The Science
The Science Behind BIOLOGIC® Range of Products
BIOLOGIC® is a proprietary plant-based blend of organic micronutrients that stimulates specific aerobic, anaerobic and facultative bacteria species causing competitive inhibition of sulphur reducing bacteria. The technology reduces energy costs, lowers sludge handling and disposal costs, reduces odors and improves treatment results at wastewater treatment plants. Wastewater treatment plants where the product has been successfully applied range in type and size from high capacity municipal and industrial plants to very small, low flow package plants, as well as many holding tank and waste storage/portable toilet applications.
Fats, Oils and Greases
The product stimulates bacterial species that are responsible for hydrolysis of fats oils and greases (FOG) and other biosolids present in wastewater. As a result, biosolids are hydrolyzed more completely and at a faster rate in treatment plants where the product is used. Hydrolysis is the rate limiting step for the biological removal of solids at many wastewater treatment plants; therefore, the addition of BIOLOGIC® improves overall biological treatment performance at wastewater treatment plants. The evidence that BIOLOGIC® stimulates hydrolysis of solids is seen by the disappearance of accumulated FOG throughout plants where the product has been used and by significant reduction in odors and sludge thickness in holding ponds and lagoons over time. Removal rates approaching 80% of accumulated biosolids and improved effluent clarity has also been observed when the product has been added to anoxic lagoons/holding ponds
Sludge Elimination
BIOLOGIC® also improves the activated sludge process. The inner portion of a microbial floc in an aeration tank becomes a localized anoxic/anaerobic environment because the oxygen is stripped from the wastewater by the outer aerobic zones of the floc. Under typical conditions, the bacteria in the inner regions of the floc do not efficiently contribute to breakdown of the wastewater. BIOLOGIC® stimulates the facultative and anaerobic bacterial populations that are in the inner portions of the flocs such that they much more actively feed on the acetic acid in the wastewater. As a result, a higher percentage of the organic load is consumed by the facultative anaerobes and a lower percentage by the aerobes. This has the effect of significantly reducing the oxygen demand of the aerobic bacteria. It also significantly reduces the biomass that is generated in the plant because the facultative bacteria are able to convert a much larger portion of it to carbon dioxide and other gases instead of the aerobic bacteria converting it to biomass.
Odor Control
BIOLOGIC® removes odors in anaerobic sections of wastewater treatment plants. The prevention of the generation and accumulation of these malodourous gases reduces the inhibitory effect of these gases on the biological environment. Studies on the active ingredients in BIOLOGIC® have shown that they create conditions that allow methane producing bacteria to outcompete hydrogen sulfide producers for the available carbon. In addition, the ingredients in the product have been shown to block the activity of the enzyme urease, which is a necessary component of the ammonia conversion process. The blockage of the urease enzyme prevents urea in the waste from being converted to volatile ammonia. This effect has been observed when the product has been added to hog farm waste, resulting in a 75% decrease in volatile ammonia in animal environment in barns. In addition, this process causes the urea to remain in the biosolids which enhances the fertilizer value of the remaining biosolids.
Extensive Testing
BIOLOGIC® has been tested extensively by leading toxicity laboratories (Tox Monitor/BSR, Inc., Illinois) and found to be not toxic for dermal, oral, or inhalation pathways. BIOLOGIC® is certified within the EcoLogo program, North America’s largest, most respected environmental standard and certification mark, indicating that BIOLOGIC® products meet the stringent standards of environmental leadership and are recognized as environmentally safe and ecologically friendly.