PHYSICAL UNIT

OPERATIONS

Industrial wastewater
One classification of wastewater,
other than municipal wastewater
Require pretreatment to remove
noncompatible substances prior to
discharge into municipal sewers
Characteristics vary from industry to
industry and hence the treatment
also vary

1.1 Primary treatment

Include flow measurement devices
essential for operation of wastewater
treatment plant
Preliminary treatment
is an integral part of primary treatment
Eliminate large objects and grit

Screening
Used to remove coarse
solid (sticks, rags, boards)
from WW. Coarse solid can:
-Damage process
equipments
-Reduce treatment process
reliability, effectiveness
-Contaminate waterways
Protect pumps and other
mechanical equipment
Prevent clogging of valves

 3 types-coarse screens (6-150mm), fine

screens (<6mm), microscreens (<0.5m)

Bar racks

Perforated plates

Wire cloth

Solid reduction
Located across the flow
path of WW
Intercepts the coarse
solids and shreds to
smaller, more uniform
size
Comminutor,
macerator, grinder
Basic parts include
screen and cutting teeth
High-maintenance items

Flow equalization
Flow equalization is the process of
mitigating changes in flow rate
By providing storage to hold water
when it is arriving too rapidly,
Supply additional water when it is
arriving less rapidly than desired
It is convenient to equalize the flow
before feeding it to the various
treatment steps

Principal benefits:

Biological treatment is enhancedeliminate shock loading, dilute

inhibiting substances, stabilized pH
Effluent quality and thickening of
sedimentation improved-consistency
solids loading
Effluent filtration surface area
reduced, filter performance improve,
uniform filter-backwash cycle
Improve chemical feed control

Disadvantages:

Need large land area

Odor control near residential area
Require additional operation and
control
Increase capital cost

Mixing and flocculation

Mixing one substances with another

Blend miscible liquids
Flocculation of ww particles
Continuous mixing of liquid
suspensions
Heat transfer

Gravity separation
Removal of particle suspensions by
gravity settling
Refer Table 5.15

Grit removal
Grit material compose of inorganic and organic
solids
Substances in grit abrasive in nature and cause
accelerated wear on pump & sludge-handling
equipment
Grit chamber- horizontal flow, rectangular, vortex
type
protect moving mechanical equipment from
abrasion,
reduce formation of heavy deposits,
reduced frequency of digester cleaning

 Basically consist of an
enlarged channel area
reduce velocity and
hence settle out the grit
Most common channel
type or aerated
rectangular basin
Deposited grit is
removed by mechanical
scrapers

Sedimentation
Remove settleable solids and floating
material
Accomplished by long-rectangular
tanks or circular tanks
Quantity of sludge removed depends
on
Strength of the incoming waste
Efficiency of clarifier
Condition of sludge sg, water content

High rate clarification

Physical/chemical treatment
Utilize special flocculation and
sedimentation system to achieve
rapid settling
Advantages-units are compact so can
reduce space, rapid start-up time,
produce high clarified effluent

Floatation
Separate solid or liquid particles from
liquid phase
Using fine gas (air) bubbles into
liquid phase
Bubbles attach to particulate, then
particle rise to surface
Dissolved-air flotation, dispersed-air
flotation

1.2 Secondary treatment

Contain 40-50% of SS from primary
treatment, original dissolved organics
and inorganics
Refer to organic removal may consist
chemical-physical and biological process
Chemical-physical (high cost)
coagulation, microscreening, filtration,
chemical oxidation etc
Remove solids and reduce BOD

 Biological (more practical)

microorg. used organics in WW as food
supply & convert them to biomass
Mixed culture is required for complete
treatment
Newly created biomass must be removed
from WW
It design require an understanding of the
biological principle, kinetic of metabolism,
mass balance, physical operation

Growth and food utilization

Biomass growth rate in a typical batch fermentation

 Lag phase
The acclimation period

Log-growth phase
Maximum growth that occur at a
logarithmic rate

Stationary phase
Time during which the production of new
cellular material is roughly offset by death
and endogenous respiration

Endogenous phase
Biomass slowly decreases, approaching
zero asymptotically after a very long of
time

 Rate of biomass production and food

utilization
Affected by external factors temp, pH and
toxins
Higher temp, increase production
Microorganism best function near neutral pH
-6 to 9
Toxicants poison the microorganism
Salt conc interfere with internal-external
pressure relationship
Oxidants destroy enzymes and cell
materials

Suspended cultures system

Microorganism are suspended in WW
either as single cells or as clusters of
cells surrounded by WW which
contain food and other elements
One of the process activated sludge
Types of basic reactor
completely mixed reactor
Plug flow reactor

Schematic of a complete-mix reactor

Schematic of a typical plug-flow

digester system.

 Aeration of activated sludge

Oxygen addition should be sufficient to
match the oxygen utilization rate
Oxygen should be maintain in small
excess to ensure aerobic metabolism
Techniques used
Air diffusers compressed air is injected and
commonly use in PFR
Mechanical mixers stir the content
violently to distribute air through liquid and
use in completely mixed reactor

Ponds and lagoons

Used to treat WW other than reactors
Facultative pond and lagoon
both aerobic and anaerobic zones exist
to treat WW
Assumed to be completely mixed
reactors without biomass recycle
Difference is on the way the oxygen is
supplied

Facultative pond

Attached culture systems

Consist of masses of organisms
adhered to inert surfaces with WW
passing over the microbial film
Type of reactors
Trickling filter
Bio-tower
Rotating biological contactor (RBC)
Medium
is stationary
& WW
is
medium moves
the
biofilm
alternately
over the biofilm in
through waterpassed
and
air
intermittent doses

1.3 Tertiary treatment

 Involve removal of nitrogen and

phosphorus compounds
Nitrogen removal
Air stripping converting ammonium to
gaseous phases and disperse in air
Nitrification-denitrification nitrogen
converted to gaseous nitrogen by
biological process

Phosphorus removal
Chemical precipitation by combining
with trivalent aluminum or iron cations

2. Sludge treatment and disposal

Sludge
concentration of solid (impurities)
contains many objectionable materials
and must be disposed properly
Disposal facilities 40 -50% of WW
treatment plant

2.1 Sludge characteristics

Quantity & nature depends on WW
characteristics, nature & efficiencies of
treatment process
Primary sludge
Contain inorganics and coarser organic colloid
More granular in nature & more concentrated

Secondary sludge
Composed of biological solids
Consistency depends on treatment process

2.2 Sludge thickening

Volume reduction
vacuum filtration and centrifugation (for
incineration)
Gravity thickening &/ flotation for
further biological treatment

2.3 Sludge digestion

Process intended to convert solids to
noncellular end products (using
biological degradation)
Serves both for volume reduction
and render remaining solids inert and
pathogen-free
Can be accomplished aerobically or
anaerobically

2.3.1 Anaerobic digestion

Common process dealing with WW
sludge containing primary sludge
Produce less biomass
Principal function convert as much
sludge as possible to liquids and
gases, while creating less biomass
2 broad groups acid former and
methane former

 Acid formers
Consist of facultative and anaerobic bacteria
Include organism that solubilize the organic
solids through hydrolysis
Soluble products are fermented to acids and
alcohols of low MW

Methane formers (complicated)

Contain strict anaerobic bacteria that
convert acid, alcohol, H and CO2 to methane

2.3.2 Aerobic digester

Restricted to biological sludge in the
absent of primary sludge
A continuation of the aeration process
Application stabilizing sludge wasted
from extended aeration system
Organism involved in the process are
forced to metabolize their own
protoplasm
Energy-consumptive

2.4 Sludge disposal

Include
Incineration
provided water content is sufficiently reduced
Supplemental fuel may necessary

placement in sanitary landfill

Raw or digested sludge

incorporation into soils as fertilizer

Limited to digested sludge
Ground used for forage crops for nonhuman
consumption

3.1 Wastewater disposal

Common method dilution in surface
waters
Discharge to atm in vapor form
evaporation exceeds precipitation
Ocean disposal near coastal areas
Land application
disposal as well as reuse
Common forms are irrigation and rapid
infiltration

Irrigation

Rapid
infiltration

3.2 Wastewater reuse

3.2.1
Recreational facilities
Should be aesthetically pleasing and
free of toxicants and pathogenic
3.2.2
Industrial water supply
Cooling process which constitute largest
water requirement use secondary
effluent
Power-generating and petrochemical
plants use municipal effluents

3.2.3
Groundwater recharge
Inadvertent consequence of land
application for irrigation and from rapid
infiltration
3.2.4
Reuse in potable water systems
Direct reuse the treated effluent from
WW treatment is piped directly to the
influent of the water treatment plant
Indirect reuse storage of treated
effluent in natural or artificial water
bodies for a period of time prior to
withdrawal

TUTORIAL
5.10, 5.11, 5.15, 5.28