schimmelpfennig for his enthusiasm and
programming skills which resulted in the software FAST. I have fond memories
of the time we spent improving FAST, understanding and comparing adsorption
models and completing our joint paper. Carsten Bahr and Dr.-Ing. Xing Zheng are
acknowledged for making the considerable amount of time we spent sharing the
same office very enjoyable. With Carsten, I was fortunate to have a co-worker who
was also researching GFH adsorption and always willing to help me out in the
lab or by providing the necessary carbohydrates (Gummibärchen etc.) or just by
cheering me up. Working with Xing Zheng, I spent some weeks in China and I
thank him for making this an unforgettable time for me and for overcoming any
problems with the pilot plant in Beijing.
This work would not have been possible without the hard-working and excellent
students which I had the pleasure to work with (in alphabetical order): Sabrina
Bahnmüller, Benno Baumgarten, Jin Chen, Benito J. Martín Cuevas, Tanja Ratuzny,
Mathias Riechel, Alrun Schneider, Stefan Schulz, David Warschke and Christine
Wegmann.
In the very beginning of this research, I “inherited” all the experimental setup for
adsorption experiments from Dr.-Ing. Arne Genz. I thank him for introducing me
to this research and the group, his help and willingness to discuss my results even
years after completing his own research. As the project leader, Dr.-Ing. Mathias
Ernst has always been covering my back in the research projects and helped me a
lot. I always enjoyed the discussions on this work with Prof. Dr. Gary Amy. His
comments, suggestions and thought-provoking questions proved very helpful to
me. I also wish to thank Anja Sandersfeld and Sebastian Aust for making the
FSP-WIB office a very pleasant working environment.
Concentrating on experimental work and modeling was only possible with
the help of the hard-working and reliable laboratory staff. Angelika Kersten and
Katrin Noack have to be mentioned for the great number of samples which were
analyzed for phosphate, but I also wish to thank all the other helping hands in the
lab.
For proof-reading the manuscript I especially thank Anja Sandersfeld and Han-
nelore Meingast. Also, both of them and Karin von Nordheim were of great help
solving any administrative issue. I greatly appreciated the help of Werner Däum-
iiiler, Hans Rietdorf, Thomas Thele and Wolfgang Wichmann whenever something
needed to be constructed, repaired or any computer issue needed to be solved.
Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Driehaus and Wilhelm Depping (GEH Wasserchemie) is
thanked for a steady supply with GFH material and helpful discussions on
adsorber design and practice. I appreciated the support of Prof. Dr. Zhao Xuan
and Dr. Cheng Chuzhou during my stay at Tsinghua University. Thanks also to
Berliner Wasserbetriebe for supplying secondary effluent. Many thanks also to
Stephan Costabel from the Chair of Applied Geophysics for his help with the BET
surface measurements.
Finally, I wish to express my gratitude to all of my co-workers at the Chair of
Water Quality Control, who create this special atmosphere which makes working
there very enjoyable. The last five years have been a very good time for me. Thank
you all very much.
ivA B S T R A C T
Adsorption onto Granular Ferric Hydroxide (GFH), a commercially available,
synthetic adsorbent is studied as treatment process for phosphorus removal from
wastewater. The objective is to evaluate the suitability of this process alternative
for advanced wastewater treatment and reuse. Within this scope, the present
work focusses on quantification of competitive adsorption of phosphate and
development of a regeneration process that allows multiple application of GFH.
Furthermore, breakthrough prediction of GFH fixed-bed columns is assessed.
Adsorption of phosphate in artificial model solutions, natural and waste waters
onto GFH was studied in batch and fixed-bed column experiments. Equilibrium
isotherms and adsorption edges show that phosphate adsorption is strongly pH
dependent. High capacities of up to 24 mg/g P (at pH 6 and an equilibrium
concentration of 2 mg/L P) can be reached. Presence of calcium is shown to
improve adsorption of phosphate. This is supposed to be the reason for higher
capacities in waste and drinking water as compared to DI water and membrane
concentrates. The diffuse double layer model can in principle be used to describe
phosphate adsorption onto GFH, but fails to describe simultaneous adsorption of and calcium.
Whereas generally effective for phosphate removal from NF concentrates, GFH
adsorption cannot be recommended for membrane concentrate treatment. Since
membrane concentrates are often supersaturated with respect to calcium carbonate
and/ or calcium phosphate compounds, this can lead to scaling and head loss in
the fixed-bed column. Chemical precipitation can effectively remove phosphate
and calcium ions and thus reduce the scaling potential of membrane concentrates.
This may allow for higher recoveries in the NF/ RO process.
Rapid small-scale column tests (RSSCTs) were shown to be a useful tool for
simulation of fixed-bed columns. Isotherm results can be used to provide a rough
estimation of operation time, i.e. the ideal breakthrough point of a fixed-bed
column, but are of limited use due to the strong influence of mass transfer on the
shape of the breakthrough curve. RSSCTs using different empty-bed contact times
show that phosphate adsorption kinetics onto GFH are very slow and result in
asymptotically shaped breakthrough curves. Analysis of breakthrough data proves
that operation of two GFH beds in series can contribute to a more efficient use of
the adsorbent.
Breakthrough curves were modeled using the homogeneous surface diffusion
model (HSDM) and two of its derivatives, the constant pattern homogeneous
surface diffusion model (CPHSDM) and the linear driving force model (LDF). Input
parameters, the Freundlich isotherm constants, and mass transfer coefficients for
liquid- and solid-phase diffusion were determined and analysed for their influence
on the shape of the breakthrough curve. HSDM simulation results predict the
breakthrough of phosphate, and the also investigated adsorbates arsenate, salicylic
acid, and DOC satisfactorily. Due to a very slow intraparticle diffusion and hence
higher Biot numbers, LDF and CPHSDM could not describe arsenate breakthrough
correctly. Based on this observation, limits of applicability were defined for LDF
vand CPHSDM. When designing fixed-bed adsorbers, model selection based on
known or estimated Biot and Stanton numbers is possible.
GFH is stable at high pH and can be efficiently regenerated using1 M NaOH.
Approximately 80 % of the initially bound phosphate can be eluated. However,
the incomplete desorption leads to decreasing capacities with each additional
use. Multiple uses are thus limited, but at least three operation cycles are feasible.
GFH desorption is fast and most of the desorbable phosphate could be eluated
using 4 - 6 bed volumes of regenerant. A reuse of the regenerant solution is
possible. Despite high phosphate concentrations in the regenerate, 61 - 85 % of the
bound phosphate could be desorbed. Phosphate can be recovered from the highly
concentrated regenerant stream (up to3.5 g/L P). Precipitation with lime water
resulted in 90 % P removal and a plant available precipitate which might be used
as a fertilizer. Regeneration and multiple use of GFH can significantly increase
operation times of fixed-bed adsorbers and be an economically favourable option
compared to single use.
Laboratory results were confirmed in pilot-scale experiments in Beijing, China
which show that selective nutrient removal by adsorption onto GFH after a
membrane bioreactor (MBR) can maintain a total phosphorus concentration of
-1< 0.03 mg L P, thus preventing eutrophication of artificial lakes.
In conclus