Biochemical and Biomolecular Engineering Commons^™

Overcoming Technological Challenges For The Commercialization Of The Circulating Fluidized Bed Bioreactor For Municipal Wastewater Treatment, Michael J. Nelson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The fluidized bed bioreactor as an attached growth wastewater treatment process has demonstrated advantages over suspended growth processes for municipal wastewater treatment applications. However, previous studies have also demonstrated potentially serious disadvantages in terms of energy consumption and maximum reactor size of high flow applications.

In this work, a cost analysis using the CapdetWorks, supplemented by calibrated model data taken from GPS-X was performed to determine the cost effectiveness of the circulating fluidized bed bioreactor (CFBBR). This study demonstrated that the CFBBR is most cost competitive at low flow below 5 MGD. A 10%-20% reduction in net present values on …

Exploration Of The Sludge Biodiesel Pathway, Zachary Christman

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Wastewater sludge is an overlooked source of fat, oil, and grease (FOG) that could be converted into biodiesel. The United States produces about 8 million tons of sludge per year. The disposal cost for this amount of sludge is about 2 billion dollars. The widespread availability and low cost of sludge compared to other biodiesel raw materials make it an economical choice for a renewable fuel. Using sludge as a raw material can produce 25 to 30 mg per gram of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME); the main component of biodiesel. Sludge biodiesel has the potential of transforming a portion …