University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2019-04-02 Development of Upflow Aerobic Granular Sludge Bioreactor (UAGSBR) for Treatment of High-strength Organic Wastewater Hamza, Rania Ahmed Sayed Eid Hamza, R. A. (2019). Development of Upflow Aerobic Granular Sludge Bioreactor (UAGSBR) for Treatment of High-strength Organic Wastewater (Unpublished doctoral thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/110144 doctoral thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Development of Upflow Aerobic Granular Sludge Bioreactor (UAGSBR) for Treatment of High-strength Organic Wastewater by Rania Ahmed Hamza Sayed Eid A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN CIVIL ENGINEERING CALGARY, ALBERTA APRIL, 2019 © Rania Ahmed Hamza Sayed Eid 2019 Abstract Industrial wastewater, typically referred to as high-strength wastewater, is a major source of water pollution due to its elevated organic content. High-strength organic wastewaters are characterized by chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentrations greater than 4000 mg/L. The effluents of these industries need to undergo biological treatment to remove the organic matter. However, conventional biological treatment processes fail to stabilize high-strength wastewater to regulatory limits. Aerobic treatment processes are not economically feasible for the treatment of high-strength organic wastewater. Anaerobic processes suffer from low growth rate of the microorganisms, high sensitivity to toxic loadings, fluctuations in environmental conditions, and require post treatment to bring the water quality within regulations. This work aimed at developing an upflow aerobic granular sludge bioreactor (UAGSBR) to provide a downstream effective treatment process in order to combine the benefit of anaerobic digestion (i.e., biogas production) with the benefit of aerobic treatment (i.e., better removal of organics). Moreover, it is hypothesized that effluent of anaerobic treatment provides a solubilized organic matter suitable for subsequent aerobic treatment because of its reduced organic strength and enhanced amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus. The combined system will overcome the limitations of both anaerobic and aerobic systems, such as long treatment duration and low stability due to rapid bacterial growth, respectively. In this project, biogranulation, formed by the self-immobilization of microorganisms, was employed as a novel technology in an upflow semi-pilot-scale bioreactor. These granules are dense microbial communities packed with different bacterial species, which can achieve rapid treatment for high volumes of wastewater in a smaller footprint when compared to conventional biomass. Mechanisms of granule formation and stability considering influential factors such as system start-up, organic loading rate, food-to-microorganisms ratio, and nutrients addition i were examined. Treatment efficiency, assessed in terms of organics and nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) removal, was above 90%. The UAGSBR provides a compact system for high- strength organics wastewater treatment (at 20-30% spatial footprint of a conventional plant). ii Acknowledgment I would like to thank all those who helped me by advice, guidance, contribution, technical and informational support, and criticism in order to bring this research work up to this level. There were many people involved in this research work. First and foremost, my supervisor, Dr. Joo Hwa Tay, who had a major contribution and significance in this research. His guidance, ideas, and suggestions have been invaluable throughout my doctoral study. Dr. Tay provided me with unlimited support and was very generous with his time and devotion to this project. I owe my publications, my scholarships and honors to him. His words of wisdom, his trust in my capabilities and his continuous encouragement guided me throughout my PhD journey: “First year, I hold your hands; second year, we discuss; third year, you lead the way” – Dr. Tay. I am very grateful to Dr. Joseph Patrick Hettiaratchi for his continuous advice and support. Dr. Hettiaratchi taught me experimental design and statistical analysis, and more importantly, how to apply them to get meaningful conclusions. I am very grateful to Dr. Angus Chu for taking time to explain for me anaerobic processes and giving me feedback on my work. My very special appreciation goes to Dr. Zhiya Sheng for her continuous assistance. Dr. Sheng taught me the value and meaning of microbiology and guided all my microbial analysis. I would like to thank Dr. John Dominic for his valuable advice. His comments and suggestions guided my early PhD publications. I would like to extend my gratitude to Mr. Danial Larson, our lab technologist for his consistent assistance with instruments, experiments, and installation of our reactors. I am grateful to Mr. Donald Anson and Mr. Mirsad Berbic for their assistance with fabricating our reactors and iii troubleshooting technical and operational issues. I also want to acknowledge the administrative support of Ms. Chrissy Thatcher, Ms. Janelle Mcconnell, and Ms. Julie Nagy Kovacs. I am extremely lucky to have supportive colleagues. My very special thanks go to Oliver Terna Iorhemen, my true friend and companion in my PhD journey. Oliver’s consistent support, friendly attitude, assistance, and encouragement have pushed me to discover my best skills and talents. My gratitude extends to Mohamed Sherif Abdelsamie who has always sacrificed his time to help me through my lengthy laboratory experiments. Words cannot explain the friendly family-like environment Jordan Kent created in our team. Jordan took the lead in installing our reactor and has always helped me in understanding chemical reactions. My sincere gratitude goes to Shubham Tiwari for his optimistic and calm attitude, and for sharing his creative research ideas. I would like to thank Muhammed Faizan Khan for the positive and supportive attitude. I would like to acknowledge Harsh Vashi for creating an ambitious environment. My gratitude extends to Anrish for her friendly attitude. I would like to thank my dear friends, Mayada Younes and Fatimah Farag for their continuous support, love and care. They have always encouraged me, shared their stories of success, and inspired me to continue my degree. To those who provided me the motivation and drive to be whom I am, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to my lovely family. Foremost, I owe my deepest gratitude to my mother, Zakeya Elmemey, for her unlimited love. She has always supported me, sacrificing her health, traveling thousands of miles to be with me providing care and support for me and for my children, and creating a very comfortable and calm environment for me to study. My PhD would not have been completed without the encouraging words, advice, guidance, strength and power my father, Ahmed Hamza, has given me. His words of encouragement and trust in my capabilities have provided me with confidence and led my way through my journey. iv To my love and my greatest support in life, my husband, Ahmed Okasha. Ahmed has always deeply believed in me, supported my passion for academia, and empowered me to leave my comfort zone and travel in pursue of my dream. To my lovely children Laila and Yehia who have been very understanding in supporting me through the degree. They were very mature in scarifying their playtime and family weekends to allow me to finish my studies. I am deeply grateful to the tremendous support of my brother, Mostafa Sayed. Mostafa was my very special life coach, his unconditional love, advice and care have pampered me not only through my transition to Canada and University of Calgary but also through my very tough moments in my program. To my beloved sister-in-law, Daniah Mokhtar, I am extremely grateful for her warm family gatherings, and her love and support during my depressed moments. I would like to acknowledge the industrial experience that was provided by Acti-Zyme Ltd, and for providing the engineered granular microorganisms (EGMs) used as part of this work. From Acti-Zyme (Hycura), I would like to thank Jonathan Lee for sharing his knowledge and providing me with such valuable internship experience. My appreciation extends to BIAP (Business Innovation Access Program) of Canada and Mitacs for funding my university- industry collaborative research. Last but not least, I would like to acknowledge the financial support of: Izaak Walton Killam Doctoral Scholarship Government of Alberta for Queen Elizabeth II Doctoral Scholarship Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Faculty of Graduate Studies for Eyes High Doctoral Scholarship v Dedicated to the memory of my beloved grandfather, Hamza Time changes nothing, I can still hear the wisdom in your advice! I am fulfilling my promise to you, and I herein make my first steps onto my career! vi Contributions During my doctoral study, the following peer-reviewed journal articles were produced: [1]