Aeration and

gas stripping

W
A
T
E
R

T
R
E
A
T
M
E
N
T
WATERTREATMENT
Q
w
, c
w,0
Q
a
,c
a,0
Q
a
, c
a,e
Q
w
, c
w,e
k5 k4
k3
k2
k1
0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
k1
k2
k3
k4
k5
RQ
k
2
t
k
D
T
K

(
-
)

=
=
=
1.61
0.039
10
o
C
Framework
Thismoduleexplainsaerationandgasstripping.
Contents
Thismodulehasthefollowingcontents:
1. Introduction
2. Theoryofgastransfer
2.1 Equilibrium
2.2 Kinetics
2.3 Massbalance
2.4 Solutionsforthebasicequations
3. Practice
3.1 Cascade
3.2 Toweraerator
3.3 Plateaerator
3.4 Sprayaerator
3.5 Alternativeaerationsystems

AERATON AND GAS TRANSFER water treatment
136
the water falls over a weir into a lower placed
trough.Whenthefallingstreamentersthewater
body,airisentrappedintheformofbubbles,pro-
vidingforamixtureofwaterandairinwhichgas
transferwilloccur.
Thetoweraerator(Figure2)consistsofacylin-
dricalvesselofsteelorsyntheticmaterialthatis
flled with packing material, usually consisting of
elementsofsyntheticmaterial.Waterfallsdown
andairisblowninaco-currentorcounter-current
direction.

A plate aerator (Figure 3) is a horizontal perfo-

rated plate. Water fows over the plate and air is
blown through the orifces, creating a bubble bed
ofairandwaterabovetheplate.
Sprayers (Figure 4) are typically used because
of their simple implementation in existing treat-
ment plants. By spraying, a contact surface be-
tween the air and water is created for the gas
exchange.
2 Theory of gas transfer
1 Introduction

Aeration(gasaddition)andgasstripping(gasre-
moval) are normally the frst treatment steps dur-
ing the production of drinking water from ground-
water or riverbank water. This artifcially induced
gastransferaimsattheadditionofoxygen(O
2
)
andtheremovalofcarbondioxide(CO
2
),meth-
ane (CH
4
), hydrogen sulfde (H
2
S), and other
volatileorganiccompounds(forexample1.2Di-
chloropropane(1.2DCP),Trichloroethene(TRI),
Tetrachloroethene (PER) and Trichloromethane
(chloroform)).
Gastransferisseldomappliedinthetreatmentof
surface water because surface water has been
incontactwithairforaprolongedperiod.Conse-
quently, surface water contains suffcient oxygen,
and other gases, like methane and hydrogen sul-
fde, are absent.
Theadditionofoxygenisrequiredfortheoxida-
tion of bivalent iron (Fe
2+
), manganese (Mn
2+
)
and ammonium (NH
4
+
). These substances are
presentindissolvedformingroundwater.Dueto
chemical and biological oxidation, the substan-
ces can be removed by following a fltration step.
Thiswillbediscussedinthechapterongranular
fltration.
Reducingthecarbondioxideconcentrationleads
toariseinpHandareductionofaggressivecar-
bondioxidethatisabletodisintegrate(concrete)
pipes.
Methane should be removed because its pres-
ence has negative infuences on the fltration pro-
cesses.
Hydrogen sulfde has an annoying odor (rotting
eggs) and therefore needs to be removed from
thewater.
Volatile organic compounds are usually toxic;
someofthemareevencarcinogenic.Obviously,
these compounds are not allowed in drinking wa-
ter.
To achieve gas transfer a number of systems
havebeendevelopedovertheyears.
Oneoftheoldestsystemsisthecascade(Figure
1).Thewaterfallsinseveralsteps.Ineachstep,
Figure 1 - Cascade aeration
Figure 2 - Tower aeration
water treatment AERATON AND GAS TRANSFER
137
2.1 Equilibrium
Henrys law
Watercontainsdissolvedgases.Inaclosedves-
selcontainingbothgas(e.g.,air)andwater,the
concentrationofavolatilecomponentinthegas-
phase will be in equilibrium with the concentra-
tioninthewaterphase,accordingtoHenryslaw.
Theequilibriumconcentrationcanbecalculated
usingthefollowingformofHenryslaw:
=
w H g
c k c
inwhich:
c
w
=equilibriumconcentrationofagasinwater
[g/m
3
]
k
H
= Henrys constant or distribution coeffcient
[-]
c
g
=concentrationofthegasinair[g/m
3
]
The distribution coeffcient k
H
depends on the
typeofgas,andthetemperature.
In addition, pollution and impurities in the water
infuence the equilibrium concentration. This is-
suewillnotbediscussedhere.
Inliterature,manydifferentformsofHenryslaw
arefound.
Oftenpartialpressureisusedinsteadofthegas
concentrationinair,and/ormolarconcentrationin
thewaterinsteadofweightconcentration.Con-
sequentlythisresultsinadifferentunitforthedis-
tribution coeffcient, or Henrys law constant (ie.
[mol/(m
3
Pa)]or[mol/l/atm]).
For gas stripping, often the volatility is given in
steadofthesolubilityofagas.Inthiscase,the
distribution coeffcient is inverted (gas/water, in
steadofwater/gas).
Distribution coeffcient
InTable1foranumberofgasesalistofvalues
is given of the distribution coeffcient at different
watertemperatures,(intermediatevaluescanbe
obtainedwithlinearinterpolation).
Inthetableitisshownthatnitrogen,oxygenand
methane have low k
H
-values. This means that
these gases hardly dissolve in water and they
can,therefore,beeasilyremoved.
The other gases have high k
H
values and dis-
solve easily, which makes it diffcult to remove
themfromthewateroreasytoaddthemtowa-
ter.
Gas concentration in air
Thegasconcentrationintheairc
g
must be known
before the equilibrium (or saturation) concentra-
tioncanbecalculated.Thisconcentrationcanbe
determinedusingtheuniversalgaslaw:
p V n R T =
inwhich:
p =partialpressureofgasingasphase[Pa]
V =totalgasvolume[m
3
]
n =numberofmolesofagas[mol]
R =universalgasconstant=8.3142[J/(K.mol)]
T =(air)temperature[K]
Figure 4 - Spray aeration
Figure 3 - Plate aeration
AERATON AND GAS TRANSFER water treatment
138
Thegasconcentrationcanbecalculatedbymulti-
plyingthemolargasconcentrationinair[mol/m
3
]
withthemoleculeweightoftheconsideredgas:
g
n p
c MW MW
v R T
= =

inwhich:
MW=molecularweightofagas[g/mol]
Partial pressure
The partial pressure of a certain gas is propor-
tionaltothevolumefractionofthatgasinair:
o f
p p V =
inwhich:
p
o
= standardpressureatsealevel(=101,325)
[Pa]
V
f
= volumefraction[-]
InTable2thevolumefractionsofdifferentgases
thatoccurinairaregiven.
These values are valid for dry air with a stand-
ard pressure of 101,325 Pa. With these volume
fractionsthepartialpressuresofallgasesinair
canbecalculated.Gasesthatdonotoccurinair
haveapartialpressureequaltozeroandthusa
c
g
equaltozeroandalsoac
w
equaltozero(for
example,methane).
InFigure5theequilibrium(saturation)concentra-
tionofoxygenisgivenasafunctionofwatertem-
perature.Withanincreaseinwatertemperature,
thesaturationconcentrationdecreasesbecause
lessoxygencanbedissolvedinwarmwater.
Thesaturationconcentrationc
w
islinearlydepen-
dent on pressure. The saturation concentration
for oxygen at the standard pressure of 101,325
Pais11.3g/m
3
.
Ataheightof8,000meters(forexample,Mount
Everest),theairpressureisonly10,000Pawhich
meansthatthesaturationconcentrationforoxy-
genis1.1g/m
3
.
In the sea at a depth of 100 meters below sea
level,thepressureis1,100,000Pa.Thisresults
in a saturation concentration for oxygen of 113
g/m
3
.
2.2 Kinetics
As soon as water and air are in contact, gas
Gas
Distribution coeffcient (k
H
)
T=0
o
C T=10
o
C T=20
o
C
Molecularweight
(MW)[g/mol]
Nitrogen(N
2
)
0.023 0.019 0.016 28
Oxygen(O
2
)
0.049 0.041 0.033 32
Methane(CH
4
)
0.055 0.043 0.034 16
Carbondioxide(CO
2
)
1.71 1.23 0.942 44
Hydrogen sulfde (H
2
S)
4.69 3.65 2.87 34
Tetrachloroethelene(C
2
HCl
4
)
-
1
3.20 1.21 167
Tetrachloroethene(C
2
HCl
3
)
-
1
3.90 2.43 131.5
Chloroform(CHCl
3
) -
1
9.0 7.87 119.5
Ammonia(NH
3
)
5000 2900 1800 17
1
Thesesubstancesarestillintheliquidphaseatatemperatureof0
0
C and therefore the k
H
is not known
Table 1 - Distribution coeffcient for gases and the molecule weight
Gas
Volume
fraction
1
[%]
Saturation
concentration
2

c
w
[g/m
3
]
Nitrogen(N
2
) 78.084 17.9
Oxygen(O
2
) 20.948 11.3
Argon(Ar) 0.934 -
Carbondioxide(CO
2
) 0.032 0.79
Othergases 0.02 -
1
Indryairatastandardpressureof101,325Pa
2
Waterandairtemperatureof10
0
C
Table 2 - Volume fractions of gases
water treatment AERATON AND GAS TRANSFER
139
molecules will be exchanged continuously. The
directionofthenetgastransportdependsonthe
gasconcentrationinthewater(c
w
)andtheequi-
libriumconcentrationc
e
.
InFigure6thegasconcentrationinthewaterat
time t=0 is smaller than the equilibrium concen-
tration. This means that more gas can be dis-
solved in the water than is present at time t=0.
A net gas transport from air to water occurs, as
indicated by the arrow in the fgure. The net gas
transport continues until time t=infnite and the
gas concentration in the water is equal to the
equilibrium (or saturation) concentration. Then,
thegastransportfromwatertoairandviceversa
are equal. Hence, no net gas transport occurs
andthegasconcentrationinthewaterandairdo
not change. In that case, a dynamic equilibrium
isestablished.
Thevelocityofgastransferisdeterminedbythe
kinetic equation:
w
2 s w
dc
k (c c )
dt
=
inwhich:
c
w
= concentrationofagasinwater[g/m
3
]
k
2
= gas transfer coeffcient [s
-1
]

The time-dependent gas concentration change

in water is represented by the term dcw/dt.The
changesinconcentrationaredeterminedbythe
magnitude of the gas transfer coeffcient k2 and
thedrivingforce(c
s
c
w
).
The gas transfer coeffcient k
2
isadevice-depen-
dent parameter. The larger the contact surface
areabetweentheairandwaterandtherenewal
of this surface area, the better the gas transfer
and the higher the gas transfer coeffcient.

The driving force is defned by the amount of gas

that can maximally be dissolved in a volume of
water, the saturation concentration c
s
, and the
amountofgasthatispresentinavolumeofwa-
ter, the concentration c
w
. The larger the driving
force,thefasterthegastransfer.
Theincreaseintheoxygenconcentrationintime
is shown in Figure 7 for a constant c
s
(10 mg/l)
andaninitialoxygenconcentrationof0mg/l.In
the beginning, when the difference between the
c
s
andthec
w
isthelargest,thegastransferoc-
curs at maximum velocity. As time passes, the
gas concentration in water increases and the
driving force decreases, which gradually results
in a lower gas transfer rate. For t=infnite the oxy-
genconcentrationinwaterequalsthesaturation
concentrationc
s
.
Forabatchreactorthedifferentialequationcan
besolvedbyintegration,withc
w
=c
w,0
attimet=0,
taking into account that cs is constant:
2
( k t)
w s s w,0
c c (c c ) e

=
water temperature (
o
C)
c
w

(
g
/
m
3
)
15.0
12.5
10.0
7.5
5.0
2.5
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
air: 21% oxygen
pressure: 101325 Pa
Figure 5 - Saturation concentration of oxygen as a
function of the water temperature
c
g
air interface water
t=infinite
c
1
c
0
t=2
t=1
t=0
c
o
n
c
e
n
t
r
a
t
i
o
n
Figure 6 - Gas transport from air to water
AERATON AND GAS TRANSFER water treatment
140
or:
2
( k t) s w
s w,0
c c
e
c c

2.3 Mass balance

Intheprecedingparagraphitisassumedthatthe
oxygen concentration in air is constant. This is
a simplifcation that is not always applicable. For
situationsinwhichthegasconcentrationchang-
esinairareimportant,amassbalanceneedsto
beformulated.
InFigure8amassbalanceforagastransfersys-
temisschematicallypresented.
A water fow (Q
w
),withagasconcentrationinthe
water phase (c
w,0
), and an airfow (Q
a
), with a
gas concentration (c
a,0
), enter the system. The
same water fow (Q
w
), with a gas concentration
in the water phase (c
w,e
), and the same airfow
(Q
a
), with a gas concentration (c
a,e
), leave the
system.
Forthegastransfersystem,thelawofcontinuity
is valid: the total amount of gas that enters and
leavesthesystemmustbeequalandamassbal-
ancecanbesetup:
w w,0 a a,0 w w,e a a,e
Q c Q c Q c Q c + = +
By using the mass balance, the gas concentra-
tions in the air and water are linked and can be
applied in the gas transfer equations presented
below.
The RQ is the relationship between the airfow
and the water fow. Using the mass balance RQ,
that relationship can be defned as follows:

w,e w,0
a
w a,0 a,e
c c
Q
RQ
Q c c

= =

2.4 Solutions for the basic equations

Forgastransfersystemsthreeequationsarede-
rived:
- equilibriumequation
- kinetic equation
- massbalance
With these equations it is possible to calculate
the changes in the gas concentrations in water
andair.
Combining the equilibrium equation and the
mass balance results in two equations with two
unknown variables, c
w
andc
a
.Withdifferentini-
tialconditions,differentsolutionsfortheseequa-
tionscanbeobtained.
In the following section a number of equations
arepresentedthatformthebasisforthecalcula-
tion of gas concentrations in water for different
gastransfersystems.
Ifthevariationinthegasconcentrationintheair
cannot be neglected, the mass balance needs
to be taken into account. The effciency of a gas
transfersystemcanbecalculatedbydividingthe
Q
w
, c
w,0
Q
a
,c
a,0
Q
a
, c
a,e
Q
w
, c
w,e
Figure 8 - Gas transfer system with in- and outfow of
water and air
0
4
8
12
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400
time (s)
c
o
n
c
e
n
t
r
a
t
i
o
n

O
2

(
g
/
m
3
)

saturation concentration
driving force
c
o
= 0 g/m
3
c
s
= 10 g/m
3
k
2
= 0.00193 s
-1
Figure 7 - Oxygen concentration in water as a func-
tion of contact time
water treatment AERATON AND GAS TRANSFER
141
realizedgastransferbythemaximumachievable
gastransfer:

w,e w,0
s w,0
c c
K
c c

The following basic systems can be distin-

guished:
- plug fow with a constant gas concentration in
air
- complete mixed system with a constant gas
concentrationinair
- plug fow, co-current fow and a variable gas
concentrationinair
- plug fow, counter-current fow and a variable
gasconcentrationinair
- complete mixed system with a variable gas
concentrationinair
Plug fow with a constant gas concentration
in air
A characteristic of a plug fow is that the water is
supposed to fow as a frozen volume through
thegastransfersystem.Thus,allwaterparticles
inthesystemwillhavethesameretentiontime.
The effciency equation, then, can be written into
thefollowingequation:

=
2
( k t )
1
K 1 e
An example of a plug fow where the gas con-
centration in air and thus c
s
is supposed to be
constantisafallingdropletfromasprayaerator
intoalargeopenspace.Thechangeinthegas
concentrationinairasaresultofgastransfercan
thenbeneglected.
Complete mixed system with a constant gas
concentration in the air
The opposite of a plug fow is a complete mixed
system.Insuchagastransfersystemthewater
drops are mixed extensively. Consequently, the
retentiontimeofthewaterdropsisvariable.Some
water drops leave the system directly (short-cir-
cuit fow) and others stay for a prolonged period
of time in the system (eddy formation). The ef-
fciency is calculated with:

=
+
2
2
1
k t
1
K
1
Plug fow, co-current fow and a variable gas
concentration in air
The equation for co-current fow can be found
withthefollowinginitialconditions:
c
w
=c
w,0
attimet=0;
c
a
=c
a,0
attimet=0
Thefollowingsolutioncanbederived:
d
2
d
k
( k t( 1 ) )
RQ
3
k
RQ
1 e
K
1
+

=
+
Plug fow with counter-current fow and vari-
able gas concentration in the air
The equation for counter-current fow can be
foundwiththefollowinginitialconditions:
c
w
=c
w,e
attimet=t
e
;
c
a
=c
a,e
attimet=t
e
.
Thefollowingsolutioncanbederived:

=

d
2
d
2
d
k
( k t (1 ))
RQ
4
k
( k t (1 ))
k
RQ
RQ
1 e
K
1 e
System RQ
Application
drinking
water
Application
wastewater
Cascade 0.4
O
2
,CH
4
-
Toweraerator 5-100
CO
2
CHCl
3
Plateaerator 20-60
CH
4
,CO
2
,O
2
-
Sprayaerator 0.5
O
2
,CO
2
-
Deepwellaerator 0.1-0.4
O
2
O
2
Coneaerator >5 -
O
2
Table 3 - Air/water ratio for different gas transfer sys-
tems and the gases that can be removed
by the system
AERATON AND GAS TRANSFER water treatment
142
Complete mixed system with variable gas
concentration in air
Thefollowingsolutioncanbederived:

=
+ +
d
2
5
k 1
k t RQ
1
K
1
In Figure 9 the effciencies for oxygen (k
H
=0.039
atT=10C)forthe5basicequationsareplotted
against the RQ with a k
2
tof1.61.
The lines for K
1
and K
2
are obviously constant,
because, in this case, RQ is not of importance.
The lines for K
3
, K
4
and K
5
climb at increasing
values of RQ. When RQ approaches infnity, the
lines for the different plug fow systems K
1
, K
3

andK
4
andforthemixedsystemsK
2
andK
5
co-
incide.
It can be concluded that a counter-current fow
reactor has a higher effciency than a co-current
fow reactor, and plug fow reactors have a higher
effciency than a complete mixed system.
The RQ is an important factor for the gas transfer
systems.
During the design of a gas transfer system, the
RQ value must be chosen. This depends on the
required effciency and the type of gas that needs
toberemoved(Example1).
The example to the right shows that the RQ nec-
essary for a 90% removal effciency of chloro-
form is 200 times greater than the value of RQ
formethane.Thismeansthatforthesamewater
fow the airfow through the system and the ca-
pacityoftheventilatormusteachbeatleast200
timesgreater.
A general rule that is applicable for the infuence
of the type of gas on the effciency is: the higher
the value of k
H
, the more air is needed for re-
moval, resulting in an increased RQ. Different
gas transfer systems have different characteris-
tics with respect to RQ.
A cascade, for example, has an RQ of approxi-
mately 0.4 and is therefore suitable for the re-
movalofmethaneandtheadditionofoxygen,but
isnotusedfortheremovalofchloroform.
Tower aerators are operated under different RQ
valuesandcanbeusedforgasesthatareeither
easy or diffcult to remove, like tetra- and trichlo-
roethene.
Deepwellaeratorshavethesamecharacteristics
ascascades.
Example 1: The effect of RQ on the eff-
ciency
Calculateforagastransfersystem,thatcan
berepresentedbyacompletemixedsystem,
the RQ that is necessary for a gas removal
effciency of 90% for methane, carbon dioxide
andchloroform.Assumethatthecontacttime
in the reactor is infnite and that the water tem-
peratureis10
0
C. The effciency for a complete
mixedsystemcanbecalculatedwiththefol-
lowingequation:

=
+ +
d
2
5
k 1
k t RQ
1
K
1
The contact time is infnite, so 1/k
2
t=0.The
above equation can be simplifed as:
=
+
d
5
k
RQ
1
K
1
Gas Efficiency
[%]
K
5

[-] K
D
[-] RQ
Methane 90 0.90 0.043 0.39
Carbondioxide 90 0.90 1.23 11.1
Chloroform 90 0.90 9.62 86.6
k5 k4
k3
k2
k1
0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
k1
k2
k3
k4
k5
RQ
k
2
t
k
D
T
K

(
-
)

=
=
=
1.61
0.039
10
o
C
Figure 9 - Effciencies of the different basic equations
water treatment AERATON AND GAS TRANSFER
143
3 Practice
3.1 Cascade
The water in a cascade is falling onto several
steps. Each step contains an overfow weir and a
receivinggutter.Whenwaterpassesoveraweir,
an interface between air and water is created.
Whenthejetsubmergesintothereceivingbody
of water, signifcant amounts of air are entrained.
Theentrainedairisthendispersedintheformof
bubbles throughout the receiving body of water,
whichleadstoanexcessivetransferofgases.
The gas transfer takes place at the interface be-
tweenthewaterandtheairbubbles(Figure10).
Becausetheamountofairthatisentrainedislim-
ited, the RQ is also limited. According to practical
measurements and model investigations, the RQ
ofcascadesisapproximately0.4.
The energy consumption of a cascade is 10-30
Wh/m
3
.
Effciency
An estimate of the effciency for a cascade can
be made, assuming that there is a relationship
between the measured fall height and the eff-
ciency. The effciency of a cascade depends on
thefallheightofeachcascadestepandthenum-
berofsteps:
w, e w, 0 n
s w, 0
c c
K 1 ( 1 k)
c c

= =

inwhich:
k = effciency for each step [-]
n = numberofsteps
In Table 4 the effciency is given for oxygen, car-
bondioxideandmethaneasafunctionofthefall
heightofastep.WiththedatafromTable4and
the equation mentioned above, the effciency of a
cascadewithnstepscanbecalculated.
Inpractice,thetotalfallheightofallthecascade
stepstogethervariesbetween2and7meters.
From Table 4 it can be seen that oxygen and
methane effciencies increase with an increase in
fall height, but that the carbon dioxide effciency
remains constant. This is a result of the low RQ
value for cascades. Carbon dioxide removal re-
quires a higher value of RQ. The interface be-
tween air and water gets saturated rapidly with
carbon dioxide, regardless of the retention time
of air bubbles in the water, which is dependent
onthefallheight.Thegreaterthefallheight,the
deeperthepenetrationinthetrough,andthelon-
gertheretentiontime.
Weir loading
Weirloadingistheamountofwaterpermeterper
hour that fows over the weir.
The weir loading can be calculated by dividing
the fow by the net weir length (Figure 11):
=
w
w
nett
Q
q
L
inwhich:
Figure 10 - Scheme of a cascade
K [%] h = 0.2 h = 0.4 h = 0.6 h = 0.8 h = 1.0 h = 1.2
O
2
14 25 36 46 51 55
CO
2
14 14 15 15 15 15
CH
4
14 27 37 48 56 62
Table 4 - Effcency coeffcient k of different gases as a function of the weir height
AERATON AND GAS TRANSFER water treatment
144
q
w
= weirloading[m
3
/mh]
L
nett
= totalweirlength[m]
From various experiments it can be concluded
that the effciency of a cascade is almost inde-
pendent of the weir loading. The advantage of
thisisthatthegastransferisstillsatisfactoryat
production fows that are lower than the design
fow.
With cascades the weir loading is generally be-
tween50and100m
3
/(mh).
Trough depth
Thetroughdepthofacascadeischoseninsuch
awaythatthefallingwaterjetwillnotreachthe
bottom.Air bubbles are dragged to a maximum
depth and this results in a maximum contact or
retentiontimeandamaximumgastransfertime.
Asaruleofthumb,thetraydepthmustbemore
thantwo-thirdsofthefallheight.
Trough width
Thetroughwidthmustbelargeenoughtoreceive
thefallingwaterjet(Figure12).
The fall time of the water jet can be calculated
withthefollowingequation:
=
2
1
h g t
2
or

=
2 h
t
g
Thedistancexcanbecalculatedwhenthewater
velocityv
o
is known. To calculate the velocity, the
equation of the complete overfow is used:
2
3 w
net
Q
d
g L
=

and
w
o
net
Q
v
L d
=

inwhich:
Q
w
=discharge[m
3
/s]
d = thickness of the falling water jet [m]
v
o
=velocityofthefallingwaterjet[m/s]
The distance can be calculated with the equa-
tion:
=
o
x v t
Withthedistancexthetroughwidthcanbecal-
culated.
As a rule of thumb, the trough width is at least
twicethedistancex:
= B 2 x
Itisobviousthatthetroughwidthmustbecalcu-
X
h
H
B
Figure 12 - Scheme of the width of a cascade trough
80 mm 80 mm 80 mm + + + (...) = L
net
40 mm
L
gross
Figure 11 - Weir loading of a cascade aerator
water treatment AERATON AND GAS TRANSFER
145
lated using the maximum fow that is discharged
overtheweir.
Confgurations
Thecascadetroughscanbeplacedintwodiffer-
entways.Theycanbeplacednexttoeachother
orontopofeachother(Figure13).
Placingthemnexttoeachotherisadvantageous
because it looks attractive.
The advantage of putting them on top of each
other is that less space is used. The disadvan-
tage, however, is that this makes maintenance
more diffcult.
3.2 Tower aerator
Atoweraeratorconsistsofacylinderofsteelor
synthetic material that is flled with a packing me-
dium.
Packing media can consist of stacked slats or
tubes, or specially designed packing material like
thePall-ringandtheBerl-saddle.
Inthetopsectionofthetowerthewaterisdivided
over the packing medium and fows down over
the medium surface. As a result of the fow of wa-
ter over the packing medium, a large contact sur-
facebetweentheairandwateriscreatedforgas
transfer.Inaddition,thewaterfallsindropsfrom
one packing element to the other, continuously
forming new drops thus renewing the air-water
interface.
Theaircanberenewedbynaturalventilationor
with the help of a ventilator. In case a ventilator
isused,theaircanhaveaco-orcounter-current
fow in the tower. In Figure 14 a tower aerator
with counter-current fow is represented.
In Figure 15 different types of packing material
are represented. The packing material can be
produced from synthetic material, metal, carbon
orceramicmaterial.
Thedimensionsoftheindividualpiecesvaryfrom
6 mm to 75 mm. In practice, installations used
for purifying drinking water use mostly synthetic
packing material with a dimension of 25-50 mm.
Figure 13 - Cascades beside each other and on top
of each other
A
B
C
D
E
A influent
B packing material
C air supply
D effluent
E air discharge
Figure 14 - Representation of a counter-current tower
aerator
AERATON AND GAS TRANSFER water treatment
146
Surface loading
The surface loading (fow divided by surface
area)thatinpracticeisusedintoweraeratorsis
40to100m
3
/(m
2
h).
The applied packing height, that determines the
retention time of the water in the tower aerator,
variesbetween3and5meters.
Effciency
With tower aerators, removal effciencies can be
ashighas95%.
The applied RQ depends on the gases that need
toberemoved.
InFigure16theresultsofapilotexperimentus-
ingatoweraeratorarerepresented.
It can be concluded that the effciency hardly
changeswhenthesurfaceloadingisincreased.
This is considered remarkable. In most gas trans-
fer systems ,a larger fow results in a greater fow
rate, resulting in a shorter retention time for the
water, and a lower effciency.
This insensitivity to the surface loading with a
towercascadecanbeexplainedbythefactthat
theretentiontimeinatoweraeratorispractically
independent of the water fow. The water falls un-
der the infuence of gravity, so the retention time
is mainly determined by the type of packing ma-
terialusedandtheheightofthebed.Itisindiffer-
ent if more or less water falls through the tower
becausetheretentiontimeremainsunchanged.
In Figure 17 more results from the removal ef-
fciency experiments are given.
For all points in the graph, with the combina-
tion of packing height and RQ, an effciency of
99% is reached. From this graph it can be con-
cluded that, at a certain point, an increasing RQ
value does not lead to a reduction of the packing
height.Atthatpointtheamountofairisnotde-
cisivebuttheminimumnecessaryretentiontime
forremovalof99%isreached.
Clogging
A disadvantage of the tower aerator is that the
system is sensitive to clogging. If iron (Fe
2+
) is
presentingroundwater,itwilloxidizeinthetower
aerator(Fe
3+
) and remain on the packing material
(Fe(OH)
3
). Because the oxidized iron infuences
thegastransfernegatively,itwillbenecessaryto
back fush the tower aerator. Water with a high
velocity,oracombinationofwaterandair,isthen
fushed through the tower aerator, removing the
iron contamination from the packing material. In
addition to fushing, it will be necessary to pe-
riodically clean periodically the packing mate-
rial chemically. In this case, the packing material
mustberemovedfromthetoweraerator.
Co- or counter-current fow
Atoweraeratorcanbeoperatedinbothco-cur-
rent fow and counter-current fow (Figure 18).
80
85
90
95
100
0
20 40 60 80 100
e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y

(
%
)

RQ (-)
18 m
3
/(m
2
*h)
36 m
3
/(m
2
*h)
trichloro ethene
packing material: hy-pack steel 30mm
height packing material 3m
temperature: 11
o
C
54 m
3
/(m
2
*h)
72 m
3
/(m
2
*h)
Figure 16 - Removal effciency of a tower aerator as a
function of RQ at different surface loadings
Figure 15 - Different types of packing material
water treatment AERATON AND GAS TRANSFER
147
Intheparagraphontheoryitwasexplainedthat
counter-current fow results in a higher effciency
than co-current fow. Still, co-current fow is ap-
plied.Thereasonsforthisare:
- to avoid high carbon dioxide removals which
will cause limestone scaling. Using a co-cur-
rent aerator with low values of RQ, the addi-
tion of oxygen and the removal of methane
are suffcient while carbon dioxide removal
willbelimited.
- to apply needed high surface loadings. Us-
ing counter-current fow, fooding can occur.
Thismeansthatawaterlayeriscreatedinthe
columnbecauseofthebuoyancyofair,which
can even result in the tower aerator flling up
withwater.
3.3 Plate aerator
Aplateaeratorconsistsofahorizontalperforated
plate. Water fows over the plate and air is blown
through its orifces, creating a bubble bed of air
andwaterabovetheplate(Figure19).
This results in intense contact between the air
andthewater.
The combination of horizontal water fow and ver-
tical airfow (i.e., the fows are perpendicular), is
called cross-fow aeration.
The height of the bubble bed is determined by
adjustingtheheightoftheweirattheendofthe
plate.
Thediameteroftheholesintheperforatedplate
isusually1-1.5mm.Theopensurfaceareavar-
ies from 1.5 % to 3% of the total plate surface
area.
Theenergyconsumptionofaplateaeratoris30-
40Wh/m
3
.
Duetothereducedconstructionheightandhead
loss,thistechniqueoffersgoodpossibilitiesforin-
corporatingitinexistingtreatmentplants.Some-
timesitispossibletoplacetheplateaeratorsin
the flter building directly above the flters.
Effciency
The effciency of plate aerators is mainly deter-
mined by the applied RQ and the retention time
of the water on the plate.There is no analytical
equation for calculating the effciency, unlike the
co- and counter-current fows.
In practice, the applied RQs vary from 20 to 60
andtheappliedsurfaceloadingvariesfrom30to
0
5
10
15
0
10 20 30
40
h
e
i
g
h
t

p
a
c
k
i
n
g

m
a
t
e
r
i
a
l

(
m
)

RQ (-)
18 m
3
/(m
2
*h)
36 m
3
/(m
2
*h)
trichloro ethene
packing material: hy-pack steel 30mm
efficiency: 99%
temperature: 11
o
C
54 m
3
/(m
2
*h)
72 m
3
/(m
2
*h)
Figure 17 - Required packing height and RQ to achieve
an effciency of 99% at different surface
loadings
co-current flow
counter-current flow
air
water water
air
Figure 18 - Design alternatives for tower aerators
air
water
Figure 19 - Representation of a plate aerator
AERATON AND GAS TRANSFER water treatment
148
tween air and water is saturated. Because the
dropletremainsintactduringthefall,theinterface
isnotrenewedandthegastransferstops.
Energy consumption
Sprayaeratorsneedacertainpressuretoguar-
anteeanequallydistributedspray.Forsprayers
that produce fne droplets (mist), the pressure is
thegreatest,abouta10-meterwatercolumn.
Theenergyconsumptionofthesehighpressure
sprayaeratorsis,therefore,thelargest.
Clogging
Adisadvantageofsprayersistheirhighsensitiv-
itytoclogging.
Alternatives in practice
40m
3
/(m
2
.h).
Clogging
Plateaeratorsaresensitivetocloggingbecause
of the small orifces in the plate. Iron deposits
found on the plate can block the orifces and af-
fect the fow through the plate.
Short-circuit fows can occur, infuencing nega-
tivelythegastransfer.
Depending on the iron loading, the plate has to
be cleaned once a month or once every other
month. It might also be necessary to clean the
platechemicallyonceortwiceayear.

3.4 Spray aerator

Spray aerators divide water into small droplets,
whichresultsinalargeair-waterinterface(Figure
20).Theenergyconsumptionofsprayaeratorsis
10-50Wh/m
3
,dependingonthetypeofaerator.
Anadvantageofsprayaeratorsistheeaseofin-
corporation into existing installations.The spray
aerators can be placed directly above the flters.
Effciency
When the air is intensively renewed, the effcien-
cy of spray aerators can be calculated with the
followingequation:


= =
2
2
2h
( k )
g ( k t)
K 1 e 1 e
The effciency for the addition of oxygen can vary
from 65 to 80%, for the carbon dioxide removal
the effciency varies from 60 to 80%.
In Figure 21 the effciency of the Dresden-nozzle
for carbon dioxide removal as a function of the
fallheightisshown.
It is remarkable that after a certain fall height the
effciency remains more or less constant. The
reason is that after some time the interface be-
Figure 20 - Spraying small droplets of water
2
1
0
0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1
K
CO
2
[-]
h

[
m
]

Figure 21 - Effciency Dresden-nozzle as a function of
the fall height
water treatment AERATON AND GAS TRANSFER
149
Spray aerators can be divided into two groups:
upward-anddownward-directedsprayaerators.
An example of the frst type is the Amsterdam
spray aerator (Figure 22). In this type of spray
aerator, two jets are directed perpendicular to
each other, dispersing the water. This results in
manydropletsintheair.Duringthefallofthewa-
ter droplets, the gas transfer takes place.
Anexampleofthesecondtypeofsprayeristhe
Dresdensprayer(Figure23),ortheplatespray-
er. Here, the water fows through a plastic tube
and strikes a disc (plate), shaping the water like
an umbrella, and eventually disintegrating into
droplets.
3.5 Alternative aeration systems
Vacuum gas transfer system
Avacuumgastransfersystemisusuallyexecut-
ed as a tower aerator flled with a packing mate-
rialinwhichthepressureisloweredbyavacuum
pump(Figure24).
Due to the vacuum pump, gas is removed from
the tower, resulting in lower gas concentrations
and a decreased pressure there. Because the
gasconcentrationsinthetowerarelowerthanin
theatmosphere,thesaturationconcentrationsin
thetowerarealsolower.Becauseofthelowsat-
uration concentrations, it is possible to remove
higher levels of gas from the water than is pos-
sible under atmospheric conditions. This makes
a vacuum gas transfer system ideal for remov-
ingdissolvednitrogenandoxygenfromthewater
and is frequently applied before the denitrifcation
process.
The effciency of the vacuum gas transfer system
depends on the vacuum pressure that is main-
tained in the tower. In the absence of an air fow,
the RQ equals zero. Since oxygen is not brought
into the system, oxidation of iron cannot occur.
This allows the water to be pumped to the next
treatment process, contrary to a cascade. In
a cascade oxidation of iron does occur, which,
whenthewaterispumpedtothenexttreatment
Figure 22 - Amsterdam sprayer
Figure 23 - Dresden sprayer
A
B
D
E
A influent
B packing material
C air supply
D effluent
E air discharge
E
pump
pump
Figure 24 - Representation of a vacuum liquid-gas
exchange
AERATON AND GAS TRANSFER water treatment
150
process, causes the iron focs to break up making
them harder to remove in the flter.
Like the tower aeration system, the vacuum sys-
temisnotverysensitivetosurfaceloading.The
applied surface loading varies from 50 to 100
m
3
/(m
2
.h).
Agreatdisadvantageofthevacuumgastransfer
systemisitshighenergyconsumption,requiring
approximately1,600Wh/m
3
tomaintainit.
Deep-well aerator
Water fows through the deep well, entraining air
byaventuri(Figure25right),orairissuppliedat
thebottomofthewell(Figure25left).
Due to the high water pressure at the bottom
ofthewell,anincreaseinairpressureisestab-
lished,whichresultsinahigheroxygenconcen-
tration. With a higher saturation concentration,
more oxygen can be dissolved into the water
thanatatmosphericconditions.
Deepwellaeratorsaremainlyusedinthetreat-
ment of wastewater, because the oxygen con-
sumptionofwastewaterisnormallyhigh.
Theadvantageofadeepwellaeratoristhatlarge
amountsofwatercanbetreatedagainstrelative-
lylowenergycosts.Theenergyconsumptionfor
thedeepwellaeratorisapproximately5Wh/m
3
.
Venturi aerator
Theventuriaeratorconsistsofatubewithare-
ducedcross-sectionalarea,wheretheincreased
water velocity occurs. At the place where the
water velocity is the highest (through orifces
in the tube), air is entrained. Due to the strong
turbulence, an intensive mixing of the entrained
air with the water leads to the dispersion of fne
bubbles.
Since the amount of air that can be entrained
is relatively small, the RQ of a venturi aerator is
rathersmall,varyingbetween0.2to0.4.
The effciency for oxygen addition ranges from 80
to95%.
The advantage of the venturi aerator is that it
requires little space and the system is not ex-
pensive. A disadvantage is that only limited fow
variationscanbeallowedforanoptimaleffect.
Theenergyconsumptionisapproximately20-30
Wh/m
3
.
Bubble aeration
Thetransferofgasbymeansofabubbleaera-
tor is accomplished by injecting compressed
air through orifces of various sizes into the
water(Figure27).Airisdistributedbyperforated
pipes at the bottom of a tank. During the rise of
the formed bubbles, gas transfer takes place.
This system is mainly used in wastewater treat-
ment. The principle of gas transfer by bubble
aerationisthesameasincascades.
Cone aerator
Aconeaeratorisusedasagastransfersystem
forthetreatmentofwastewater.
The cone aerator consists of a large rotating
h
H
2 rows of air pipes
inflowing
water
outflowing water
supply of
compressed
air
discharge
aerated
water
supply of
raw water
discharge
of sludge
Figure 25 - Design alternatives for a deep-well aerator
air filter
air supply
raw water supply
aerated water evacuation
Figure 26 - Representation of a venturi aerator
water treatment AERATON AND GAS TRANSFER
151
blade in the form of a cone, situated in a basin
on the waters surface(Figure 28). Through the
blade, water is abstracted from underneath the
coneandsprayedlaterallyoverthewaterssur-
face.Becausewaterdropletsareformedandair
isentrained,gastransfercanbeachieved.
As a result of the suction of water from under-
neathandthehorizontaldistributionofthewater,
a circular fow is created and the water in the ba-
sinisaerated.
Figure 27 - Bubble aeration system Figure 28 - Cone aerator
Further reading
Watertreatment:Principlesanddesign,MWH
(2005),(ISBN0471110183)(1948pgs)
Modellering van intensieve gasuitwisselings- gasuitwisselings-
systemen(inDutch),A.W.C.vandeHelm(MSc
thesis)

AERATON AND GAS TRANSFER water treatment

152