Nevertheless, it is very useful to have approximate procedures with which to

estimate the required sizes of the various zones to use as starting points for
simulations or to use with experience to initiate a design. The procedures and
equations presented herein are provided for the purpose. The design process is
organized in exactly the same way as activated sludge design, with all of the same
constraints and limitations, such as on mixing energy input, oxygen transfer rates,
MLSS concentrations, etc. Therefore, to save space and to allow the reader to focus
on the unique aspects of BNR process design, that material will not be repeated
here. This makes it is imperative for the reader to be thoroughly familiar with the
material in chapters 9 and 10 before proceeding. To provide continuity, the
examples in this chapter are based on the same wastewater characteristics and
parameter values used for the examples in chapter 10. The wastewater
characteristic are presented in table E8.4, the kenitic and stoichiometric parameters
are presented in table E10.1. In addition to the parameter values given in table
E8.5, for the design of denitrification facilities, information is neede about the
values of the anoxic growth and hydrolysis coefficients, (simbol dan simbol), which
were introduced in section 6.1.2 and table 6.3. Those values can be readily obtained
during treatability studies by using the procedures presented in section 8.5.3. For
the examples in this chapter, (simbol) is assumed to have a value of 0.8 and
(simbol) is assumed to have a value of 0.4, the default values in ASM No. 1.
The section is organized according to objectives of the BNR process. First we
consider processes for the removal of nitrogen, then those for the removal of
phosphorus, and finally those that must remove both nitrogen and phosphorus.
11.3.1 Biological Nitrogen Removal Processes
Biological nitrogen removal processes require the oxidation of ammonia-N to
nitrate-N through nitrification and the reduction of nitrate-N to nitrogen gas (N2)
through denitrification, thereby removing the nitrogen from the wastewater and
transferring it to the atmosphere in an innocuous form. Because of the critical rote
that nitrification plays in nitrogen removal processes, a key decision during design is
the selection of an aerobic SRT that will ensure reliable nitrification year-round. If
carbon oxidation and nitrification are to occur in an ordinary activated sludge
system, followed by separate stage denitrification, then the activated sludge system
SRT will be equal to aerobic SRT and design of that system proceeds exactly as
outlined in chapter 10. On the other hand, if carbon oxidation, nitrification, and
denitrification are to be accomplished in a single-sludge system, then the system
SRT will be larger than aerobic SRT, with the difference being determined by the
number of anoxic zones needed and the degree of nitrogen removal required. This
increase in system SRT will decrease the excess solids production rate. In addition,
the presence ofdenitrification in the system will decrease the oxygen requirement
and the net destruction of alkalinity. In this section, we will first review the
requirements for nitrification, and then we will examine the additional requirements
for design of an anoxic selector, an MLE system, a four stage Bardenpho system,
and a separate stage denitrification system.
Nitrification. The factors that must be considered in the selection of the
aerobic SRT required to achieve stable nitrification are covered in sections 10.2.2
and 10.3.2. For a fully aerobic system to be followes by separate stage
denitrification the process design proceeds from there exactly as outlined in section
10.3. for the other systems, the total system SRT must first be determined by
adding the required anoxic SRT to the aerobic SRT, and then adjustments must be
made for denitrification, etc. In this section, we considere design of a fully aerobic
system.
Because nitrification, which destroys alkalinity, is required in all nitrogen
removal systems and the activity of nitrifying bacteria is sensitive to pH,
consideration must be given to the need for chemical addition for pH control. In
general, a residual alkalinity of 1 mM (50 mg/L as CaCO3) will result in an adequate
pH value. Thus the need for chemical addition will depend on the influent alkalinity
and the amount of ammonia-N oxidixed. As shown in eq. 3.30, 6.71 g HCO3 are
removed for each g of NH3 removed. This corresponds to 7.07 g of alkalinity
(expressed as CaCO3) per g of ammonia-N removed by nitrifying bacteria. Because
some of the ammonia-N removed is incorporated into the nitrifying biomass (eq.
3.30), only 0.98 g nitrate-N is formed for each g of ammonia-N removed.
Consequently, the amount of alkalinty destroyed corresponds to 7.23 g of alkalinity
(as CaCO3) per g nitrate-N formed. This latter value is sometimes useful when
determining the alkalinity destruction in a system perfroming both carbon oxidation
and nitrificatin because ammonia-N is also removed for incorporation into
heterotrophic biomass, making it simpler to determine the alkalinity requirement
from the amount of nitrate-N formed. The concentration of nitrate-N formed, S is
determined by the difference between the concentration of nitrogen available to the
nitrifiers, S as given by eq. 10.17, and the effluent soluble nitrogen concentration:
S= 0.98 (S, -S, -S) (11.5)
Where the factor 0.98 is the mass of nitrate-N formed per mass of ammonia-N
oxidized, as discussed above. The effluent ammonia-N concentration, S can be
calculated with eq. 10.18 for a CMAS system, but will generally be lower for other
systems, as discussed in section 10.3.2 and illustrated in figure 10.17. if the
bioreactor has plug-flow characteristics, S will often be negligible. The effluent
soluble biodegradable organic nitrogen concentration must either be measured
directly or estimated by assuming that the ratio of soluble biodegradable organic
nitrogen to soluble biodegradable organic matter in the effluent is the same as the
ratio in the influent. For domestic wastewater, this value is often assumed to be
negligible. It should be noted that the concentration of nitrogen available to the
nitrifiers. S will change with temperature because the heterotrophic nitrogen
requirement, as given by eq. 5.36, changes with temperature because of its
influence on the decay coefficient, b. Consequently, the valueof S, will be slightly
larger in summer, making the effluent nitrate-N concentration, the amount of
alkalinity destroyed, and the amount of oxygen required slightly higher then.
If a nitrifying system is to be configured as a