MethodsofAeration

Applications
Limitations
Aerationisaunitprocessinwhichairandwaterarebroughtintointimatecontact.Turbulenceincreases
theaerationofflowingstreams(Figure41).Inindustrialprocesses,waterflowisusuallydirected
countercurrenttoatmosphericorforceddraftairflow.Thecontacttimeandtheratioofairtowatermustbe
sufficientforeffectiveremovaloftheunwantedgas.
Aerationasawatertreatmentpracticeisusedforthefollowingoperations:
carbondioxidereduction(decarbonation)
oxidationofironandmanganesefoundinmanywellwaters(oxidationtower)
ammoniaandhydrogensulfidereduction(stripping)
Aerationisalsoaneffectivemethodofbacteriacontrol. METHODSOFAERATION
Twogeneralmethodsmaybeusedfortheaerationofwater.Themostcommoninindustrialuseisthe
waterfallaerator.Throughtheuseofspraynozzles,thewaterisbrokenupintosmalldropletsorathinfilm
toenhancecountercurrentaircontact.
Intheairdiffusionmethodofaeration,airisdiffusedintoareceivingvesselcontainingcountercurrent
flowingwater,creatingverysmallairbubbles.Thisensuresgoodairwatercontactfor"scrubbing"of
undesirablegasesfromthewater.
WaterFallAerators

Manyvariationsofthewaterfallprincipleareusedforthistypeofaeration.Thesimplestconfiguration
employsaverticalriserthatdischargeswaterbyfreefallintoabasin(Figure42).Theriserusually
operatesontheavailableheadofwater.Theefficiencyofaerationisimprovedasthefalldistanceis
increased.Also,stepsorshelvesmaybeaddedtobreakupthefallandspreadthewaterintothinsheets
orfilms,whichincreasescontacttimeandaerationefficiency.
Coketrayandwoodorplasticslatwaterfallaeratorsarerelativelysimilarindesignandhavethe
advantageofsmallspacerequirements.
Coketrayaeratorsarewidelyusedinironandmanganeseoxidationbecauseacatalyticeffectissecured
bycontactoftheiron/manganesebearingwaterwithfreshprecipitates.Theseunitsconsistofaseriesof
cokefilledtraysthroughwhichthewaterpercolates,withadditionalaerationobtainedduringthefreefall
fromonetraytothenext.
Woodorplasticslattrayaeratorsaresimilartosmallatmosphericcoolingtowers.Thetrayslatsare
staggeredtobreakupthefreefallofthewaterandcreatethinfilmsbeforethewaterfinallydropsintothe
basin.
Forceddraftwaterfallaerators(seeFigure43)areusedformanyindustrialwaterconditioningpurposes.
Horizontalwoodorplasticslattrays,ortowersfilledwithpackingofvariousshapesandmaterials,are
designedtomaximizedisruptionofthefallingwaterintosmallstreamsforgreaterairwatercontact.Airis
forcedthroughtheunitbyablowerwhichproducesuniformairdistributionacrosstheentirecrosssection,
crosscurrentorcountercurrenttothefallofthewater.Becauseofthesefeatures,forceddraftaeratorsare
moreefficientforgasremovalandrequirelessspaceforagivencapacity.
AirDiffusionAerators
Airdiffusionsystemsaeratebypumpingairintowaterthroughperforatedpipes,strainers,porousplates,or
tubes.Aerationbydiffusionistheoreticallysuperiortowaterfallaerationbecauseafinebubbleofairrising
throughwateriscontinuallyexposedtofreshliquidsurfaces,providingmaximumwatersurfaceperunit
volumeofair.Also,thevelocityofbubblesascendingthroughthewaterismuchlowerthanthevelocityof
freefallingdropsofwater,providingalongercontacttime.Greatestefficiencyisachievedwhenwaterflow
iscountercurrenttotherisingairbubbles.
APPLICATIONS

Inindustrialwaterconditioning,oneofthemajorobjectivesofaerationistoremovecarbondioxide.
Aerationisalsousedtooxidizesolubleironandmanganese(foundinmanywellwaters)toinsoluble
precipitates.Aerationisoftenusedtoreducethecarbondioxideliberatedbyatreatmentprocess.For
example,acidmaybefedtotheeffluentofsodiumzeolitesoftenersforboileralkalinitycontrol.Carbon
dioxideisproducedasaresultoftheacidtreatment,andaerationisemployedtoridthewaterofthis
corrosivegas.Similarly,whentheeffluentsofhydrogenandsodiumzeoliteunitsareblended,thecarbon
dioxideformedisremovedbyaeration.
Inthecaseofcoldlimesoftening,carbondioxidemayberemovedfromthewaterbeforethewaterenters
theequipment.Whencarbondioxideremovalistheonlyobjective,economicsusuallyfavorremovalof
highconcentrationsofcarbondioxidebyaerationratherthanbychemicalprecipitationwithlime.
Airstrippingmaybeusedtoreduceconcentrationsofvolatileorganics,suchaschloroform,aswellas
dissolvedgases,suchashydrogensulfideandammonia.Airpollutionstandardsmustbeconsidered
whenairstrippingisusedtoreducevolatileorganiccompounds.
IronandManganeseRemoval
Ironandmanganeseinwellwatersoccurassolubleferrousandmanganousbicarbonates.Intheaeration
process,thewaterissaturatedwithoxygentopromotethefollowingreactions:
4Fe(HCO3 )2

ferrousbicarbonate

2Mn(HCO3 )2
manganese

O2

oxygen

O2
oxygen

bicarbonate

2H2 O

water

2MnO2

4Fe(OH)3
ferric
hydroxide

4CO2

manganese

carbon

dioxide

dioxide

8CO2
carbon
dioxide

2H2 O
water

Theoxidationproducts,ferrichydroxideandmanganesedioxide,areinsoluble.Afteraeration,theyare
removedbyclarificationorfiltration.
Occasionally,strongchemicaloxidantssuchaschlorine(Cl2)orpotassiumpermanganate(KMnO4)may
beusedfollowingaerationtoensurecompleteoxidation.
DissolvedGasReduction

Gasesdissolvedinwaterfollowtheprinciplethatthesolubilityofagasinaliquid(water)isdirectly
proportionaltothepartialpressureofthegasabovetheliquidatequilibrium.ThisisknownasHenry'sLaw
andmaybeexpressedasfollows:
Ctotal=kP where Ctotal=totalconcentrationofthegasinsolution
P=partialpressureofthegasabovethesolution
k=aproportionalityconstantknownasHenry'sLawConstant
However,thegasesfrequentlyencounteredinwatertreatment(withtheexceptionofoxygen)donot
behaveinaccordancewithHenry'sLawbecausetheyionizewhendissolvedinwater.Forexample:
H2 O

CO2

water

H2 S

hydrogen

H+

carbon

hydrogen

dioxide

ion
+

H +
hydrogenion

HCO3
bicarbonateion

HS
hydrosulfideion

sulfide
H2 O
water

NH3
ammonia

NH4 +
ammonium
ion

OH
hydroxide
ion

Carbondioxide,hydrogensulfide,andammoniaaresolubleinwaterundercertainconditionstotheextent
of1,700,3,900,and531,000ppm,respectively.Rarelyaretheseconcentrationsencounteredexceptin
certainprocesscondensates.Inanormalatmosphere,thepartialpressureofeachofthesegasesis
practicallyzero.Consequently,theestablishmentofastateofequilibriumbetweenwaterandairbymeans
ofaerationresultsinsaturationofthewaterwithnitrogenandoxygenandnearlycompleteremovalofother
gases.

Astheequationsaboveshow,ionizationofthegasesinwaterisareversiblereaction.Thecommonion
effectmaybeusedtoobtainalmostcompleteremovalofthesegasesbyaeration.Iftheconcentrationof
oneoftheionsontherightsideoftheequationisincreased,thereactionisdriventotheleft,formingthe
gas.Inthecaseofcarbondioxideandhydrogensulfide,hydrogenionconcentrationmaybeincreasedby
theadditionofanacid.Bicarbonateandcarbonateionsinthewaterwillformcarbondioxide,whichcanbe
removedbyaeration.
Inasimilarmanner,anincreaseinhydroxylionconcentrationthroughtheadditionofcausticsodaaidsin
theremovalofammonia.
Figures44,45,and46showthepercentageofgasremovalthatmaybeobtainedatvariouspHlevels.
Gasremovalbyaerationisachievedasthelevelofgasinthewaterapproachesequilibriumwiththelevel
ofthegasinthesurroundingatmosphere.Theprocessisimprovedbyanincreaseintemperature,aeration
time,thevolumeofairincontactwiththewater,andthesurfaceareaofwaterexposedtotheair.As
previouslyindicated,pHisanimportantconsideration.Theefficiencyofaerationisgreaterwherethe
concentrationofthegastoberemovedishighinthewaterandlowintheatmosphere.
LIMITATIONS
Temperaturesignificantlyaffectstheefficiencyofairstrippingprocesses.Therefore,theseprocessesmay
notbesuitableforuseincolderclimates.Theoretically,at68Fthecarbondioxidecontentofthewatercan
bereducedto0.5ppmbyaerationtoequilibriumconditions.Thisisnotalwayspracticalfromaneconomic
standpoint,andreductionofcarbondioxideto10ppmisnormallyconsideredsatisfactory.
AlthoughremovaloffreecarbondioxideincreasesthepHofthewaterandrendersitlesscorrosivefrom
thisstandpoint,aerationalsoresultsinthesaturationofwaterwithdissolvedoxygen.Thisdoesnot
generallypresentaproblemwhenoriginaloxygencontentisalreadyhigh.However,inthecaseofawell
watersupplythatishighincarbondioxidebutdevoidofoxygen,aerationsimplyexchangesonecorrosive
gasforanother.
Theefficiencyofaerationincreasesastheinitialconcentrationofthegastoberemovedincreasesabove
itsequilibriumvalue.Therefore,withwaterscontainingonlyasmallamountofcarbondioxide,
neutralizationbyalkaliadditionisusuallymorecosteffective.
ThecompleteremovalofhydrogensulfidemustbecombinedwithpHreductionorchemicaloxidation.
Nonvolatileorganiccompoundscannotberemovedbyairstripping.Forexample,phenolsandcreosols
areunaffectedbytheaerationprocessalone.
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