ANOXKALDNES AB

Wastewater Treatment

In general, a biological treatment process is the most efficient and cost effective way to treat both industrial and municipal wastewater. AnoxKaldnes line of biological processes like Kaldnes™, Hybas™, BAS™, LagoonGuard™ and Natrix™ have been especially designed to provide efficient, economical and robust treatment in different types of applications. Most of our biological processes are based on the well-known AnoxKaldnes™ MBBR technology where specially designed plastic biofilm carriers or biocarriers are suspended and are in continuous movement within a reactor. The design of associated aerators, grids, sieves, spray nozzles and other integral parts to the reactor are also of great importance to the overall system that AnoxKaldnes markets.

AnoxKaldnes have experience in all types of biological treatment processes and can be of assistance in any type of project. Our speciality is, however, suspended biofilm processes for both industrial and municipal applications. When communities of microorganisms grow on surfaces, they are called biofilms. Microorganisms in a biofilm wastewater treatment process are more resilient to process disturbances compared to other types of biological treatment processes. Thus, biofilm wastewater treatment technologies can be considerably more robust especially when compared with conventional technologies like activated sludge.

In the biofilm process the industrial or municipal wastewater is led to the treatment reactor where biofilm, growing within the internal structures of the biocarriers, degrade the pollutants. During this degradation the biofilm grows and eventually de-attach from the surface and is removed in a subsequent separation step. The biocarrier design is critical due to requirements for good mass transfer of substrate and oxygen to the microorganisms, therefore there is continuous R&D in the area of the AnoxKaldnes™ MBBR biofilm technology.

AnoxKaldnes is a high technology company focusing on advanced biological wastewater treatment. The company has a strong position in the market, which is acquired by adopting a unique method of operation, emanating from the need and possibilities of the microorganisms. AnoxKaldnes offers a comprehensive range of products and services including specialty-training courses, accredited chemical and biological water quality analyses, laboratory and pilot process testing, and the design, development and delivery of full-scale treatment processes. The common denominator to all our products and services is expertise and fundamental know-how in biological treatment for both the industrial and municipal sectors.

Knowledge Based Engineering

The foundation of AnoxKaldnes is based on many years of practical experience and deep knowledge about technical engineering. Most important, however, is our understanding on how to design the treatment process in order to optimize the conditions for the microorganisms. This is accomplished by deep knowledge about the needs of different types of organisms and the mechanisms behind their metabolism. Intensive research in the wastewater treatment area has developed a whole spectrum of possibilities for the biological process from ordinary BOD removal to advanced systems with enhanced phosphorous removal, pre- and post denitrification and so on. A deep understanding of the different details in these processes is important in order to come up with the best possible solution for the customer whether it is for degradation of specific compounds in an industrial wastewater or an application for municipal wastewater treatment.

AnoxKaldnes also has the possibility to investigate and try out new process configurations in our well-equipped laboratory. We have long experience from simulating full-scale treatment processes in the laboratory with bench-scale reactors. Laboratory testing facilitates the optimization of the process design as well as testing treatment feasibility or trouble shooting various aspects of the biological process.

Among the possible treatment parameters to be analyzed are the contaminant biodegradability, removal kinetics and loading limits. Along with these treatment parameters critical microbiological community characteristics and other biological nutrient requirements can be determined. The effect of process disturbances on treatment performance can also be safely examined in the laboratory.

All types of biological treatment processes can be investigated in the laboratory. The selected microorganisms are the same whether they are cultured in a treatment process volume of one litre or thousands of cubic meters. Note that a one-litre bioreactor might contain a thousand billion bacteria and tens of millions of micro-animals.

The possibility to control most of the operating conditions and with ease test new process configurations are some of the many benefits with laboratory scale simulations. One drawback however, is that the bench scale process is operated far from the wastewater source. For investigation of the impact of daily influent variations, the test must be performed at the plant. This is accomplished in pilot tests, which often are done in a larger scale at the wastewater source. In addition to providing information about the process performance with the daily influent variations, pilot tests are often used to verify results from the laboratory scale and gather information for the final process design.

At our disposal is our analytical department, where all common analyses such as BOD, COD, nutrients and so on, can be carried out. However, in order to be really successful it is not sufficient to only be able to perform chemical analyses. Knowledge of bacteria and biofilm morphology and being able to identify problematic microorganisms causing problems for wastewater treatment plant operators is essential for a company such as ours that offers advanced biological treatment processes and can investigate and identify problems in existing plants. Today, we can also take advantage of new techniques such as DNA-probes. The probes are attached to specific sections of the bacterial DNA and different bacterial strains are visualized in the microscope by fluorescent markers.

Worldwide Treatment Solutions

The foundation of AnoxKaldnes is based on many years of practical experience and deep knowledge about technical engineering. Most important, however, is our understanding on how to design the treatment process in order to optimize the conditions for the microorganisms. This is accomplished by deep knowledge about the needs of different types of organisms and the mechanisms behind their metabolism. Intensive research in the wastewater treatment area has developed a whole spectrum of possibilities for the biological process from ordinary BOD removal to advanced systems with enhanced phosphorous removal, pre- and post denitrification and so on. A deep understanding of the different details in these processes is important in order to come up with the best possible solution for the customer whether it is for degradation of specific compounds in an industrial wastewater or an application for municipal wastewater treatment.

AnoxKaldnes also has the possibility to investigate and try out new process configurations in our well-equipped laboratory. We have long experience from simulating full-scale treatment processes in the laboratory with bench-scale reactors. Laboratory testing facilitates the optimization of the process design as well as testing treatment feasibility or trouble shooting various aspects of the biological process.

Among the possible treatment parameters to be analyzed are the contaminant biodegradability, removal kinetics and loading limits. Along with these treatment parameters critical microbiological community characteristics and other biological nutrient requirements can be determined. The effect of process disturbances on treatment performance can also be safely examined in the laboratory.

All types of biological treatment processes can be investigated in the laboratory. The selected microorganisms are the same whether they are cultured in a treatment process volume of one litre or thousands of cubic meters. Note that a one-litre bioreactor might contain a thousand billion bacteria and tens of millions of micro-animals.

The possibility to control most of the operating conditions and with ease test new process configurations are some of the many benefits with laboratory scale simulations. One drawback however, is that the bench scale process is operated far from the wastewater source. For investigation of the impact of daily influent variations, the test must be performed at the plant. This is accomplished in pilot tests, which often are done in a larger scale at the wastewater source. In addition to providing information about the process performance with the daily influent variations, pilot tests are often used to verify results from the laboratory scale and gather information for the final process design.

At our disposal is our analytical department, where all common analyses such as BOD, COD, nutrients and so on, can be carried out. However, in order to be really successful it is not sufficient to only be able to perform chemical analyses. Knowledge of bacteria and biofilm morphology and being able to identify problematic microorganisms causing problems for wastewater treatment plant operators is essential for a company such as ours that offers advanced biological treatment processes and can investigate and identify problems in existing plants. Today, we can also take advantage of new techniques such as DNA-probes. The probes are attached to specific sections of the bacterial DNA and different bacterial strains are visualized in the microscope by fluorescent markers.