Process and engineering improvements to rotating biological contactor design

Abstract

The numerous process and operational advantages of using Rotating Biological Contactors to treat the flows of sewage from small communities are well documented, but more widespread adoption of the technology has been hindered by inadequate design and engineering which has led to excessive mechanical failures. The mechanical problems have tended to be interrelated with process requirements and both required addressing before a robust design able to achieve the required performance and 20 year asset life was achieved. The performance of plants with an improved rotor design (marketed as Bistar) is compared with plants with rotors by other manufacturers and found to be comparable. M+E costs have not been shown to increase as a result of more stringent specification. Other engineering problems including stormwater separation and division of small flows have also been addressed.