{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,6]],"date-time":"2026-05-06T22:03:30Z","timestamp":1778105010793,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":56,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,25]],"date-time":"2022-02-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1645747200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sustainability"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Dairy industry wastewater is rich in organic content, presenting a high biodegradability, and therefore biological treatments are widely employed. This study aimed to evaluate biosolids production in three systems: activated sludge (AS), movingbed biofilm reactor (MBBR), and sequencingbatch movingbed biofilm reactor (SBMBBR). Simulated dairy wastewater was used at different organic load rates (OLRs): 1.22, 2.87, and 5.44 gCOD L\u22121d\u22121. Besides biosolids production, COD, total carbon (TC), and total nitrogen (TN) removal efficiency was evaluated. Biosolids production was measured in the mixed liquor, carrier-adhered biomass, treated wastewater, and surplus sludge. The operational conditions were kept similar for the three systems, with a carrier filling ratio of 50% for MBBR and SBMBBR. The SBMBBR proved to have better performance in the removal efficiencies of COD, TC, and TN for all OLRs studied. The MBBR presented a similar COD and TC removal efficiency as the SBBR for the two highest OLRs (2.87 and 5.44 gCOD L\u22121d\u22121). Concerning biosolids production, the MBBR system produced less biomass and delivered the lowest amount of adhered biomass inside the carriers. The AS treatment generated the highest amount of sludge and offered the worst treatment capability for all OLRs evaluated.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/su14052702","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,27]],"date-time":"2022-02-27T20:48:33Z","timestamp":1645994913000},"page":"2702","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":23,"title":["A Comparison of Biosolids Production and System Efficiency between Activated Sludge, Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor, and Sequencing Batch Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor in the Dairy Wastewater Treatment"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Rui","family":"Boavida-Dias","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Coimbra, Rua S\u00edlvio Lima, 3030-790 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"Low Carbon & Resource Efficiency, R&Di, Instituto de Soldadura e Qualidade, 4415-491 Grij\u00f3, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Jo\u00e3o R.","family":"Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Polytechnic of Coimbra, Rua Pedro Nunes, 3030-199 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2623-1694","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andreia D.","family":"Santos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Polytechnic of Coimbra, Rua Pedro Nunes, 3030-199 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"CIEPQPF\u2014Chemical Engineering Processes and Forest Products Research Center, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Coimbra, 3030-790 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1376-0829","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rui C.","family":"Martins","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Coimbra, Rua S\u00edlvio Lima, 3030-790 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"CIEPQPF\u2014Chemical Engineering Processes and Forest Products Research Center, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Coimbra, 3030-790 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9086-7676","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luis M.","family":"Castro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Polytechnic of Coimbra, Rua Pedro Nunes, 3030-199 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"CIEPQPF\u2014Chemical Engineering Processes and Forest Products Research Center, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Coimbra, 3030-790 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"SiSus\u2014Sustainable Industrial Systems Laboratory, Institute of Applied Research (i2A), Polytechnic of Coimbra, Rua Pedro Nunes, 3030-199 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Rosa M.","family":"Quinta-Ferreira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Coimbra, Rua S\u00edlvio Lima, 3030-790 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"CIEPQPF\u2014Chemical Engineering Processes and Forest Products Research Center, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Coimbra, 3030-790 Coimbra, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development (2021). 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