Mixed liquor suspended solids

Mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) is the concen-
tration of suspended solids, in an aeration tank during the
activated sludge process, which occurs during the treat-
ment of waste water. The units MLSS is primarily mea-
sured in are milligram per litre (mg/L), but for activated
sludge its mostly measured in gram per liter [g/l] which
is equal to kilogram per m3 [kg/m3]. Mixed liquor is
a combination of raw or unsettled wastewater or pre-
settled wastewater and activated sludge within an aeration
tank. MLSS consists mostly of microorganisms and non-
biodegradable suspended matter. MLSS is an important
part of the activated sludge process to ensure that there
is a sucient quantity of active biomass available to con-
sume the applied quantity of organic pollutant at any time.
This is known as the food to microorganism ratio, more
commonly notated as the F/M ratio. By maintaining this
ratio at the appropriate level the biomass will consume
high percentages of the food. This minimizes the loss
of residual food in the treated euent. In simple terms,
the more the biomass consumes the lower the biochem-
ical oxygen demand (BOD) will be in the discharge. It
is important that MLSS removes COD and BOD in order
to purify water for clean surface waters, and subsequently
clean drinking water and hygiene. Raw sewage enters in
the water treatment process with a concentration of some-
times several hundred mg/L of BOD. Upon being treated
with MLSS and other methods of treatment, the concen-
tration of BOD in water is lowered to less than 2 mg/L,
which is considered to be clean, safe to discharge to sur-
face waters or to reuse water.
MLSS is separated from the treated or puried water by
The total weight of MLSS within an aeration tank can settling in a settling tank in the activated sludge process.
be calculated by multiplying the concentration of MLSS The excess sludge has to be removed from the system.
(kg/m3) in the aeration tank by the tank volume (m3).
Environmental engineering focuses on the particles sus-
pended in water and the suitable operation of water treat-
ment plants. Therefore, it is important to measure the
total mass of suspended solids, which is the MLSS, as
well as the mass of organic matter suspended in the ac-
tivated sludge unit. These measurements allow engineers
to adjust the ow rate of return sludge from the secondary
clarier into the secondary treatment reactor. This en-
sures that inuent organic matter will be treated with a
correct concentration of microorganisms.
2 Mixed liquor volatile suspended
solids
The portion of the MLSS that is actually eating the in-
coming food is referred to as the Mixed Liquor Volatile
Suspended Solids (MLVSS). The volatile solids concen-
tration in a sample of mixed liquor will consist mostly
of microorganisms and organic matter. As a result, the
volatile solids concentration of mixed liquor is approxi-
mately equal to the amount of microorganisms in the wa-
ter and can be used to determine whether there are enough
microorganisms present to purify the water.
3 Separation and Removal process

4 Eects in water treatment

1 Overview
MLSS is responsible for removing the biochemical oxy-
gen demand make-up of a large portion of the solids that
are retained in the activated sludge process within the
water treatment process. They are the active part of
activated sludge process. Mixed liquor suspended solids
are the solids under aeration. MLSS is measured by lter-
ing a known volume of the mixed liquor sample, which
is the same way that suspended solids are measured in
wastewater. Some of the MLSS may be inorganic mate-
rial. Sometimes this may represent a large percentage of
the solids present in the wastewater.
4.1 If content is too high
The process is prone to bulking of solids and the
treatment system can become overloaded.
This can cause the dissolved oxygen content to drop;
this may reduce the eciency of nitrication and the
settleability of the sludge.
Excessive aeration will be required which wastes
electricity.
it will create thick foam on upper layer.

1
2 7 REFERENCES

4.2 If content is too low the Excess amount is very low in comparison to the re-
turn amount, and for that reason many times the Excess
The process may not remove sucient organic mat- amount is neglected. In that case the formula will be :
ter from the wastewater. (Q+Q)(X') = (QX')

The sludge age may be too low to enable

nitrication.
6 Performance
The typical control band for the concentration of MLSS
in wastewater is 2 to 4 g/L for conventional activated Materials: Obtain a sample of mixed liquor. Transfer
sludge, or up to 15 g/l for membrane bioreactors. the sample into a laboratory in order to analyze it. Mea-
sure the volume weight of the sample. Remove two lter
One of the easiest control procedures for activated sludge papers from a desiccator and record the weight of each.
systems is the Constant Mixed Liquor Suspended Solids Place the lter holder on a vacuum ask and then place
method. In this method, the operator selects a certain another lter on top of the lter holder by using a pair of
MLSS concentration or range of mix liquor concentra- tweezers. Stir the sample of mixed liquor in order to get a
tions that produces the best euent and the highest re- good mixture for the experiment. After sample is mixed,
moval eciencies. This specic value or range must be pour 5 mL into a graduated cylinder. Turn on the vacuum
calculated depending on COD or BOD load [kg/day]. pump and pour the sample into the lter holder. After all
When the operator nds the optimum MLSS concentra- the mixed liquor has gone through, run three portions of
tion for each plant, he attempts to maintain this value by 10 mL distilled water through the lter holder to rinse
adjusting the sludge wasting or sludge excess rate. One any particles that may have stuck to the glass. Allow the
rule of thumb for activated sludge systems is that for ev- vacuum pump to run an additional three minutes. This
ery pound of BOD removed in the secondary system a will help remove any extra water from the lter before
half a pound of new solids is generated through repro- drying. Switch the vacuum pump o and remove the l-
duction of the organisms and addition of new organisms ter from the lter holder and place in the corresponding
from the inuent wastes. So, the operator tries to waste weighing dish. Repeat above process for as many trials
the proper amount of solids to keep his selected optimum as needed. Place the lter(s) into a drying oven, which is
mix liquor concentration constant. If the MLSS concen- set to 103105 C, for one hour. Upon drying, replace
tration is above the desired concentration, the wasting of lters into a desiccator for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes
the excess solids will have to be started or increased. If in the desiccator, the lters are to be weighed.
the MLSS concentration is below the desired concentra-
tion level, wasting should be decreased or stopped.
6.1 Calculations

5 Calculations MLSS (g/L) = [(A - B)][Volume of sample in Liters]

MLSS (g/L) = SV [ml/l]/SVI [ml/g]
Where:
SVI = sludge volume index (mL/g)
SV = Volume of settled solids per 1 litre after 30 minutes
In fact SVI is a calculation from two analyses : SV30 and
MLSS.
0=(Q+Q)(X')-(QX'+Q X')
Where:
Q = wastewater ow rate (m3 /d)
Q = return sludge ow rate (m3 /d)
X' = MLSS (kg/m3 )
X' = return sludge concentration (kg/m3 )
Q = sludge wasting ow rate (m3 /d)
This Equilibrium formula for settling tanks is mostly cal-
culated for the initial ows in m3/h. This formula de-
scribes that the incoming amount of MLSS in a set-
tler should be equivalent to the outcoming amount of
MLSS via the return sludge ow. In normal conditions
Where:
A is the sample and lter weight in gram
B is the weight of the lter in gram
7 References
Davis, Mackenzie Leo, and David A. Corn-
well. Introduction to Environmental Engineer-
ing. Dubuque, IA: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008.
Print.
Gray, N. F. Biology of Wastewater Treatment. Lon-
don: Imperial College, 2004. Print.
Davis, Mackenzie Leo, and David A. Cornwell. In-
troduction to Environmental Engineering. Boston,
MA: WCB McGraw-Hill, 1998. Print.
http://www.cee.mtu.edu/~{}nurban/classes/
CE3502/spring12/modelreports/MLSSreport.pdf
 3

http://ragsdaleassociates.com/
WastewaterSystemOperatorsManual/Chapter%
208%20-%20Activated%20Sludge.pdf
4 8 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

8 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

8.1 Text
Mixed liquor suspended solids Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_liquor_suspended_solids?oldid=778866980 Contributors:
Graeme Bartlett, Discospinster, Wavelength, FrescoBot, AndrewN, Snotbot, Sterlingf5890, Me, Myself, and I are Here, Tentinator, Johan
Raap and Anonymous: 21

8.2 Images

8.3 Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0