Shebin-Elkom Engineering faculty

Civil Engineering Department

Report on

Oxygen sag curve

(CVE555 Water Ecology Engineering)

By:
Eng./ Abd el Rahman fathy amer

Under supervision of:

Prof.Dr./ Hazem Ibrahim Saleh
Dr./ Hani Samir Girguis
 Contents

1. Introduction

2. Sources and sinks of oxygen

3. Streeter-Phelps Model – DO sag curve

4. Example

5. References

2
Page
 1. Introduction

Dissolved oxygen (DO) analysis measures the amount of gaseous

oxygen (O2) dissolved in an aqueous solution. Oxygen gets into water by
diffusion from the surrounding air, by aeration (rapid movement), and as
a product of photosynthesis. DO concentration dips as oxygen-demanding
materials are oxidized.
DO is measured in standard solution units such as milligrams O2 per liter
(mg/L), millilitres O2 per liter (ml/L), millimoles O2 per liter (mmol/L), and
3
moles O2 per cubic meter (mol/m ).

2. Sources and sinks of oxygen

2.1 Major sources of oxygen:

1- Reaeration from the atmosphere
2- Photosynthesis of aquatic plants

2.2 Factors of oxygen depletion:

1- BOD of waste discharge
2- DO in waste discharge is less than that in the river
3- Nonpoint source pollution
4- Respiration of organisms and aquatic plants
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3.1 Streeter-Phelps Model – DO sag curve
- Many equations and computer programs are available today to describe
the quality of water in streams, rivers and lakes
- The most prevalent is the Streeter Phelps equation.
- Addition of wastewater (BOD) typically causes a slow decrease in O2,
followed by a gradual increase close to the dissolved oxygen (D.O.)
saturation concentration.

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3.2 Assumptions of the Model
1- stream is an ideal plug flow reactor,
2- steady-state flow and BOD and DO reaction conditions,
3- The only reactions of interest are BOD exertion and transfer of oxygen
from air to water across air-water interface.
3.3 Mathematical analysis of Oxygen Sag Curve: Streeter –
Phelps equation
The analysis of oxygen sag curve can be easily done by superimposing
the rates of deoxygenation and reoxygenation as suggested by the
Streeter – Phelps analysis. The rate of change in the DO deficit is the
sum of the two reactions as explained below:
- Mass Balance for the Model
Not a Steady-state situation
rate O2 accum. = rate O2 in – rate O2 out + produced – consumed
rate O2 accum. = rate O2 in – 0 + 0 – rate O2 consumed
- Kinetics
st
Both reoxygenation and deoxygenation are 1 order
- Deoxygenation
𝐿 = 𝐵𝑂𝐷 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
𝑘1 = 𝑑𝑒𝑜𝑥𝑦𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡, 𝑓’𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒 𝑡𝑦𝑝𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒
- Reoxygenation
𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑜𝑥𝑦𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = 𝑘2𝐷
𝐷 = 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝐷. 𝑂.
𝑘2 = 𝑟𝑒𝑜𝑥𝑦𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡
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 k2 
3.9v
1
2
1.025 (T  20 )
 1
2

3
2
H
𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒
– 𝑇 = 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟, º𝐶
– 𝐻 = 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤, 𝑚
– 𝜈 = 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑚/𝑠

𝐷. 𝑂. 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡 = 𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐷. 𝑂. – 𝐷. 𝑂. 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟

𝑁𝑒𝑡 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑥𝑦𝑔𝑒𝑛 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦, 𝑑𝐷/𝑑𝑡

𝑑𝐷
= 𝑘1 . 𝐿 − 𝑘2 . 𝐷
𝑑𝑡
𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐿 = 𝐿0 . 𝑒 −𝑘1 .𝑡
𝑑𝐷
∴ = 𝑘1 . 𝐿0 . 𝑒 −𝑘1 .𝑡 − 𝑘2 . 𝐷
𝑑𝑡

𝐵𝑦 𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑔𝑒𝑡:

1  k2  Do (k 2  k1 )  

tc  ln 1  
k 2  k1  k1  k1 Lo 

This is Streeter-Phelps oxygen sag equation. The graphical representation of this

equation is shown below
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Page
4. Example
- Wastewater mixes with a river resulting in BOD = 10.9 mg/L
,DO = 7.6 mg/L.
- The mixture has a temp. = 20 C
-1
- Deoxygenation const.= 0.2 day
- Average flow = 0.3 m/s, Average depth = 3.0 m
- DO saturated = 9.1 mg/L
1- Find the time and distance downstream at which the oxygen deficit is a
maximum?
2- Find the minimum value of DO? 7Page
 ∗ 𝐼𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝐷𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡
𝐷0 = 9.1 – 7.6 = 1.5 𝑚𝑔/𝐿
∗ 𝐸𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡

k2 
3.9v 1/ 2

3.9(0.3m / s) 1.025
1/ 2
 2020 

1
2
 0.41 day 1
H 3/ 2 (3.0m) 3 / 2

∗ 𝐶𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑, 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑐 :

1  k2  DOo ( k 2  k1 )  

tc  ln  1  
k 2  k1  k1  k1 Lo 
1  0.41  1.5(0.41  0.2)  
 ln  1 
(0.41  0.2)  0.2  0.2  10.9  
 2.67days
x c  vtc  0.3m / s  86,400s / day  2.67days  69,300m

∗ 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝐷𝑂 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠

𝑑𝐷
𝑝𝑢𝑡 = 𝑧𝑒𝑟𝑜
𝑑𝑡
k
Dc  1 Lo e k1t
k2
0.2 1
 (10.9 mg/L) e (0.2day )(2.67days)
0.41
 3.1 mg/L
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Page
 5. References
1- ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING Fourth Edition, Ruth E Weiner
2- Educational web sites:
http://nptel.ac.in/courses/105105048/

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