Description
The system is based on a tank filled with activated carbon and a high pressure pump with saturation pipe for air injection.
The pump pressurises the feed to the CarboClean, and air is dissolved into it.
While organic substances are adsorbed by the activated carbon, the dissolved oxygen will be used by bacteria in the filter to break down the organic material.
Since the organics will be stored in the activated carbon, the retention time will be long, giving the biomass the
opportunity to degrade it.
In the saturation pipe compressed air is injected and water and air are mixed. This air-water mixture then enters the carbon filter tank at the top and flows through the granular activated carbon layer.
Within the filter micro organisms are growing firmly attached to the filling media, this is why the filter feed pump runs continuously to provide oxygen for the bacteria.
The working of the CarboClean is based on two principles:
- Chemical adsorption on the carbon. The waste water, without any coarse or fine suspended solids, enters the top of the activated carbon layer. The organic substance, including the organic nitrogen bound to it, present in the wastewater is chemically adsorbed to the activated carbon.
- Biological degradation by bacteria. Pollutant present in the wastewater attaches to the active carbon, on which bacteria grow. Because of the aerobic circumstances in the filter these bacteria will break down the organic pollution into carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O).
To prevent fouling of the system the CarboClean needs periodic backwashing.
- The backwash procedure is fully automatic, on preset times.
- Additional to that pressure sensors measure the pressure difference in the filter, and when the difference is too high an extra backwashing procedure is started.