What is Aerobic Digestion?

Aerobic digestion is a natural process that plays a critical role in wastewater treatment, particularly in reducing organic waste and sludge. In this process, oxygen is introduced into wastewater, fostering an environment where aerobic bacteria thrive. These bacteria break down organic matter, converting it into simpler substances like carbon dioxide, water, and biomass. The result is a significant reduction in sludge volume and a cleaner effluent.

Here’s a summary of what we’ll cover in this article:

Why would I choose aerobic digestion?
How it saves clients money and time
The 6 stages of aerobic digestion
Examples of how this worked for clients.

Why choose Aerobic Digestion?

Aerobic digestion is an environmentally friendly and effective method for wastewater treatment. By significantly reducing sludge volume and producing a more stable byproduct, this process helps facilities meet environmental regulations while minimizing their impact on the ecosystem.

Key benefits

Use 90% less water 30% fewer chemicals, and get a 98% or more BOD reduction.

Efficient Waste Reduction: Significantly reduces the volume of organic waste.
Odor Control: Produces fewer odors compared to anaerobic processes.
Sustainability: Stabilized sludge can be safely disposed of or repurposed.
Low Maintenance: With remote monitoring and higher efficiency, it requires far less maintenance.

1

Lift Station + Wedgewire Screen

First, we install a circular lift station to move your wastewater to the first stage of treatment. These lift stations are self-cleaning and fully automated and can handle high-temperature wastewater. We build our own stainless-steel wedge wire waterfall screens, with self-cleaning spray bars. These spray bars use 90% less water than rotary drum screens. These screens can separate material as small as .5 millimeters.

2

pH Balancing System

Once screened, the water flows into a pH balancing system built by ClearBlu. This automatic system senses the initial pH level and checks that against the system’s set parameters. With rapid mixing utilizing stainless steel eductor technology, these pH systems use 30% less chemicals than normal pH adjusting systems.

3

Solids Screw Press

The next stage is utilizing a screw press. This optional piece of equipment is ideal for the removal of 95% of fine solids and can remove up to 20% of BOD.

4

High Strength Bacteria

Then, to accelerate the treatment process, the automatic dosing system adds high-strength bacteria. Bacteria targeted at your specific waste stream greatly accelerate the digestion process and will accommodate changes in flow and strength.

5

Biodigestion + Nanobubble Aeration

The next stage is our unique, continuous flow Updraft Aerobic Digestion, utilizing Nanobubble technology. Wastewater is circulated through a dense media pack, with a volume multiplying mixing system. This is the ClearBlu Updraft Biodigester system. The bacteria are 60% more efficient because they have thousands of square feet of “fixed film” surface with this molded polypropylene honeycomb media.

Nanobubbles, which are not buoyant, are injected through the mixing system. These Nanobubbles provide an exponentially larger surface area per cubic foot of air than conventional fine or coarse bubbles by injecting over a billion bubbles per milliliter. The continuous flow creates a completely aerobic environment, as well as complete digestion.

6

Ultrasonic Flow Detection

ClearBlu’s flume and ultrasonic flow detection monitor and control the final stage flow, and telemetry systems can be used for remote monitoring. This energy-efficient process will help you attain a 98 percent or more reduction in BOD. And that’s not all, some other great advantages of our aerobic digestion treatment include no odor, low maintenance, and reduced capital costs.

Case Studies

Still unsure? We’ve done it before, many times across many industries.

Daou Vineyard & Wineries

We assisted by providing a package treatment system including lift stations, solids screening, pH balancing, and aerobic digestion.

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Worthy Brewing Company

We implemented a pre-treatment system, which includes solids screening, settling, and automatic pH balancing.