Attached Growth Reactors for Ammonia Polishing in Wastewater Lagoons

Abstract

Lagoon systems in colder climates, like other suspended growth systems, have demonstrated difficulty in meeting effluent ammonia limits. Many attached growth systems have been developed to address treatment deficiencies and improve performance of suspended growth systems. One such system, the LEMNA Polishing Reactor (LPR), was developed by LEMNA Environmental Technologies. The LEMNA Polishing Reactor is a submerged attached growth reactor designed to address ammonia removal deficiencies of lagoon systems in colder months. This study contains three parts: a literature review of several attached growth nitrification technologies, a pilot-scale performance evaluation of the LEMNA polishing reactor at a facility in central Iowa, and computer modeling in conjunction with the pilot study using Biowin 6.2.