On-Site Total Phosphorus Removal From Wastewater

Eutrophication is attributed to high phosphorus concentrations in our ecosystem, modifying water and habitat quality. As an industry-academia collaboration program, this thesis assists the development of Virtual Engineers’ (VE) technology of a cost-effective, efficient, and affordable on-site Total Phosphorus (TP) removal unit. By investigating the chemical adsorption of a clay-zeolite media, the objective was to demonstrate TP removal capacity; primarily focusing on pellet media composition and formation, influent concentration, contact time to overall removal efficiency. All stages of optimization analyses were conducted in a scaled-down testing unit based on a ¾ inch pellet diameter construction, for a modest 45 minute detention time, and achieved an optimized removal of approximately 45%. The final pellet selected was the non-conditioned VE design, at maximum furnace exposure, scaled up to a 1 inch diameter. Results showed that an equilibrium removal of 72% is achieved after a 3 hour contact time; supporting the research of Sun (2010) on the Freundlich Adsorption Isotherm linearization of solute adsorption to equilibrium solvent concentration.