Biological treatment

of industrial effluents
INTRODUCTION TO BIOLOGICAL TREATMENT PROCESSES
IHWM- LECTURE 9
Objectives

Bio- Mineralization
transformation into cellular
of org. mass, CO2,
compounds H2O & inert
into simpler inorg.
compounds Residuals
Biological treatment

• Two basic phenomena of BOD

 Biological treatment processes
Food/meat
processing

Industrial Feed lots

streams Destroy hazardous organics, convert them
Biological with into more bengin colloidal and soluble
treatment significant forms, stabilize organic sludges and remove Beverage
biodegrada nutrients(e.g. nitrogen, phosphorus) industry
ble fraction Certain
organic
chemical
manufacturin
g
Classification of Biological treatment processes

Suspended growth

Biological treatment processes

Distribution of
microorganisms in Attached growth
reactor

Hybrid

Aerobic

Environment in the
Anoxic
reactor

Anaerobic
 Affect sludge
production,
operating
costs, and
treatment
speed
Energy
synthesis
Selecting
relationships
biological
treatment
process
Carbon requirements of organisms

• Met by organic carbon in an organic compound or by carbon

dioxide.
• Organisms that use organic carbon are HETEROTROPHS
• Organisms that use carbon dioxide are AUTOTROPHS
 Energy sources for bacterial growth

• Organisms that use radiant energy (light) are called

PHOTOTROPHS.
• Organisms that use (oxidize) an organic form of carbon for
getting energy are called CHEMOTROPHS.
• Thus , on the basis of carbon and energy sources for growth
four major nutritional types of bacteria may be defined.
 Bacterial types
based on carbon & Energy Sources
 Bacterial types
based on carbon & Energy Sources
 • Microorganisms may require small amounts of
certain organic compounds which are essential
for growth but the organism is unable to
Bacterial synthesize them from available food. Such
growth compounds are called Growth Factors.
factors • Macronutrients (e.g., nitrogen and phosphorus)
are needed so microbes can function properly.
 • Micronutrients or trace nutrients (e.g.,
molybdenum) are critical in determining many
biological reaction rates. Ni, S, K, Ca, Mg, Fe Cu,
Bacterial Zn, Vitamins OK if less than 1 mg/l.
growth
factors • Growth promotors (e.g., certain amino
acids)promote proper microbial growth and floc
formation.

• Amendments in industrial wastewater are

necessary to ensure that the biological treatment
system functions properly.
• For example, a BOD:N:P ratio of 100:5:1 is often suggested
as a guide for adding supplemental nitrogen and
phosphorus.
 Oxygen-microbes can be divided into five groups

Obligate These microorganisms cannot survive without

Aerobic oxygen

Obligate These microorganisms do not require oxygen at

Anaerobic all

Facultative They prefer aerobic environment but can survive

Bacteria anaerobic environment as well.
These microorganisms won't grow at normal
Microaeroph
atmospheric oxygen (20%) but require some (less)
iles
oxygen for growth (2-10%)

These are not affected by the presence or absence

Aerotolerant
of oxygen , grow well with or without oxygen.
 Bacterial types
based on Temperature

Psychrophiles Thermophil
Mesophiles
es
Optimum
temperature Optimum temp. Optimum temp. 55
(typically 15 C or 20-45 C C or higher.
lower)
Some organisms are Some hyper
psychro-tolerant thermophiles
(optimum temp. is 20-
minimum around have optimum
40 C), but grow as low
15-20 C. temp. of 80 C or
as 0 C. These are not
considered higher
psychrophiles.
Categories of microbes based on temperature
range
Bacteria type: based on pH
 Energy synthesis relationship

• Energy-synthesis relationships directly

influence several practical aspects of industrial
wastewater treatment (e.g., estimation of sludge
quantity and treatment costs, the need for
nutrients, and operating costs related to aeration
and other process-specific systems)
Treatment organisms
• Bacteria are responsible for most of
the biological treatment of industrial
wastewater.
• The average elemental composition of
bacteria is widely accepted to be
• C5 H7 O2 N(Molecular weight ≈
113g/mole).
 Factors affecting
biological treatment
processes
IWMA- LECTURE 10
Objective of Designing biological reactors

Minimize
hydraulic retention
time (HRT),
Maximize rate of
quantity of sludge
biodegradability &
produced, amount
reliability
of oxygen required
& cost of chemical
required
Major Design variables

Equalization Mixing(g,t)

Bio-mass or
Hydraulic
solid
retention
retention
time (HRT)
time (SRT)
 A carbon source is essential for maintaining
cell growth and metabolism.
Carbon In most treatment processes, the source of
source carbon is the organic compounds.
For certain processes e.g. nitrification , an
Factors affecting inorganic carbon source may be needed.
biological
treatment
processes All biological reaction ultimately depends on
an external source of energy i.e., carbon in
organic matter or in CO2, to provide the
Energy driving force.
source It may be the carbon for CBOD removal
(heterotropic reactions) or an in organic
chemical source (Chemoautrophic or chemo
lithotropic) for nitrification
 Factors affecting biological treatment processes

Electron Acceptor
•All biological reactions need a final electron acceptor to complete the
oxidation-reduction process.
•Common electron acceptors include oxygen (in aerobic reactors),
nitrate (in anoxic reactors), and carbon dioxide (in anaerobic
reactors).
•If a treatment process does not have enough of the proper electron
acceptor, biological reactions can be severely inhibited (Electron
accepters are in fact oxygen donors e.g., O2, NO2, NO3, CO2 etc
• Temperature
• Higher temperatures speed up chemical reactions, ~ double rate for
every 10 oC rise in temperature.
• Most industrial waste treatment processes operate in the mesophilic
range.
• However, thermophilic treatment is gaining popularity in a variety
of reactor configurations (e.g., anaerobic filters, sequencing batch
reactors, and upflow sludge blanket reactors).
 • Most organism can grow in
environments in the range of pH 6 to 9.
• Some microorganisms (e.g., fungi) can
pH survive at pH 5.5 and a little below.
Factors affecting
biological
treatment
processes • Toxic substances in the industrial waste
stream may reduce the rate of biological
Toxic reactions.
substances
 Factors affecting biological treatment processes

Solid Retention Time- the time the solid fraction of the wastewater spends
in a treatment unit.

solids loading
Food-to- Effluent
sludge on the
microorganism organic/BOD
production secondary
(F:M) ratio concentration
clarifier
 • Mixing (Reactor Design)
Factors • Mixing is needed to distribute
affecting the electron acceptor, energy
biological source, nutrients, etc.
treatment • Completely mixed systems can
processes handle toxic shock loads better
than plug flow systems.
DESIGN APPROACHES

Bacterial- Removal rates,

Biological and process-
growth
reaction control
and parameters
kinetics, (e.g., SRT, HRT )
pollutant-
A Rational DESIGN APPROACH would include:

• Development of a materials-balance equation

taking into account inputs (e.g., Oxygen and
nutrients for an activated sludge process design);
outputs (e.g., Sludge, methane for anaerobic
sludge treatment)
Treatment
technologies
Major biological treatment processes used for wastewater treatment(table 7.2 S R qas
Miscellaneous Wastewater Treatment Systems
Activated Sludge Process

• The most common biological processes used in both municipal

and industrial wastewater treatment.
• Several variations of the activated sludge process may be used for
industrial wastewater treatment, including variations in how the
sludge is wasted.
• In a typical activated sludge process, the aeration tank and the
secondary clarifier must be designed as one integral system
because changes in aeration tank variables will affect clarifier
operations, and vice versa
• Changes in industrial wastewater influent will also change effluent
quality, particularly with respect to solids.
 Activated Sludge Process

• Eckenfelder (2000) reported that treatment performance of activated sludge systems

in the coke, tannery, protein processing, pharmaceutical, organic chemicals, and
paper industries.
• BOD and COD loading and waste water temperature are site-specific.
• The F:M ratio ranges from 0.05 per day for protein- processing waste-water to 0.57 per
day for vegetable oil.
• The solids retention time ranges from 5.2 days for paper mill wastewater to 20 days for
tannery wastewater.
• Other parameters[e.g., MLVSS, hydraulic retention time (HRT), sludge volume index
(SVI), and zone settling velocity]depend on wastewater characteristics and organic /
inorganic quantities.
 Activated Sludge floc characteristics
• Microbiology
Activated sludge flocs contain bacteria, organics, and inorganics(bitton, 1994). Floc size ranges
from <1 to 1000 μm or more, and viable bacteria make up approximately 5 to 20%.
The surface of the floc is aerobic, but an anoxic zone exists inside and there is a small
anaerobic zone at the center.
• The micro-life in activated sludge floc typically includes:
• Bacteria (e.g., Zoolgea, Pseudomonas, Flavobacterium, Alcalligenes, Bacillus, Achro-mobacter,
Corynebacterium, Comomonas, Brevibacterium, and Acinetobacter)
• Filmentous organisms (e.g., Sphaerotilus, Beggiaton, and Vitreoscilla);
• Autotrophic bacteria (e.g., nitrifiers[Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter] and phototrophic bacteria
[Rhodospirrilaceae]);
• Protozoa (e.g., ciliates, flagellates, and rhizopoda); and
• Rotifiers (e.g., Badelloidea, Monogononta, Lecane sp., Notommato sp.,Philodina sp., and Habrotrocha
sp.,).
 Activated sludge process-settling issues

Problems in solid-liquid separation

• Solid-Liquid Separation Efficiency = f (the microbiology and structure of activated
sludge flocs, nutrient-deficient industrial wastes, shock loads of organic, poor oxygen transfer,
and toxic substances).
• Proper solids-liquid separation depends on a balance of both bioformers and
filamentous organisms.
• Excessive growth of filamentous organism can result in filamentous bulking.
Filamentous microorganisms can be used as diagnostic tool to indicate process upsets
Activated sludge process-settling issues
Sludge Volume Index (SVI)
measured in millimeters per gram of sludge, is a useful indicator of a
sludge’s settling properties. It is determined by placing a mixed-
liquor sample in a 1-to-2 L cylinder and measuring the volume and
corresponding mixed-liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentration
after 30 minutes:
• SVI is the volume of 1 gram of sludge after 30 min of settling
• SVI= Volume of settled sludge X 1000/MLSS
• For SVI between 50 and 150, the sludge will settle reasonably
well,.
• For SVI > 150 is typically associated with excessive filamentous
growth (Parker et al., 2001).
 • Sludge bulking is likely when DO, F:M
ratio, and nutrients are low.
• Controlling process conditions and
variables (e.g., DO, pH, nutrients, and
Sludge bulking sludge age) Can promote a well-settling
sludge.
• Non filamentous bulking is the result of
nutrients deficiency.
Sludge bulking