ANAEROBIC WASTE-WATER TREATMENT WITH INTEGRATED NITRIFICATION DENITRIFICATION IN THE JULICH SUGAR FACTORY

The waste water treatment plant of the Julich sugar factory was the first in the sugar industry to be designed for total two-stage, anaerobic-aerobic waste water purification. Highly charged waste water is first processed anaerobically and then treated aerobically together with the condensate with the aim of achieving complete nitrification and partial denitrification. The paper describes how the plant is integrated into the water circuits of the sugar factory and presents the operating results of recent campaigns. Under stable operating conditions, the desired degradation values were bettered at all times. Details are given of the annual start-up and close-down of the plant required by the seasonal nature of operations.