Treatment of Wastewater

(Primary Treatment Processes)

Sedimentation
TYPES OF SETTLING/SEDIMENTATION
• Type I or discrete particle settling—Particles whose size, shape and specific gravity do not change
with time are called discrete particles (Peavy et al., 1985). Type I sedimentation refers to the
settling of discrete particles in a dilute suspension, where the particle concentration is low enough
that the particles settle as individual entities. There is no interference of velocity fields with
neighboring particles. This type of settling is usually observed in grit chambers.
• Type II or flocculent settling—This refers to settling observed in a suspension with particles that
coalesce or flocculate as they come in contact with other particles. This results in increasing the
size, shape, and mass of the particles, thus increasing the settling rate.
• Type III or hindered settling—This is also called zone settling. It refers to settling that occurs in a
suspension of intermediate concentration, where interparticle forces are sufficient to hinder the
settling of adjacent particles.
• Type IV or compression settling—This occurs in highly concentrated suspensions, where a structure
is formed due to the high concentration, and settling can take place only by compression of the
structure.
 Theory of discrete particle settling
• The settling of discrete particles in a fluid can be analyzed using Newton’s law and Stokes’s law. Consider a
discrete particle falling in a viscous and quiescent body of fluid.
• The forces acting on the particle are
(1) Fg due to gravity in a downward direction,
(2) Fb due to buoyancy in an upward direction, and
(3) FD due to frictional drag in an upward direction
where: µw = dynamic viscosity of water, N·s/m2
ρp = density of particle, kg/m3
ρw = density of water, 1000
kg/m3 at 5°C

This is known as Stokes equation, which can be used to calculate the terminal settling velocity of a discrete
particle, when the conditions of laminar flow and particle sphericity are satisfied.
Pictorial Representation

Rectangular Sedimentation Tank Circular Sedimentation Tank

 Horizontal Flow Sedimentation Tank
An ideal sedimentation tank is designed to achieve complete removal of particles with a specified settling
velocity vo, such that all particles with a terminal settling velocity greater than vo will be completely removed.
Particles with a terminal settling velocity less than vo will be fractionally removed.
PRIMARY SEDIMENTATION
• Primary sedimentation tanks or clarifiers are designed to achieve 50% to 70% removal of
suspended solids and 25% to 40% removal of BOD.
• The BOD removed is associated with the organic fraction of the suspended solids.
• Rectangular or circular tanks may be used as primary clarifiers.
• The type of clarifier selected depends on the site conditions, size of the plant, local
regulations, and engineering judgment.
• The important design parameters for primary clarifiers are
(1) detention time,
(2) overflow rate, and
(3) weir loading rate.
Chemical Clarification
• Chemical clarification is a method of increasing and hastening the settling of suspended and
colloidal solids in wastewater by the addition of floc forming or coagulating chemicals.
• Certain salts of heavy metals like iron and aluminum when added to wastewater containing
alkaline substances develop heavy precipitates which bring down with them colloidal
substances.
• With proper dosage of chemicals, this treatment is expected to remove 60 to 80% of
suspended solids and 45 to 65% of BOD when it is not preceded by plain sedimentation.
• A disadvantage of this method may be that the chemicals used in this process while reacting
with sewage kill some of the microorganisms responsible for the digestion of sludge.
• Therefore, unit operations in chemical clarification are:
• Coagulation
• Flocculation