SISTEMA COMBINADO UASB+MBR PARA LA ELIMINACIÓN BIOLÓGICA DE CONTAMINANTES EMERGENTES, MATERIA ORGÁNICA Y NUTRIENTES EN AGUAS RESIDUALES URBANAS

Abstract

Conventional treatment systems can be inefficient in removing and / or degradation of emerging contaminants (ECs) present in urban wastewater. Although aerobic biological technologies such as membrane bioreactors (MBR) have proven to be very effective, certain compounds are highly removed by anaerobic biological systems. This research focuses on the study of a system that combines the advantages of biological treatment aerobic and anaerobic in order to optimize the removal of ECs, organic matter and nutrients. For this have been analyzed the operation of a pilot plant consists of an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) followed by a submerged MBR external configuration. The research was carried out in the first phase with aerobic biomass in suspension and in a second phase with supported biomass. The results confirm the synergy of both systems, achieving high removal efficiencies of the most persistent pollutants such as carbamazepine, diazepam, diclofenac, simazine, atrazine, linuron and terbuthylazine. Regarding the elimination of organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorous, overall yields were close to 97%, 45% y 35% respectively, being particularly high when biomass was supported.