Thermophilic wastewater treatment processes

Hot and rough

Thermophilic processes are those operated at temperatures above 45°C. At these high temperatures in the biological treatment process no filter-feeding micro animals (protozoa or rotifers) survive. The absence of micro animals places special demands on the wastewater treatment process, especially with respect to the biosolids separation methods.

External versus internal

With the MBBR™ biofilm technology termophilic processes could be operated either aerobic or anaerobic. AnoxKaldnes have two types of termophilic processes based on the MBBR™ biofilm technology:

• Process for external wastewater treatment.
• Process for internal wastewater treatment.

Thermophilic external treatment is applied when cooling the wastewater is not practical and/or economical.

Thermophilic in-mill treatment is used, for example, for the whitewater in the pulp and paper industry. Here, the recirculated water temperature is directly linked to production demands and cannot be changed. Furthermore, the treatment objective with in-mill treatment is not necessarily the complete removal of BOD and COD. Rather, the goal is to maintain in-mill water quality conditions that are optimal for production, which can mean that the amount of suspended solids is more important than the degree of reduction.

Internal biological treatment with MBBR™ biofilm technology is one of our research areas with special thermophilic MBBR™ biofilm applications.