CFD MODELING OF FIXED-BED ANAEROBIC REACTORS TREATING DOMESTIC SEWAGE CONTAMINATED WITH ANTIBIOTICS

• Grant number: 24/21364-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: March 31, 2025
• End date: March 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Sanitary Engineering - Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment
• Principal Investigator: Rogers Ribeiro
• Grantee: Elias Gabriel Fernandes de Rezende
• Supervisor: Ingmar Nopens
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos (FZEA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Pirassununga , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Ghent University (UGent), Belgium
• Associated to the scholarship: 22/04367-5 - MODELING AND SIMULATION OF CONTINUOUS ANAEROBIC REACTORS FOR ANTIBIOTIC REMOVAL IN SANITARY SEWAGE, BP.DR

Abstract

The presence of antibiotics in environmental compartments represents a major risk to the environment and human health due to the spread of resistance genes. One of the ways in which antibiotics enter the environment is through the discharge of treated domestic sewage into surface waters, as sewage treatment plants are not designed to remove them. In this sense, it is essential to understand the phenomena that influence the removal of antibiotics in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a process mediated by microorganisms that offers the possibility of removing organic matter, nutrients and antibiotics from domestic sewage. It is also a process that is widely implemented in Brazilian WWTPs. The potential of AD to remove antibiotics has already been proven and the use of fixed-bed anaerobic reactors (AFBR) has stood out. This project aims to apply mathematical models to study the mechanisms of antibiotic removal in AFBRs. The research aims to integrate kinetic and hydrodynamic models using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to detail both the fluid flow and the spatial distribution of antibiotics within the reactor, allowing for the elucidation of the mechanisms responsible for the removal of these antibiotics. Using a compartmental model (CM), the aim is to simulate the local dynamics of antibiotic removal and predict effluent concentrations, overcoming the limitations of conventional models. The expected results aim to provide valuable information to improve the efficiency of wastewater treatment processes, contributing to the preservation of aquatic ecosystems and the protection of public health.