Design recommendation

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Page Wastewater treatment plant function 1 (6) Conventional activated sludge treatment aeration

Table of contents
1 General recommendations guideline....................................................................2 2 AOR-to-SOR conversion ........................................................................................3 3 Complete mix activated sludge aeration design considerations .......................4 3.1 Fine bubble aeration estimates ..........................................................................4 3.2 Fine bubble considerations ................................................................................4 3.3 Aeration tank sizing and equipment configurations ............................................4
3.3.1 Sizing and density of diffusers ............................................................................................... 4 3.3.2 Non-tapered aeration............................................................................................................. 5 3.3.3 Tapered aeration ................................................................................................................... 5

3.4 Pressure monitoring and gas cleaning ...............................................................5

3.4.1 Flow monitoring...................................................................................................................... 5 3.4.2 Pressure monitoring............................................................................................................... 5

Design recommendation

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Page Wastewater treatment plant function 2 (6) Conventional activated sludge treatment aeration

Aeration design recommendations

1 General recommendations guideline
Illustrated in this section is the design aid and general considerations in evaluating sizing and the possible oxygen demand in biological systems. First, a number of basic points need to be considered: What type of wastewater function is available? Is aeration required for the biological processing of nitrogen and carbonaceous material? Is aeration required for odour control or cleaning? Is aeration required for separating particles? Is aeration required for mixing purposes?

The field conditions are needed to estimate the actual oxygen requirements (AOR): What is the sites elevation? Site temperature and climate, the varying temperatures on an annual basis What are the BOD variations: peak, average, and minimum loadings What are the working dissolved oxygen (DO) levels? Diffuser submergence Alpha and Beta factors

AOR and standard oxygen requirement (SOR) specifications recommendations: If possible, perform an AOR-to-SOR conversion to avoid confusion If that is not possible, provide the oxygen requirements as AOR and provide as much information that is available to assist the supplier in this conversion. SOR determines the sizing and design of aeration equipment.

It is important to consider the stream loadings. These are BOD loadings that are returned to the aeration process. If they are transported back to the aeration process, they may elevate the oxygen requirements significantly, for example downstream the sludge treatment. Possible sources of loadings are: Septage receiving stations

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Page Wastewater treatment plant function 3 (6) Conventional activated sludge treatment aeration

Centrifuge concentrate Effluent from dissolved air flotation thickeners Supernatant from aerobic or anaerobic digestion Filter press or vacuum filter filtrate

2 AOR-to-SOR conversion
SOR calculations are needed to estimate the size of the aeration equipment. The AOR demand is the sum of the following sources: BOD. For solids retention times of 5-10 days, the kg of oxygen per kg of BOD usually varies from 0.92-1.07. A conservative value of 1.1 kg O2/kg BOD is used on occasion. Higher values are valid for long detention times with low organic loadings and additional sludge oxidation. Ammonia. Usually one kg of ammonia requires 4.3-4.6 kg of oxygen. Oxygen requirements are reduced if denitrification occurs in the treatment step as oxygen is released when nitrite is reduced to nitrogen gas. This could be used as a safety factor in the overall design. Sidestream loading must be considered

Generally, the following equation (1) can be used to convert AOR to SOR for equipment sizing:
SOR = AOR Csat 20 Pfield DO field T 20 Csat T P msi

(1)

Where AOR = actual oxygen requirements (field conditions) SOR = standard oxygen requirements (standard conditions) KL a wa s t e wa t e r = KL a t a p wa t e r = saturation factor Pfield = barometric pressure at the treatment site Pmsi = barometric pressure at mean sea level T = operating temperature of wastewater (C) Csat20 = surface DO saturation concentration at 20C and standard conditions for the particular aeration equipment at the design submergence CsatT = Surface DO saturation concentration at design temperature T and 14.7 PSIA for the particular equipment at the submergence DOfield = dissolved oxygen in wastewater = temperature correction factor

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Page Wastewater treatment plant function 4 (6) Conventional activated sludge treatment aeration

Alpha () is generally the most difficult parameter to estimate. It is often affected by: BOD loading Type of aeration Process (nitrifying or non-nitrifying) Type of mixing Location in the tank Waste type Submergence of device

3 Complete mix activated sludge aeration design considerations

Suitable aeration for a conventional (complete mix) activated sludge system for the supply of oxygen for biological reactions and to keep solids in suspension is fine bubble aeration.

3.1 Fine bubble aeration estimates

For an activated sludge process, fine bubble aeration is recommended. Rule of thumb estimates generally apply to fine bubble aeration: AOR/SOR ratio 0.47 Oxygen transfer efficiency (OTE) 6.5% per meter of diffuser submergence in clear water Air contains 23% oxygen by weight under the standard conditions Csat20 is generally lower for coarse bubble aeration compared to fine bubble aeration after 1.2 m of submergence. 0.6 for domestic wastewater Alpha gradients can exist in coarse bubble aeration 95-99% in wastewater compared to pure water. Accepted range 0.95-0.99.

= 1.024 is generally used.

3.2 Fine bubble considerations

Increased diffuser intensity and lower air rates per diffuser increase OTE Increased OTE lower air and power requirements

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Page Wastewater treatment plant function 5 (6) Conventional activated sludge treatment aeration

Basins with high length to width ratio or waste with low organic strength, the air required to mix liquors could exceed the oxygen demand at some points, which is defined as mixing limited. Use valve throttling.

3.3 Aeration tank sizing and equipment configurations

3.3.1 Sizing and density of diffusers The following guideline can be used to approximately determine the sizing of the aeration tank and the equipment configurations. A number of steps need to be taken: Calculate AOR from equation 1. Size the aeration tank. Determine the BOD loading if applicable for aeration function [mass per volume, M/V]. Determine the loading of BOD on a mass per day basis. Determine the tank volume. With this information, the depth and width of the tank, calculate the tank dimensions. Air requirements. Estimate SOR from AOR/SOR ratio estimates. With submergence of aerator, determine OTE. From the oxygen weight of air, the actual weight of air and oxygen demand, calculate the air rate requirement [V/T].

The tank floor is covered with diffusers and can be expressed as an AT/AD (area tank/area diffusers) ratio. A large number means less density. Practical range: 4.5-20 Values larger than 20 may not keep solids suspended or mix liquors.

3.3.2 Non-tapered aeration In an activated sludge system, an oxygen gradient may exist along the tank with high oxygen demands at the head of the basin. Non-tapered systems have a uniform distribution of diffusers on the basin floor. Non-tapered systems are suitable for complete mix reactors. For SBR, the valves must be throttled to match the oxygen gradients and prevent over aeration at the basin tail. Overall blower output requires the re-throttling of the aeration valves. System operates at the least efficiency at the head of the basin.

3.3.3 Tapered aeration In tapered systems, the distribution of the equipment is proportional to the oxygen demand gradient. Consistent OTE means better overall efficiency

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Page Wastewater treatment plant function 6 (6) Conventional activated sludge treatment aeration

No diffusers operate at excessively low or high rates Substantial reduction in power consumption.

3.4 Pressure monitoring and gas cleaning

3.4.1 Flow monitoring If fouling is an issue for monitoring the ageing of a diffuser, install a pressure monitoring system. Consider the following: Indicate the need for cleaning or a replacement Significant power savings can be made Process tool to balance air flows between the aeration grids Applicable to both porous ceramic and flexible membrane diffuser materials Specify the pressure monitoring on a portion or all the fine bubble aeration grids to provide the system headloss to the operator Without a gas cleaning system, use pressure monitoring on one aerating grid per tank.

3.4.2 Pressure monitoring Porous ceramics may require regular maintenance For gas cleaning purposes, there is no real minimum for the number of diffusers per aeration grid Preferred design maximum of diffusers per aeration grid is 1,000 to 1,500. Absolute maximum number of diffusers per grid is 2,000.