The Schilde Wastewater Treatment Plant, located in the Belgian province of Antwerp, is soon to be upgraded with a combined solution of GE’s ZeeLung Membrane Aerated Biofilm Reactor (MABR) and ZeeWeed membrane bioreactor (MBR) technologies by Aquafin.

The Flanders’ wastewater treatment company chose to upgrade the Schilde Wastewater Treatment Plant with this combination in order to meet new total nitrogen removal requirements while retaining its existing footprint.

The Schilde Wastewater Treatment Plant will be the first in Europe to use GE’s new ZeeLung MABR technology, which uses a dense film oxygen permeable membrane for biofilm growth on the surface and supplies oxygen by molecular diffusion through the membrane wall.

Oxygen transfer takes place via diffusion through the membrane, not by air bubbling; this results in high Oxygen Transfer Efficiency (OTE) in the process reactor, which can result in a significant reduction in energy use. Oxygen is delivered to the biofilm by diffusion through the membrane; this in turn cuts down the energy required for oxygen delivery by up to four times compared to conventional aeration. As wastewater treatment reactions take place within the biofilm, it has low sludge production with long solids retention time (SRT).

The GE hybrid system will treat 50% of the wastewater using ZeeWeed 500D MBR; the remaining flow of eight million litres per day is treated by an activated sludge system. Adding the ZeeLung MABR will also enhance the removal of total nitrogen in the activated sludge stream.

The Schilde Wastewater Treatment Plant was initially constructed to treat a population of 28 000, which was increased to serve 35,000 over time. Once the expansion is complete, which should be in the first quarter of 2017, the plant will sport a generous 65% total nitrogen removal.

GE Water & Process Technologies engineered systems global leader Kevin Cassidy said: “Water & Process Technologies’ hybrid solution of ZeeLung and ZeeWeed was about meeting an effluent specification within the plant’s existing footprint.”

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