Hydraulic and Kinetic Modeling of a Full-scale Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor for Tertiary Nitrification

.................................................................................................................................. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................................. iii LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................ iv INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 Description of Water Problem Addressed ......................................................................... 1 Objectives ........................................................................................................................... 2 BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................ 3 Selection of Nitrification Process ....................................................................................... 3 Moorhead MBBR Nitrification System............................................................................ ......... 4 Previous MBBR Analysis ..................................................................................................... 7 INVESTIGATIVE APPROACH ....................................................................................................... 10 Experimental Design ......................................................................................................... 10 Materials and Methods .................................................................................................... 10 RESULTS AND MODEL DEVELOPMENT ....................................................................................... 12 Analysis of the Full‐Scale MBBR Monitoring Discussion .................................................. 12 Hydraulic Analysis ............................................................................................................. 16 Tracer Studies ............................................................................................................................ 17 NH3‐N Distribution in the MBBR ............................................................................................... 19 Hydraulic Analysis Discussion ................................................................................................... 21 Nitrification Kinetics ......................................................................................................... 21 Full‐Scale MBBR Simulation ............................................................................................. 25 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................ 32 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 34