Researching Carbon-Capture Technologies Through Process Model

Arifur Rahman

Operators of water resource and recovery facilities (WRRFs) are increasingly interested in using carbon-capture technologies such as high-rate activated sludge (HRAS) systems to minimize carbon oxidation and maximize organic carbon recovery and methane potential through biosorption of biodegradable organics into the biomass.

I worked with an international research team to study a universal process model for HRAS for maximizing carbon capture from wastewater.

During our research, we studied models involving the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant in Washington, D.C.; the Rochester, Minnesota, Wastewater Treatment Plant; and the AAA Rottenburg WWTP in Germany. Our work presents a unique process model that can be applicable to simulate high-rate activated sludge technologies such as A-stage, high-rate contact-stabilization, continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR) and alternating activated adsorption (AAA) process.

Our team included lead researchers from Dynamita SARL, a developer of process modeling software based in France; DC Water; ARA Consult GmbH in Austria; and Florida-based Brown and Caldwell.

You can read more about our research in this article, which was published in Water Science & Technology, the peer-reviewed journal of the International Water Association: “Colloids, flocculation and carbon capture – a comprehensive plant-wide model.”

Also see:

Making Wastewater Treatment More Energy-Efficient