Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Trickling Filter 175
Trickling Filter 175
Introduction
Construction and working
Cleaning of bed
Merits and Demerits
Types (High rate and standard rate)
Two stage filters
Design Criteria
Numericals
Introduction
A trickling filter consists of a bed
of highly permeable media on
which microorganisms grow and
through which wastewater is
percolated or trickled.
As the wastewater flows
through the media the
organisms, attached on the
surfaces, remove the organic
matter from the flow.
This process is an attached-
growth aerobic biological
treatment method designed to
remove BOD and suspended
solids.
Components and their purpose
Influent flow distributor: spray the influent evenly on the surface of filter
media.
Filter media:
Should have high specific surface area , high percentage void space,
resistance to abrasion during placement, insolubility in waste water ,
chemically resistant and should be cheap.
Particles should be almost round or cubical in shape.
Most commonly used : broken stone, slag or gravel of size 25 to 75
mm.
Under drain system : The underdrain system collects treated wastewater
and solids discharged from the filter media and conveys them to a
sedimentation tank. The system is located below, or underneath, the filter
media and operates by gravity flow.
♦ It has a sloped bottom which directs flow to a center channel .
♦ It provides support for the filter media, which sits on top of the
underdrain system .
♦ It allows air circulation through the media.
FACTORS AFFECTING THE OPERATION OF
TRICKLING FILTER
[A] Organic loading: weight in kg of 5 day of BOD per unit volume of filter bed.
A high organic loading rate results in a rapid growth of biomass.
Excessive growth may result in plugging of pores and subsequent flooding of
portions of medium.
[B] Hydraulic flow rates: quantity of sewage per unit area ( or unit volume) per
day.
Increasing the hydraulic loading rate increases sloughing and helps to keep the
bed open.
Range of hydraulic and organic loading rates for trickling filters are shown in
table 1.
[C] Relative temperature of wastewater and ambient air:
Cool water absorbs heat from air, and the cooled air falls towards toward the
bottom of the filter in a concurrent fashion with the water.
Warm water heats the air, causing it to rise through the underdrain and up
through the medium.
At temperature differentials of less than about 3 to 4 0C, relatively little air
movement results, and stagnant conditions prevent good ventilation.
Extreme cold may result in icing and destruction of the biofilms.
Advantages