Date of Award

6-2003

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Environmental Science

First Advisor

Dr. Ibrahim A hour

Second Advisor

Dr. Fahmi Abu AI-Rub

Third Advisor

Vijay P. Singh

Abstract

This research thesis will study the performance of wastewater treatment plant using a two-phase continuous flow anaerobic/aerobic treatment plant for the treatment of industrial wastewater from a confectionary factory in Dubai. The treatment design is based on anaerobic process under mesophilic conditions (31 +/- 2 °C) range where only the heat of the inlet and the natural climatic temperature are utilized to maintain the reactor operational. An aerobic activated sludge process to achieve the required legal standards follows the anaerobic treatment.

During the anaerobic process, biogas is generated and stored in a collection chamber and linked to an automated flared system. The sludge is digested aerobically and passed over a belt filter press system for de-watering to a minimum of 25% dry solids content.

In order to accomplish this study, wastewater samples were collected through different stages of treatment and at different seasons to investigate any effects from the climate changes. Samples were analyzed at UAE University’s Central Laboratory Unit for VFA, while other parameters, such as BOD, COD, TSS, TDS and oil were analyzed at a private laboratory, approved by Dubai Municipality.

A brief comparison between this two-phase system and a sequential batch reactor (SBR) system is made at the end. Although both systems were used in this case for treatment of food industry waste, the two-phase system has proved more efficient in treating high strength, lower volume wastewater, and required less installation space at lower building and running costs.

The results obtained indicated that the two-phase system under climate conditions is especially suitable for the UAE and Middle East climate, since it depends on the heat of inlet water and the atmosphere. No major variations in the treatment were detected, during the 2 years course of study, even though samples were collected at different climate temperatures.

It might appear that the SBR system, which was used to make our comparative study, treated to a better standard. This could be partially true, but if we compare the waste volume and consistency, the influent quality, costs and space involved with the SBR system, the two-phase system served as a much cheaper and as effective alternative for treatment.

Finally, the impact of this research work is expected to be better understanding of wastewater treatment and minimization mechanism, which is a rich field for research and development in the UAE. This could also serve as a basis for future studies in this field, since no major research has been conducted with regard to this subject in the co

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