Batch Operated Activated Sludge Plant for Production of High Effluent Quality at Small Works

1993 ◽  
Vol 28 (10) ◽  
pp. 251-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Chambers

In the UK there are about 7500 sewage treatment works of which 85% serve populations of less than 5000. Many of the smaller works do not comply with effluent quality standards and options for improving treatment are being pursued by many water companies. WRc have developed designs for packaged activated sludge systems to serve populations in the range 100 - 1000 persons. A detailed design has been completed for a population equivalent of about 600. Target effluent quality is 15:20:5 mg/l of BOD, SS and ammonia nitrogen respectively on a 95 percentile basis. The activated sludge system is designed to operate as a batch process with aeration and sludge settlement both occurring in the same tank. Batch operated activated sludge plants are known to produce sludges with good settling properties providing the influent wastewater is admitted into the aeration tank in controlled manner. Therefore a specially designed holding tank has been included as the first stage in the treatment sequence. All process tanks are specified as glass-coated steel installed on a flat concrete base. Target construction cost for 600 population is ₤350 per capita.

1993 ◽  
Vol 27 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 405-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Chambers ◽  
J. Whitaker ◽  
A. F. Elvidge

In the UK there are over 7000 small works which treat the sewage from populations of less than 10,000. Many of these works are at risk of non-compliance with effluent quality consents and options for improving the standard of treatment are being pursued by many utilities. WRc and Anglian Water Services have developed designs for packaged sewage treatment plants to serve populations in the range of 1000-10,000. A demonstration plant has been constructed at the Waterbeach STW of Anglian Water to serve a population of about 6,500. Target effluent quality is 15:20:5mg/l of BOD, SS and ammonia nitrogen respectively on a 95 percentile basis. Following plant commissioning a process performance evaluation programme was commenced in February 1991. Nitrification was established after about 6 weeks of operation but suspended solids values have been affected by the presence of a stable foam on the surface of the aeration tank. Process modifications have reduced the effect of this phenomenon substantially and effluent quality has improved.


1988 ◽  
Vol 20 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 121-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Chambers ◽  
G. L. Jones

Requirements to improve effluent quality and reduce operating costs at existing activated sludge plants in the UK have led to the development of an accurate mathematical model of the process which can be used for full-scale design. The WRc Activated Sludge Model has been developed over a number of years and is based on the concept of describing the kinetics of BOD removal by including a Monod term for growth and a Michaelis-Menten term for enzymatic activity. Since the first formulation of the model, further equations have been added which describe the use of oxygen and nitrate as electron acceptors for the conversion of BOD. The model equations can be used to predict the performance of most configurations of the activated sludge process by using the ‘tanks in series' concept to describe aeration tank mixing characteristics. Solutions to the equations are easily obtained by standard numerical integration techniques using a computer. The software has been written in such a way that the model can be used interactively by a plant designer. Results obtained using the mathematical model have been used to redesign several full-scale activated sludge plants in the UK. In some cases, it has been possible to reduce the energy costs for aeration by 40% whilst maintaining effluent quality by accurately matching the supply of oxygen to the spatially-varying oxygen demand in plug-flow aeration tanks. Bulking sludge problems have also been solved by the conversion of completely-mixed aeration tanks to plug-flow aeration tanks with complementary redesign of the aeration system.


Author(s):  
О.В. Харькина ◽  
К.Р. Искалиева ◽  
Е.В. Малич

Проведено сравнение результатов расчета аэротенков по модели ATV (Standard ATV-DVWK-A131 E «Dimension of Single-Stage Activated Sludge Plants 2000»), которая является стохастической «табличной» моделью, и по модели ASM2d, которая относится к теоретическим и описывает, в отличие от ATV, процессы биологической очистки сточных вод с помощью формул ферментативной кинетики. Расчеты выполнены для одних и тех же входных данных. Результаты расчетов показали существенную ограниченность использования модели ATV. Данная модель, как изначально указано авторами в ее описании, рассчитывает аэротенки только на единственное значение качества очищенной воды по аммонийному азоту 1 мг/л и не рассчитывает аэротенки на нитриты. Более того, сравнение ATVс ASM2d показало, что и достижение указанного качества очищенной воды по аммонийному азоту 1 мг/л возможно только при конкретных значениях кинетических констант, которые были определены авторами в данной статье, а изменение хотя бы одного из кинетических параметров сточных вод приводит к увеличению необходимого значения аэробного возраста активного ила и, как следствие, расчетного объема аэробной зоны на десятки процентов, что доказывает риск недостижения требуемого качества очищенной воды при использовании модели ATVдаже на концентрацию аммонийного азота 1 мг/л. С учетом того, что методика ATV не рассчитывает аэротенки на качество очищенных вод по нитритам, результаты проведенного нами расчета показывают, что предлагаемые в ATVзначения аэробного возраста активного ила 4,05 суток для температуры 17 ºС позволят достичь качество очищенной воды по азоту нитритов 0,35–0,52 мг/л N–NO2. Это доказывает невозможность использования ATV, если даны требования к качеству очищенной воды по нитритам. Авторами на основании проведенных расчетов сделаны выводы о риски недостижения качества очищенной воды по аммонийному азоту, как и 1 мг/л при использовании ATV, из-за того, что ATVявляется стохастической моделью, то есть все представленные в данной методике зависимости были определены для конкретных условий проведения работ. Более того, как и указано в описании ATV, данная методика применима, даже в ограниченных условиях, строго для городских сточных вод. Проведенные расчеты показали, что при наличии требований к качеству очищенной воды по нитритам, вне зависимости от значений требуемых концентраций нитритов, методика ATVне подходит вообще, при этом ASM2dс учетом того, что она основывается на формулах ферментативной кинетики, позволяет рассчитывать аэротенки на любое требуемое качество очищенной воды как по аммонийному азоту, так и по азоту нитритов и применима для любого типа сточных вод. A comparison is made of the results of calculating aeration tanks by ATV model (Standard ATV-DVWK-A131 E «Dimension of Single-Stage Activated Sludge Plants 2000»), that is a stochastic «table» model, and by ASM2d model, that is referred to as theoretical and describes, unlike ATV, biological wastewater treatment processes using enzymatic kinetics formulas. Calculations are performed for the same input data. The calculation results show essentially limited use of ATV model; this model, as originally given in the description of this model by the designers, provides for calculating aeration tanks only for a single value of the effluent quality in terms of ammonia nitrogen as 1 mg/l and does not provide for calculating aeration tanks in terms of nitrites. Moreover, the comparison of ATV and ASM2d show that achieving the specified quality of effluent in terms of ammonia nitrogen as 1 mg/l is possible only at specific values ​​of the kinetic constants determined by the authors in this article; whereas, any change in at least one kinetic parameter of the wastewater results in an increase in the required aerobic age of activated sludge and, as a consequence, in the calculated volume of the aerobic zone by tens of percent, which proves the risk of not achieving the required effluent quality while using ATV model even for ammonium nitrogen concentration of 1 mg/l. Taking into account the fact that ATV Method does not provide for calculating aeration tanks for the effluent quality in terms of nitrites, the results of our calculation show that the aerobic age of activated sludge of 4.05 days for a temperature of 17 ºС proposed in ATV will make it possible to achieve the effluent quality in terms of nitrite nitrogen, 0.35–0.52 mg/l N–NO2, proving the unavailability of ATV, if the requirements to the effluent quality in terms of nitrites are specified. The authors, on the basis of the calculations, make conclusions about the risk of failure to achieve the effluent quality in terms of ammonia nitrogen as well as 1 mg/l while using ATV, because ATV is a stochastic model, that is, all dependencies presented in this method have been determined for the specific operating conditions. Moreover, as specified in the ATV description, this method, even in limited conditions, is applicable strictly for urban wastewater. The calculations show that if there are requirements for the effluent quality in terms of nitrites, regardless of the required concentration value of nitrites, the ATV method is absolutely not suitable, while ASM2d, taking into account the fact that it is based on the formulas of enzymatic kinetics, provides for calculating aeration tanks for any required effluent quality in terms of both ammonium nitrogen and nitrite nitrogen and is applicable for any type of wastewater.


2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (9) ◽  
pp. 229-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.R. Alavi Moghaddam ◽  
H. Satoh ◽  
T. Mino

A coarse pore filter can be applied inside the aeration tank instead of sedimentation tank for liquid separation from the sludge. It has pores, which are irregular in shape, and much bigger than micro-filtration membrane pores in size. The objective of the study was to investigate the effect of important operational parameters such as flux, aeration intensity, and solid retention time (SRT) on the performance of the coarse pore filtration activated sludge process. The effect of these parameters was studied in laboratory scale experiments. It was found that the flux had a significant role in the effluent quality of this system. The effluent SS and turbidity were not changed significantly at different aeration intensities. Three SRTs, 10, 30 and longer days (without excess sludge) were used for three reactors to check the effect of this parameter on the system performance. The results of the reactors with SRTs about 10 and 30 days have shown very good effluent quality without any filter clogging for more than 4 months operation. For the reactor with long SRT, the filter clogging was observed after about 80 days of operation, which caused the increase of the operation pressure and deterioration in the effluent quality for a few days.


1990 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. 249-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Dilek Çetin ◽  
Gülerman Sürücü

In efficient and economical treatment of wastewaters,the settleability of activated sludge is of prime importance. Efficient settlement in the secondary sedimentation tank is required, both to keep the desired effluent quality and to sustain the necessary amount of microorganisms in the aeration tank. On the other hand, the settleability of microorganisms in the secondary clarifier is very dependent on the physiological and biochemical nature of activated sludge flocs, which are determined by the conditions of the aeration tank. In this research, effects of temperature and pH of aeration basin on settleability of activated sludge were studied. Settleability was measured by zone settling velocity and sludge volume index (SVI). Five different temperatures and four different pH values were operated in the aeration basin. It was found that the settleability of activated sludge is greatly affected by these two parameters.


1990 ◽  
Vol 22 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 161-170
Author(s):  
I. Sekoulov ◽  
R. Addicks ◽  
J. Oles

Enlargement and/or upgrading of already existing sewage treatment plants will bring problems to design and operation. However, this can be solved even in some complicated configuration of the treatment system, as will be demonstrated. Having an activated sludge system for BOD removal (first stage) followed by a trickling filter for nitrification (second stage), denitrification of the effluent without an external H donator is hard to achieve. In domestic sewage treatment, denitrification is usually carried out with BOD as carbon source. Additionally to the principal question of pre- or post denitrification and the related effects on the effluent quality (BOD, COD, NH4) pre-denitrification in the given case would be highly ineffective and uneconomical (large hydraulic loads). The paper presents a system using thickened sludge from the activated sludge sedimentation as H donator. The sludge has been successfully used to denitrify the trickling filter effluent. For the design of the post-denitrification stage, the necessary volume of sludge could be determined together with the volume of the denitrification reactor. Results of the pilot-plant studies are presented.


2010 ◽  
Vol 61 (9) ◽  
pp. 2169-2175 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Thornton ◽  
N. Sunner ◽  
M. Haeck

The use of the activated sludge process (ASP) for the nitrification/denitrification of wastewaters is commonplace throughout the UK and many other parts of the industrial world. Associated with this process are significant costs arising from aeration requirements and for selected sites, the need to provide an external carbon source. These costs can constitute up to of 50% of the total running cost of the whole plant and as such, any effort to reduce them could realise significant benefits. This paper investigates the use of real time control (RTC) using online sensors and control algorithms to optimise the operation of the ASP, leading to greater efficiency and sustainability. Trials were undertaken at full scale to assess the benefit of such a system at a 250,000 population equivalent (PE) works on the south coast of the UK, using Activated sludge model No.1 (ASM 1) as a basis for the control system. Initial results indicate that it is possible to significantly reduce both aeration and chemical consumption costs whilst still delivering the required effluent quality. Over the trial period the aeration requirements were consistently reduced by 20% whereas, a reduction in methanol consumption of in excess of 50% was observed.


2010 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 701-707 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Majewsky ◽  
T. Gallé ◽  
L. Zwank ◽  
K. Fischer

The influence of activated sludge quality on the co-metabolic biodegradation of three aminopolycarboxyl acids was investigated for a variety of Luxembourg sewage treatment plants. A combination of biodegradation experiments and respirometric techniques are presented as a reliable approach for the estimation of biokinetics and biological xenobiotic degradation rates that allow for identification of governing parameters such as microbial activity and active biomass. Results showed that biokinetics and degradation rates vary greatly between different plants. The fraction of active biomass on the total suspended solids ranged between 16.9 and 53.7%. Xenobiotic biodegradation rates correlated with microbial activity suggesting a relationship with WWTP performance for carbon and nutrient removal. The biokinetic information can be used to increase the prediction accuracy of xenobiotics removal by individual WWTPs.


2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 209-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.M. Yu ◽  
W.Y. Leung ◽  
K.M. Ho ◽  
P.F. Greenfield ◽  
W.W. Eckenfelder

The process performance of the two largest activated sludge processes in Hong Kong, the Sha Tin and the Tai Po Sewage Treatment Works (STW), deteriorated in the initial period after the introduction of seawater flushing in 1995 and 1996, respectively. High effluent ammonia nitrogen (NH4-N) and total suspended solids (TSS) in excess of the discharge standards resulted from incomplete nitrification and changes in floc characteristics. A desktop study on the inhibitory effects of salinity, particularly on nitrification, was subsequently conducted using the Tai Po STW operating data. To assist the upgrade of the Sha Tin STW a five-month extensive bench-scale investigation on a simple but flexible modified Ludzack-Ettinger configuration with bio-selector was conducted to quantify the inhibitory effects due to the saline concentration. The Sha Tin STW upgrade consists of restoration of its original design capacity (conventional process) of 205,000 m3/day from its currently much reduced capacity as a Bardenpho process. Only the volume of the existing biological process and clarifier is to be utilized. The saline concentration ranges from 3,500 up to 6,500 mg Cl-/L, both daily and seasonally. High and greatly fluctuating saline concentrations have been known to inhibit nitrification. Design consideration should also be given to the peak daily and seasonal TKN loading of up to three times the average. Although the nitrifiers maximum specific growth rate was significantly reduced to a low 0.25 day−1, the inhibition was considered to be tolerable with effluent NH4-N and NO3-N consistently at < 1 and < 6 mg/L. The bio-selector was demonstrated to be efficient in control of sludge foaming and bulking with SVI consistently ≤ 125 mL/g. Results from the IAWQ Model No. 1 and the hydraulic model of the secondary clarifiers allowed overall process capacity maximization. With an anoxic mass fraction of 25-30%, operating sludge age of 9-14 days and SVI ≤ 125 mL/g, both the design requirements and the effluent discharge standards could be met. Without these investigations, an unnecessarily large reaction basin and secondary clarifier volume, and hence capital investment, would have resulted.


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