1

1.1.1 NEED

Introduction
AND

1.1 PURPOSE GROWTH

IN

FIELD

At the beginning of the 20th century, activated sludge systems were developed into an economically viable secondary treatment method. Aeration, used to transfer oxygen to the biologically active masses of organisms within these systems, has been an important part of wastewater treatment as the use of activated sludge proliferated in the eld. Signicant changes have occurred in these systems as a result of not only advances in technology but also variations in the cost of energy required to operate them. The driving force of economics in some instances has brought the technology used in older systems back to the forefront. Due to the efciency of power utilization, ne pore diffused aeration systems with full oor coverage have been rediscovered as an outstanding example of this technology. Different types of aeration systems have been employed in the eld, depending on location and specic treatment requirements. Large urban areas, where land is at a premium, have tended to use high rate systems. In contrast, areas that are more rural have used lower rate systems, generally requiring less operator involvement. The requirements for increased nutrient removal and better efuent quality have fostered the growth of systems that now incorporate not only the typical aerobic regions in aeration tanks, but the anaerobic and anoxic regions as well. Thus, numerous types of activated sludge systems have been developed to incorporate these different demands. These include deep tank aeration, high-purity oxygen, carousel or racetrack systems, anaerobic selector, and biological nutrient removal systems that attain nitrication and denitrication in different sections of the same tank. The basic principles governing the transfer of oxygen into the aerobic portion of these aeration systems are similar for all applications. The impact of aeration systems on plant capital and operating costs is one measure of the importance of this unit operation to wastewater treatment. Table 1.1 summarizes the capital and operating costs of the aeration systems as a fraction of total plant costs. These costs were obtained for a number of plants in the New York metropolitan area, as well as a plant in Seattle, Washington, and one in Darmstadt, Germany. The date of the plant capital costs is given at substantial plant completion when secondary treatment is begun. Many of the contracts are written on a multiyear basis, sometimes spanning 10 to 20 years, especially for the large New York plants being upgraded. Construction of the Red Hook plant, a new facility, was begun in 1982 and completed in 1989 with secondary treatment on line in 1988. Based on Table 1.1, the capital costs for aeration systems are typically between 15 and 25 percent of the construction costs for the total treatment plant. The exception to this statistic is the relatively low 5.57 percent aeration capital costs for

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TABLE 1.1 Impact of Aeration Systems on Activated Sludge Treatment Plant Costs
Capital Costs Design Flow, Type m3/s Aeration (MGD) System 4.4 (100) Yearly Operating Costs Total Plant % Due Total Plant to 106 $/yr % Due to 106 $ (year) Aeration (year) Aeration 20 4.43 (1998) 4.05 (1999) 7.12 (1998) 7.43 (1999) 2.49 (1998) 2.29 (1999) 7.15 (2000) 20.125.5* 20.325.2*

Plant Name Coney Island

Location Brooklyn, NY

Reference (Conklin, 2001)

Diffused, 650 ne pore (1990)

North River

Manhattan, NY

7.5 (170)

Diffused, 968 ne pore (1986)

5.57

15.7 16.8

Red Hook

Brooklyn, NY

2.6 (60)

Diffused

232 (1988)

16.8

25 24

Owls Head West Point

Brooklyn, NY Seattle, WA

5.3 (120) 5.8 (133)

Diffused

MCUA

Sayreville, NJ

6.5 (147)

High purity O2 surface 4 stage HPO 95.5 turbine (1974) surface +8.9 (1995) Diffused, 95 ne tubes (1995) with propellers racetrack

380 (1995) 229 (1995)

27 19.3

17

19.3 16.4 (1997) 100 15.2 Upgrade (1999)

Darmstadt Central

Germany

0.46 (10)

15

3.4 (1997)

19.5 before 13 after upgrade 11.4

(Conklin, 2001; Leonforte, 1998) (Conklin, 2001; Leonforte, 1998) (Clarke, 2001) (Hildreth, 1999; Hildreth, et al. 1997) (Schirtzer, 2000)

(Poepel, 2001; Wacker, 1998)

* Including air scrubbers.

the North River plant in New York City. This plant, located in upper Manhattan, has two additional major construction costs associated with it. One is construction of the plant on piles over the Hudson River, and the other is the park constructed on top of the plant for use by local residents. The costs of the Coney Island and Owls Head plants include a complete plant upgrade, during which the facility maintained operations. This scenario is typically more costly than new plant construction. Due to the proximity of the local population, as in many New York plants, the Coney Island costs include covered tanks for all but the secondary clariers and a scrubber system to capture and treat air emissions before discharge.

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FIGURE 1.1 Original submerged turbine system for MCUA plant showing aeration tank turbine drives (A), gear reducer (B), high purity oxygen delivery piping (C) and compressor room (D). (Photos courtesy of Middlesex County Utilities Authority, Sayreville, New Jersey.)

Operation costs for aeration in treatment plants typically account for 15 to 25 percent of the total plant operational costs including labor and chemical use. The energy consumed at the Coney Island plant by the blowers is 40 percent of the total energy, the remainder due to the numerous pumping systems and air scrubbers at the plant. For the high purity oxygen system in the Middlesex County Utility Authority (MCUA) plant in New Jersey, operational costs for aeration were reduced signicantly from 19.5 percent of total costs to 13 percent after upgrading from turbine to surface aeration. A signicant reduction in power demand occurred with the elimination of the large recirculating compressors and the cryogenic oxygen generation facility. A pipeline oxygen source was economically feasible and allowed simpler operation and maintenance with lower labor requirements for the treatment plant. Total operational costs for this facility are high due to the signicant costs for sludge disposal after cessation of ocean dumping. Figures 1.1 and 1.2* illustrate the

* Figures 1.1 and 1.2 also appear in the color insert following page 84.

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FIGURE 1.1 (continued)

differences in equipment requirements of the MCUA plant before and after upgrade to surface aeration (Schirtzer, 2000). Costs due to aeration at the relatively simple racetrack system used in Darmstadt, Germany are only 11.4 percent of the operational costs. The capital and operating costs are high for such a small plant compared with the larger facilities in the U.S. This is due in part to economy of scale and to the higher degree of treatment obtained by the plant, which discharges into a small creek. The per-cubic-meter sewer charge for the contributing population is the second highest in Germany. In addition to the wastewater treatment plants, where aeration systems have been employed historically, new applications of aeration systems are being used in the natural environment. Typically, these are used to improve dissolved oxygen concentrations to desired levels in natural waters where the demand for oxygen is greater than can be supplied by natural reaeration. These applications have the same basic principles governing the transfer of oxygen as those used in plant aeration systems. In order to effectively incorporate the principles governing the design and analysis of aeration systems into this myriad of applications, an understanding of the basic principles involved in oxygen transfer is required. However, along with the principles,

2002 by CRC Press LLC

FIGURE 1.2 (A) New surface aeration system for MCUA plant showing (B) compact surface aeration drives, (C) with elimination of most overhead piping, and (D) elimination of most equipment from compressor room. (Photos courtesy of Middlesex County Utilities Authority, Sayreville, New Jersey.)

the actual practice in the different applications is desirable to provide the eld with a useful product. This book incorporates the approach of presenting the basic theory behind aeration processes and then providing specic applications to several processes and types of systems used in the eld.

1.1.2 LONG-TERM INVOLVEMENT

OF

ASCE COMMITTEE

A signicant portion of the material and work conducted for this book was developed during the authors involvement with the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) committee on Oxygen Transfer Standards. This committee, composed of numerous practitioners in the aeration eld from around the world, was started in 1976 with the initial purpose of developing a standard for the testing of aeration equipment in clean water. A number of conferences were held and reports generated not only to develop the state of the art in clean water testing but also to extend the testing techniques to process (dirty) water. With the nancial assistance of the

2002 by CRC Press LLC

FIGURE 1.2 (continued)

USEPA, the work of the committee was extended to include design applications as well as full-scale testing at various sites throughout the U.S. The many reports already developed by this committee, as well as the ongoing work to continually reevaluate and upgrade the state of the art in aeration testing, have supplied a signicant portion of the background material for this endeavor.

1.1.3 SUMMARIZE STATE

OF THE

ART

IN

ONE LOCATION

This book is intended to summarize, in one location, the state of the art in aeration principles and practice. The numerous reports available from the above committee as well as the ever-changing body of technical literature in the eld are incorporated into this work to show present practice. Diffused air systems are considered in detail due to their present predominance in the eld, with mechanical aeration systems providing the breadth of use. To minimize land area requirements in industries and metropolitan areas, experiences with deep tank aeration are presented along with their impacts on the equipment required for air supply. Design applications with both U.S. practice and European experience are included along with testing techniques to evaluate performance. For high rate systems, the oxygen transfer principles to describe high purity oxygen aeration are developed

2002 by CRC Press LLC

along with the current application. Finally, use of constructed aeration systems in natural waters is evaluated due to recent full-scale applications in rivers.

1.2 INTENDED AUDIENCE

Professionals involved in the design and analysis of aeration systems should nd this book a primary resource to understand and effectively evaluate various alternatives based on a consistent set of principles. It is also aimed at the academic profession, both students and professors, since the principles involved in aeration are fully developed to allow application to practice. Various examples applying the principles to design will be useful to both groups.

1.3 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Clarke, K. (2001). Treatment Plant Costs for Owls Head NYC Water Pollution Control Facility. Masters Degree Special Project, Department of Environmental Engineering, Manhattan College, NY. Conklin, C. (2001). Development of Capital and Operating Costs for Three NYC Water Pollution Control PlantsConey Island, North River and Red Hook. Masters Degree Thesis, Department of Environmental Engineering, Manhattan College, NY. Hildreth, S. B. (1999). Aeration Capital Costs for West Point, Seattle WWTP. Personal communication, 13 Jan., 1999. Hildreth, S. B., Finger, R. E., Hammond, R. R., and Daigger, G. T., (1997). Full Scale High Purity Oxygen Activated Sludge Performance at the West Point WWTP, Seattle, Washington. WEFTEC 97, 70th Annual Conference of the Water Environment Federation, Chicago, IL, 617628. Leonforte, J. P. (1998). Letter on NYC Wastewater Plant capital costs4 Nov., 1998. Chief, Division of Intergovernmental Coordination, Bureau of Environmental Engineering, NYCDEP. Ppel, H. J. (2001). Personal communication breaking down costs of Darmstadt plant. Emails, 35 Feb., 2001. Schirtzer, R. (2000). Submerged Turbine Aeration Conversion to Surface AerationMiddlesex County Utility Authority (MCUA) Cost Data. Masters Degree Special Topic, Department of Environmental Engineering, Manhattan College, NY. Wacker, J. (1998). Fax to H. Johannes Ppel with costs information on Darmstadt Central Treatment Plant, Germany on 17 Mar., 1998.

2002 by CRC Press LLC