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Online fluorescence monitoring of effluent organic matter in wastewater treatment plants
Carstea, E.M. Zakharova, Y.S. Bridgeman, John
Carstea, E.M.
Zakharova, Y.S.
Bridgeman, John
Publication Date
2018-05
End of Embargo
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©2018 American Society of Civil Engineers. Reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. This material may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the American Society of Civil Engineers. This material may be found at https://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/%28ASCE%29EE.1943-7870.0001360?af=R
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Open Access status
Accepted for publication
2017-10-18
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Abstract
Wastewater treatment is an energy-intensive operation. Energy consumption is forecast to increase by 60% in the forthcoming decade due to tightened legislation surrounding the discharge of final effluent to watercourses. Treatment plants rely on the time-consuming and unreliable biochemical oxygen demand to assess the quality of final effluent, leading to process inefficiencies. Here, the authors show that fluorescence spectroscopy is a robust technique for real-time monitoring of changes in effluent quality. Three portable fluorimeters were installed for one month at the final effluent discharge point of a large municipal wastewater treatment plant. The authors show that organic matter composition of the wastewater varies diurnally depending on the flow rate and antecedent rainfall. High fluorescence intensity and ammonia are attributed to sewage sludge liquor, which is regularly discharged to the treatment plant. Moreover, elevated fluorescence intensities were recorded as a result of process failure following a power outage. The study shows that online fluorescence analysis is capable of detecting both minor changes in effluent quality and issues with treatment process performance.
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Accepted Manuscript
Citation
Carstea EM, Zakharova YS and Bridgeman J (2018) Online fluorescence monitoring of effluent organic matter in wastewater treatment plants. Journal of Environmental Engineering. 144(5).
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Article