Biological Treatment

USFilter Products
Fine Bubble
Orbal
VLR
Coarse Bubble
RBC/SBC
Trickling Filter
Jet Aeration
PACT
SBR
Surface Aerators
Bio Towers
Overview
■ Biological Treatment Fundamentals
■ Aerobic Processes
■ Activated Sludge Process
■ Determining Oxygen Requirements
■ Aeration Devices
■ Oxygen Transfer Characteristics
■ Translating Standard Performance to Field
Conditions
■ Design Example
■ Summary
Biological Treatment
Fundamentals
What is Biological Treatment?

■ Use of bacteria and microorganisms to

remove contaminants in wastewater by
using it as “food”, with excess biomass
(sludge) as a by-product
Why Use Biological
Treatment?

■ Economics
■ Treatment efficiency
■ Ability to treat contaminants more
conventional systems cannot
● Bugs can manufacture very efficient catalysts!
What Contaminants can a
Biological System Treat?
■ Organics (BOD, COD)
■ Solids (biodegradable, both dissolved and
suspended)
■ Nitrogen
■ Phosphorus
■ Other - sulfides, metals

Note: Toxicity reduction can occur with removal of

many of these contaminants
Major Classes of
Microorganisms

■ Aerobic
● Use oxygen as electron acceptor (oxidant or
electron acceptor)
● Highest energy yield
■ Anaerobic
● Nitrate, sulfate, CO2 as electron acceptor
■ Facultative
● Will use “best” electron acceptor
 Aerobic Treatment of
Organic Compounds

Oxidation and cell synthesis

Microorganisms + O2
Complex substrate CO2 + H2O + Other end products
Aerobic and facultative organisms

Cells and stable

degradation
products
Biological Treatment of Nitrogen
Compounds

Aerobic:
Organic nitrogen NH4+
NH4 + O2 _
NO2 + O2 NO3=
Note: 4.6 lb O2/lb N and 7.14 lb alkalinity/lb N required!

Anaerobic:
NO3 , NO2
=
_
N2 gas

Note: 2.86 lb O2/lb N recovered, along with 3.57 lb alkalinity/lb N

Aerobic
Processes
Aerobic Treatment Processes

■ Fixed Film
■ Suspended Growth
■ Combination Systems
Aerobic Treatment Processes

■ Fixed Film
● Trickling Filter
● Submerged Biofilter
● RBC/SBC
● Fluidized Bed
● Land Treatment
USFilter RBC’s/SBC’s
RBC System
Advantages Vs. Other Technologies
Activated Sludge
◆ Low life cycle cost
◆ Process consistency
◆ Ability to handle changes in flow
◆ Low operator attention
◆ Low power consumption
◆ Less space required
◆ Less sludge produced - no sludge recycle
◆ Less complex process control-monitoring
1994 CH2M Hill Study Found:

■ Operators who had experience with both

Activated Sludge systems and RBCs
preferred RBCs
■ Labor for operating and maintaining an
RBC system were one half of an Activated
Sludge system
Full Size USFilter RBC
RBC Vs. SBC
Aerobic Treatment Processes

■ Suspended Growth
● Ponds
● Aerobic Lagoons
● Activated Sludge
Activated Sludge
Process
 Activated Sludge Process

■ Suspended growth - usually aerobic

■ High concentration of microorganisms
(biomass) achieved by sludge separation
and recycle
■ Microorganisms convert biodegradable
organics (and certain inorganics) to new
cell mass and by-products (CO2,H2O)
 Activated Sludge Process

From Aerobic + Nitrifying Bacteria

Secondary Effluent
Primary +
Treatment Clarifier
Oxygen

Recycle Waste
Solids Solids
 Activated Sludge Process
Process Variations

■ Conventional
■ High Rate
■ Contact Stabilization
■ Extended Aeration
■ Pure Oxygen
■ PACT
■ Selector Processes
■ Nutrient Removal Schemes (multiple tanks)
 What is the PACT® System?

Combined powdered activated carbon + biological process in which synergistic

treatment occurs.

~ 5 x 106 m2 surface area/m3 aeration tank volume

 PACT® Wastewater Treatment
System General Process Diagram
Virgin Polyelectrolyte
Carbon Storage
Storage

Filtration
Clarification (Optional)
Primary
Effluent

Contact-Aeration Effluent
Tank

Carbon Recycle Division Thickener Feed

Box Thickener

Overflow

To Regeneration
or Solids Disposal
In the PACT® System. . .
■ Powdered activated carbon stabilizes biological
treatment by:
● adsorbing toxic organics & metals
● reducing peak loads by adsorption
● protecting sensitive bacteria
● acting as growth site for bacteria
● acting as weighting agent to keep bacteria in the
system
● acting as a biological catalyst
In the PACT® System. . .
■ Powdered activated carbon:
● adsorbs organic contaminants
● adsorbs color
● adsorbs VOC and odor
● improves
• effluent bioassays (reduces/eliminates effluent toxicity)
• sludge settling & thickening characteristics
• sludge dewaterability
• hydraulic capacity
● reduces sludge volume
● reduces size of treatment plant
 Effect of Sludge on Effluent
Soluble TOC
Temperature = 20°C (68°F)
Aeration Time = 8 hours
Carbon Dose = 100 ppm
100
Effluent Soluble TOC, mg/l

Activated Sludge

80
Carbon B
60 Carbon C
Carbon A
40

20

0
0 10 20 30 40 50
Sludge Age, Days
Biomass separation is
often the weak link!
 Activated Sludge Process
Reactor Types

■ Plug Flow
■ Complete Mix
■ Looped Reactors
● Oxidation Ditch
● Orbal
■ Deep Shaft
■ SBR
 The Sequencing Batch
Reactor
Fill

React
Settle

Decant

Idle

Time
 Advantages of an SBR

■ Inherent BNR capability

■ Perfect quiescent settling
■ Reduced space requirements
■ Flexibility
■ Reduced labor through automated controls
■ Power savings due to lower oxygen
requirements
 Advantages of an SBR
■ High quality effluent consistently achieved
at widely varying flows and loading
■ No sludge recycling decreases capital and
O & M costs
■ Phosphorus is biologically removed
■ Micro-organism selection minimizes sludge
bulking and controls filaments
■ No short circuiting
 ®
Jet Tech OMNIFLO SBR
Key Advantages
■ Choice of Aeration/Mixing Device
■ Flexibility to retrofit existing basins
■ Solids Excluding Floating Decanter
■ Influent Distribution Manifold
■ State-of-the-Art Controls
■ Customer Service
Sequencing Batch Reactor
 Batch PACT® System Diagram

Activated Carbon

Polyelec-
trolyte Air Effluent
Storage

Wastewater
Waste Line
Optimal aeration system selection
will be strongly influenced by type
of reactor !
For a given wastewater, activated
sludge process selection will
determine design oxygen
requirement !
Determining Oxygen
Requirements
 Oxygen Requirements for
Biological Treatment

■ Total oxygen demand consists of:

● Oxygen for organic treatment (carbonaceous
demand - BOD/COD)
● Oxygen for nitrification (less that recovered
thru denitrification)
● Oxidation of inorganics such as sulfide
Carbonaceous oxygen demand

■ Lb O2 = ∆ biodegradable COD - 1.42 x lb biomass wasted

■ ∆ biodegradable COD ~ 1.6-2 x BOD5

Note: As sludge age , biomass wasting ,

and lb O2 required 
 Nitrogenous oxygen demand

Oxygen for nitrification

■ Lb O2 = 4.6 x NH3-N(oxidized)
■ NH3-N(oxidized) = (TKNinfluent - TKNeffluent- TKNbiomass )
Note: biomass ~ 10% N by weight
TKN=Organic N + ammonia
Oxygen recovered thru
denitrification
■ Lb O2 = 2.86 x (NH3-N(oxidized) - NO3-Neffluent)
Aeration
Devices
 Aeration Devices

■ Diffused Aeration
■ Mechanical Aeration
■ Combination Devices (jets, sparged turbines)
Aeration Devices - diffused air

■ Diffused Aeration
● Coarse Bubble
• SnapCaps, WideBand, AirBand, others
• Static Tubes, etc.
● Fine Bubble
• Ceramic and membrane discs
• Ceramic and membrane tubes
• Others
Coarse bubble diffusers

EnviroQuip Products
 Snap-Cap

■ Stainless steel
■ PVC
■ Self sealing membrane
eliminates back flow
■ Simple male pipe thread
installation
■ Cost effective
 WideBand

■ Stainless steel construction

■ 3/4” pipe connection
■ Non buoyant design
■ Virtually maintenance free
 DualAir Membrane & Ceramic
Diffuser

 Patented dual base design doubles number of diffusers available

per 20’ of air header. As compared to competition

 System costs reduced with fewer headers, pipe supports, piping

connections, lower shipping costs, and less installation time

 DualAir’s flexible design allows use of membrane or ceramic media

 DualAir’s simple
installation

■ Typical installation
■ Excellent oxygen transfer
FlexDisc
Membrane

■ Typical installation
FlexLine

 Fine bubble tubular diffuser

 High air flow per diffuser; therefore fewer diffusers

 Good retrofit option for coarse bubble systems

 FlexLine efficient design

■ Advanced design

■ Typical installation
Aeration Devices - mechanical
aerators
■ Low speed aerators
■ High speed aerators
■ Horizontal shaft
● Brush rotors
● Disc aerator
■ Aspirating type
 Jet Aeration Benefits
■ No moving parts
■ High oxygen transfer efficiency
■ Independent control of mixing and O2 transfer
■ No maintenance required
■ Corrosion and abrasion resistant
■ Suitable to any basin geometry
■ Ideal for covered tanks
■ Efficient cleaning system without dewatering
Hutchinson, KS
Oxygen Transfer
Characteristics
 Clean Water Oxygen Transfer

■ ASCE established a committee to develop

a standard technique for rating aeration
devices
■ Tap water chosen as “standard” test media
■ Standard aeration rate based on transfer to
tap water at 20 deg. C. and 0 mg/l
dissolved oxygen
Clean Water Oxygen Transfer

N (lb O2 / time) = K L a (CS − C )V

KLa = mass transfer coefficient

CS-C=driving force. C=0 mg/l at std conditions

Aerator Clean Water Transfer

Aerator Type Comments SAE lb/hr/hp

 Coarse Bubble Low maintenance. 2-3 lb/hp/hr

Low oxygen transfer
efficiency.

 Fine Bubble High clean water 5-9 lb/hp/hr

transfer efficiency.
Potential for fouling,
higher maintenance.
 Low Speed Good aeration 2.5-3.5 lb/hp/hr
Aerators efficiency, mixing
efficiency. Maintenance
with gear reducer,
aerosols.
 High Speed Low initial cost, flexible 1.8-2.2 lb/hp/hr
operation. Lower
Aerators
aeration efficiency,
shallow mixing,
aerosols

Source: WEF Manual of Practice 8

Aerator Clean Water Transfer

Aerator Type Comments SAE lb/hr/hp

 Horizontal (brush) Accessible for 2.5-3.5 lb/hp/hr

maintenance.
Good aeration
efficiency. Limited tank
geometry, aerosols.
 Horizontal (disc) Accessible for 2.5-3.5lb/hp/hr
maintenance.
Good aeration and
mixing efficiency with
less aerosols. Limited
tank geometry.
 Aspirating Aerators Low cost, flexible. Low 0.8-1.3 lb/hp/hr
transfer efficiency,
limited mixing.
Good mixing, high 3.6-5.7 lb/hp/hr
 Jets
SOTE. Lower SAE,
requires pumps and
blowers.

Source: WEF Manual of Practice 8

Translating Standard
Performance To Field
Conditions
Clean water testing is
“standard”, but field
performance is what really
matters!
Aerator field correction factor

[( β )(CS ) − C ]
FCF = α 1.024 (T − 20 )

(CS )

Where:

α =KLa (field) /KLa (standard)

β =CS(field) /CS(standard)
 Field Correction Factors

■ Biggest factors are alpha and operating DO

■ Alpha - “low” for diffused air device (particularly
fine bubble), “high” for mechanical surface
aerators.
● End result - an “efficient” mechanical aerator

can approach (or exceed) fine bubble efficiency

in the field - roughly 2.5-3 lb O2/hp/hr
■ Staging reactors with low initial DO can provide
significant energy benefits (selectors)
■ Aerated anoxic zones further enhance staged DO
approach
Design Example
 Design Example:

1. System data:
- Two aeration tanks, 80’ dia. x 23’ SWD
- Flow rate = 2,000 gpm
- CODinfluent = 480 mg/l
- CODeffluent = 65 mg/l
- TKN = 10 mg/l
- Temperature = 30 deg. C.

2. Operating data
- MLSS = 3,400 mg/l
- DO = 1 mg/l
 Design Example (Cont)

3. Calculate oxygen demand

a. Total COD removed (assume biologically) = 10,000 lb/d
b. Estimated true biomass yield = 800 lb/day (per CMAS model)
c. Net oxygen demand = 10,000 - 1.42 x 800 = 9,000 lb/d

4. Estimated coarse bubble performance

a. 0.75%/ft submergence x 22’ (1 ft. above floor) = 16.5% SOTE
Note: SOTE performance per manufacturer
b. Field correction factor = 0.65 (α =0.75, DO=1 mg/l)
c. Actual OTE = 10.7%
5. Calculate required air flow rate
a. Qair = 9,000 ÷ (1440 x .075 x .232) ÷ .107 = 3,400 SCFM
 Design Example (Cont)

■ Compare calculated 3,400 SCFM to actual

usage of 5,000 SCFM - difference may be
related to alpha. Severe foaming currently
noted - presence of surfactants!
■ If true alpha = 0.5, Qaircalculated = 5,000 SCFM
 Design Example Comparison -
Fine Bubble vs. Coarse Bubble

■ Fine bubble SOTE ~ 35%

■ Field correction factor = 0.31 (alpha=0.35 -
conservative to account for surfactants)
■ AOTE = 11% (vs. estimated CB 7%)
■ Calculated FB air flow = 3,300 SCFM
■ Coarse bubble blower bHP = 200 HP, fine bubble
blower bHP = 300 HP.
■ At $0.05/kw-hr, $30,000 annual energy savings
with fine bubble
■ Estimated installed cost of fine bubble system =
$65,000. Potential 2-3 yr payback!
Summary
 Summary
■ Biological treatment is basically a series of redox
reactions (catalyzed by bacteria). Aerobic systems use
oxygen as the oxidizer (nitrates in anoxic systems).
■ Aeration system selection is closely linked to type of
reactor.
■ Amount of oxygen required is a function of the WW
(don’t forget TKN!), the type of process, and plant
operation.
■ Aeration devices are rated based on performance in tap
water, and must be corrected to field conditions. The
most important correction factors are alpha and
operating DO.
■ The most meaningful aerator performance rating is lb of
oxygen delivered (in WW) per total HP used.