Unit Operations

Unit Operations in Wastewater Treatment typically comprises a string of

physical, chemical, and biological processes aimed at the removal of the polluting
load and the production of a final product that can safely be disposed of in
watercourses and=or reused. Of the various processes involved, physical processes,
which are also commonly referred to as unit operations, play a major role
throughout the various treatment stages. In a conventional wastewater treatment
plant (WWTP), typical efficiencies in terms of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)
and suspended solids (SS) removal.

 Preliminary treatment (also referred to as pretreatment): it aims to

remove bulky and large solids, thus preconditioning the effluent prior
to the remainder of the treatment. This stage involves several unit
operations such as screening, sedimentation for grit removal,
skimming, and flow equalization.
 Primary treatment: unit operations such as sedimentation and flotation
are employed to remove the suspended and colloid fractions of the
effluent.
 Secondary treatment: it aims to remove organic material through
biological processes.
 Tertiary or advanced treatment: it aims to remove nutrients such as
nitrogen and phosphorous, residual suspended solids, inorganics and
toxic and refractory organics that have escaped from previous stages.
This can be done through physical (e.g., filtration, screening, air
stripping, adsorption, ion exchange), chemical (precipitation,
oxidation), or biological processes. However, with the exception of
very few countries that have nutrient removal regulations for
ecological reasons, typical WWTPs do not go beyond secondary
treatment.
 Disinfection removes water pathogens by chemical (e.g., chlorination
or ozonation) or physical processes (e.g., UV irradiation). The treated
effluent can then be safely discharged in natural receivers or partially
reused (e.g., for irrigation).
  Sludge treatment includes processes such as thickening, dewatering,
drying, and digestion and aims to reduce the volume of the sludge to
be handled as well as to stabilize biologically the final product, which
is usually then sent to landfills (although it also may be used as
fertilizer or fuel).

UNIT OPERATIONS IN PRELIMINARY TREATMENT

Screening:

Screening aims to remove bulky materials that may block and consequently
damage pumps, pipelines, and other mechanical equipment. This is done through
the use of screens (or racks) that retain the oversized materials of the effluent.
According to the size of their openings screens are classified as follows:

1. Bar or coarse screens with openings between 20–150 mm; these are
commonly used in preliminary treatment to remove very large solids.
2. Fine screens with openings between 3–6 mm; they are also used in
preliminary treatment to remove medium-sized solids as well as in
primary treatment to remove some suspended solids.
3. Microscreens with openings between 0.02–0.3 mm; they are used in
tertiary treatment for suspended solids removal.

Sedimentation:

Sedimentation (or settling) refers to the separation of solid particles from

suspensions due to gravity. In preliminary treatment, sedimentation aims to remove
grid, sand, and other inorganic materials with diameter greater than about 0.15–
0.20 mm. Depending on the concentration of solids and the possible interactions
between the particles, four types of settling can occur:

1. Discrete particles settling (type I). It occurs in highly dilute

suspensions where the particles settle without interacting with each
other. Grit removal belongs to type I sedimentation.
2. Flocculent settling (type II). It occurs in relatively dilute suspensions
where the particles tend to agglomerate resulting in the formation of
larger particles, which settle faster. Type II sedimentation is a typical
primary treatment process.
 3. Hindered or zone settling (type III). It occurs in suspensions with
moderate to high concentrations of solids. Particles interact in such a
way that hinders settling of neighboring solids.
4. Compression (type IV). It occurs in highly concentrated suspensions,
where the solids are brought into physical contact with each other.
Both type III and type IV settling occurs in secondary sedimentation
tanks.

Primary sedimentation aims to remove organic and inorganic suspended

solids whose size ranges from 0.001 to 0.1 mm. The process may achieve SS and
BOD removal up to about 70% and 40%, respectively, and is a flocculent (type II)
settling.

To design a primary sedimentation tank experiments are carried out in a

laboratory with a settling column. whose height is equal to the depth of the
sedimentation tank (e.g., 3 m). Unlike the settling column used in grit removal, this
one has several sampling ports located at equal intervals, typically 0.6 m. The
effluent is introduced in the column and stirred to achieve uniform solids
concentration. Samples are then withdrawn from the various sampling ports at
regular time intervals and are analyzed with respect to the concentration of
suspended solids.
The primary sludge (including solids and liquid) flow rate is calculated as follows:

Flotation:

Flotation aims at the removal of fine suspended particles whose separation

by sedimentation is practically infeasible as it would require very long treatment
times. In general, particles with specific gravity less than unity tend to float
spontaneously (e.g., as in the case of skimming); on the other hand, flotation of
particles that are only marginally heavier than water can be assisted by introducing
fine air bubbles in the liquid.