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Alternative primary treatment for energy-positive wastewater treatment: an exploration of pile cloth media filtration
Zavala, Tayler J.
Zavala, Tayler J.
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2025
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Elwell_mines_0052E_13060.pdf
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2026-11-11
Abstract
Wastewater treatment is essential for safeguarding public health, preserving environmental integrity, and ensuring the sustainable management of water resources. However, many wastewater treatment facilities (WWTFs) in the United States are approaching the end of their operating lifespan and operating at or beyond their design capacities. To address these issues, there is a critical need for innovative research aimed at developing energy-neutral wastewater treatment paradigms. Improving primary treatment methods is one of the most urgent technological upgrades needed in wastewater treatment. The adaptation of pile cloth filtration (PCF) for primary treatment can enhance the performance of primary treatment, increase secondary treatment capacities, enhance renewable energy production, and reduce costs of WWTFs. To address these research needs, this dissertation explores the effectiveness of PCF as an alternative to conventional primary sedimentation (CPS) treatment, specifically focusing on enhancing carbon diversion away from secondary treatment to anaerobic digestion processes.
This dissertation introduces a modified PCF technology that is designed to dewater solids prior to removal, the dewatering pile cloth filter (DPCF). It then compares the characteristics of municipal wastewater treatment with traditional PCF, DPCF and CPS, followed by secondary activated sludge processes in sequencing batch reactors. Results suggest that implementing PCF treatments can reduce aeration requirements by up to 19%, and the DPCF can generate a primary solids waste stream concentrated to greater than 1% solids. Additionally, the performance of DPCF is characterized upstream of a demonstration scale in a sequencing batch membrane bioreactor (SBMBR), where aeration requirements and energy demands are quantified. Integrating DPCF can reduce SBMBR aeration requirements by up to 21%, while generating a concentrated solid waste stream of greater than 1.5% solids and water recovery of 97%.
A comparative techno-economic analysis is presented to assess the financial distinctions for full-scale implementation of the proposed treatment technology using advanced modeling techniques. This structured approach aims to provide a clearer understanding of the benefits and feasibility of adopting improved PCF as primary treatment in WWTFs. DPCF primary treatment technology in commercial-scale WWTFs has the potential to reduce the capital costs of primary treatment (51%) and secondary treatments (16%), reduce operating costs (21%), and improve biogas production (35%).
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