100 Chapter 3 AEROBIC BIOLOGICAL PURIICATION AND TERTIARY TREATMENTS The water is dispersed on the surface of the bed by a rotating jet device, the sprinkler, and collects on the bottom of the structure (Fig, 35). A secondary settler is optional downstream from the trickling filter. The water directly downstream from the filter is often recycled upstream from it co keep hydraulic flushing at a minimum. Trickling filters can run under the following operating conditions in refinery WW treat- ment: © Hydraulic load: 1 to 4 m*h7! (ie. 0.2 to 0.8 space velocity for a height of 5 m) * Volume load: 1 to 3 kg BODs per cubic meter of fill per day. © Efficiency is closely related to the composition of the water and ranges from 50 to 75% of the BODs or phenols, depending on feed and recycling. The low efficiency, though often high enough to remove the requited BODs, could sometimes justify two trickling filters set up in line for phenols to be removed to required levels. 3.1.2.2 Operating the trickling filter with refinery WW After colonizing the support medium, a thick biofilm develops. It looks particularly gelatinous if chere is a supply of insoluble HC. When the water percolates, the dissolved oxygen is diffused to a shallow depth in the film and does not reach its core. So there are two coexisting zones: an outer one in aerobiosis and an inner one in anaerobiasis. The bio- logical sludge produced aerobically can therefore be braken down anaerobically. Anaerobic action, which enables the sludge to be mineralized, is carried out in beds with a low percolation load and the growth of the film is limited by the predators mentioned above. In beds with a high hydraulic load maintained by recirculation there is a self-scouring phenomenon that keeps a thick film from forming and the bacterial flora that develops is mate homogeneous. Sludge digestion is slight and a secondary settler will become necessary depending on downstream treatment. These facilities are economically attractive despite the costly plastics because they are simple, there is often no secondary settler and, theoretically, no frequent measurement. In practice however, difficulties in operating some of them have caused the bed mass to become clogged in the space of a few months. As a result, the bed material has had to be cleaned either in situ or after removal from the unit. Clogging may be due ro several reasons in a refinery: * An overly large amount of hydrocarbons coming from physicochemical puri which is particularly likely when the purification step consists of filtration without coagulation. * An inadequate anaerobic process to break down the sludge produced in the bed, a process which is necessary in a trickling filter. As a matter of fact, the still too common presence of insoluble HC coming from physicochemical purification obviously enriches the film in HC which in turn are not prone to anaerobic degradation. They are capable of malting a barrier to the migration of microorganisms or even. enaymes. As a resule, there may be an exaggerated densification of the film which becomes a sludge bed and increases the water flow pressure drop by increasing the mass of the trickling filter. Hence purification efficiency can gradually decline and a poorly designed support floor can collapse. These malfunctions occurred mainly with random fill macerials that tend to compact dramatically (10 to 20%) in a well-nigh irreversible process after a few months! operating time.