A new decentralised settling system based on the principle of lamella separation was developed for the treatment of road runoff. Two different laboratory test methods, the DIBt (Deutsches Institut für Bautechnik) procedure and our own approach, were applied in order to evaluate the efficiency of the system based on the separation of fine mineral particles and a mixture of mineral and organic particles, respectively. Overall efficiencies (88% after DIBt and 61% according to our own method) were comparable to results obtained for commercial systems. The lamella system was then applied in the field for 1 year to treat runoff from a road area of 420 m. The amount of solids separated that was calculated from a mass balance (10.1 kg) was consistent with the amount of sediments measured (8.6 kg). However, the average separation efficiency was only 30% in the field study. This is related to the size and composition of the particles in runoff, which are not represented well by the material used for the test procedures. It is concluded that the test methods should be improved, and that more field studies are needed in order to obtain a better understanding of the settling behaviour of particles in road runoff.

This experimental study investigates the anaerobic digestion of waste water from hydrothermal carbonisation of fine mulch (wood chips) in combination with a co-substrate for the first time. Two anaerobic reactors, an anaerobic filter (AF) and an anaerobic moving bed bioreactor (AnMBBR), were operated over a period of 131 days at mesophilic conditions. The organic loading rate was increased to a maximum of 8.5 g L d in the AF and the AnMBBR. Both reactors achieved similarly efficient chemical oxygen demand removal rates of 80% approximately (approx.) and high methane production rates of approx. 2.7 L L d. Nevertheless, signs of an inhibition were observed during the experiments.

Granular-activated carbon (GAC) adsorption of biologically pre-treated process waters from hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of different materials was investigated. Overall, isotherms showed that most of the dissolved organic substances are strongly adsorbable while the non-adsorbable fractions are small. The equilibrium data were modelled by using five fictive components to represent the organic matter. Mean film transfer coefficients and mean intraparticle diffusivities were derived from short-column and batch kinetic test data, respectively. Breakthrough curves in GAC columns could be predicted satisfactorily by applying the film-homogeneous diffusion model and using the equilibrium and kinetic parameters determined from batch tests. Thus, the approach is suited to model GAC adsorption of HTC process water under technical-scale conditions.

fractionation, it is an important constituent of the category of modification processes available to the practitioner. Whereas in the case of dry fractionation much of the technology has been developed by the plant supplier the user of solvent fractionation must in most cases undertake his own process and plant design, providing considerable scope for design innovation and skill. L i t e r a t u r e 'R. E. T i m m , The Palm Oil Product Technologies in the Eighties, *R. E. T i m m , Prog. Li id Res.23,l [ 19841.