FACULTY OF ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

WASTEWATER TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY

LABORATORY

LABORATORY PAPER INSTRUCTION

Subject Code BNA 32003

Experiment Code WWT-2

Experiment Title WASTEWATER TREATMENT IN CLARIFIER

Section
 STUDENT CODE OF ETHICS

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

I hereby declare that I have prepared this report with my own efforts. I also admit to
not accept or provide any assistance in preparing this report and anything that is in it
is true.

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3) Group Member 2 (Signature)

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 FACULTY OF ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY PAGE NO :
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING EDITION : 1
TECHNOLOGY REVIEW NO : 1
WASTEWATER TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY
EFFECTIVE DATE :
LABORATORY
TITLE : AMENDMENT DATE :

1.0 OBJECTIVE

1. To understand the wastewater treatment in clarifier

2. To study the effect of food to microorganism in organic removal
3. To study the effect of mixed liquor suspended solids concentration in organic removal
4. To study the effect of retention time in organic removal

2.0 LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students should be able to apply the knowledge and skills they have learned
to:
• the process of wastewater treatment in clarifier

3.0 THEORY

Secondary wastewater treatment is the process of biologically removing organics from wastewater. The
objectives of secondary treatment are to reduce the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and suspended
solids of the effluent to acceptable levels. In some cases, advance treatment is required to reduce the levels
of specific contaminants such as nitrogen.

The process consists of three components which are (1) a biological reactor where the microorganism are
kept in a suspension and aerated, (2) a sedimentation tank or clarifier and (3) a recycle system for returning
settle solids from clarifier to the reactor.

The Integrated Biological Wastewater Treatment Pilot Plant (Model: TR30) has been designed to
demonstrate student with the process of carbon removal and nitrogen removal in wastewater treatment. The
unit is integrated with aerobic reactor, anoxic reactor and clarifier and capable to run the treatment process
in batch or continuous operation.
3.1 Equipment General Description

Figure 1: Unit Construction of Integrated Biological Wastewater Treatment Plant (Model: TR30)

1. Control Panel 7. Rotameter for Feed Tank

2. Feed Tank, B1 8. Aerobic Tank, B2

3. Product / Secondary Clarifier, B5 9. Clarifier

4. Anoxic Tank, B4

5. Stirrer for Aerobic Tank, M1

6. Stirrer for Anoxic Tank, M2

3.2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

Carbon Removal

Secondary treatment is the process of biologically removing organics from wastewater. The objectives of
secondary treatment are to reduce the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and suspended solids of the
effluent to acceptable levels. Two types of biological treatment systems are suspended growth and fixed
growth systems. In suspended systems, also known as the activated sludge process, biomass is suspended
in the liquid. In the fixed growth systems, such as trickling filters and rotating biological contractors (RBC),
biomass attacheds to chemically inactive media. In this section, only activated sludge will be discussed.
(Davis, et al., 2013)

The most widely used suspended growth process is the activated sludge process. The basic activated
sludge process consists of three components which are (1) a biological reactor where the microorganisms
are kept in a suspension and aerated, (2) a sedimentation tank or clarifier, and (3) a recycle system for
returning settled solids from clarifier to the reactor as shown in Figure 2.
 Figure 2: Activated Sludge Process

Wastewater flows continuously into the aeration tank or biological reactor. Air is introduced to mix the
wastewater with the microorganisms and to provide the oxygen necessary to maintain aerobic conditions.
The microorganism degrade the organic matter in wastewater, and convert them to cell mass and waste
products.

The mixture then goes to the secondary clarifier, where clarification of effluent and thickening of settled
solids takes place. The clarified effluent is discharged for further treatment or disposal. The thickened solids
are removed as underflow. A portion of the underflow is wasted (called waste activated sludge), while the
remainder (20% to 50%) is returned to the aeration tank as return activated sludge (RAS). The return sludge
helps to maintain a high concentration of active biomass in the aeration tank. (Riffat, 2013)

The following equation provide a simplified description of the oxidation process. Assume CHONS represents
organic matter and C5H7O2N represents new cells.

𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎
𝐶𝐻𝑂𝑁𝑆 + 𝑂2 + 𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 → 𝐶5 𝐻7 𝑂2 𝑁 + 𝐶𝑂2 + 𝑁𝐻3 + 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑠

Nitrogen Removal

Nitrogen is one of the primary nutrients critical for the survival of all living organisms. It is a necessary
component of many biomolecules, including proteins, DNA and chlorophyll. Although nitrogen is very
abundant in the atmosphere as dinitrogen gas (N2), it is largely inaccessible in this form to most organisms,
making nitrogen a scarce resource and often limiting primary productivity in many ecosystems. Only when
nitrogen is converted from dinitrogen gas into ammonia (NH 3) does it become available to primary producers,
such as plants.

Nitrogen in freshly polluted water is originally present in the form of organic nitrogen and ammonia. There
are multiple sources of nitrogen in wastewater such as from human urea, industrial wastewater, mining,
crude oil processing, metal finishing and pharmaceutical production, atmospheric precipitation, geological
sources, agricultural land, livestock and poultry operations. The main source of nitrogen compounds in water
is from fertilizers that mainly contain nitrate, ammonia, ammonium, urea and amines. Discharge of
nitrogenous components to water bodies without treatment can cause eutrophication, deterioration of water
quality, toxicity to aquatic life, and pose a potential hazard to human and animal health.

When the effluent from secondary treatment does not meet regulatory requirement for discharge, additional
treatment is required to reduce the levels of specific contaminants. This is usually termed as advanced
treatment. Advanced treatment processes are used for removal of nutrients such as nitrogen and
phosphorus. In this chapter, only nitrogen removal process will be further elaborated.

Excess nutrient such as nitrogen can cause eutrophication problems in water bodies. The most commonly
used method of nitrogen removal is biological nitrification-denitrification. Nitrogen compounds are formed in
domestic wastewater from the biodegradation of proteins and urea discharged in body waste. The organic
nitrogen compounds are further converted to the aqueous ammonium ion (NH 4+) or gaseous free ammonia
(NH3) through a process called hydrolysis (Company, 2013). These two species together are called ammonia-
nitrogen (NH4-N) and remain in equilibrium according to the following relationship:
 𝑁𝐻4+ ↔ 𝑁𝐻3 + 𝐻 +

Nitrification-denitrification

One of the process to remove the ammonia-nitrogen or ammonia from water is called nitrification-
denitrification process. Nitrification involves the conversion of ammonia to nitrates, while denitrification
involves the conversion of the nitrates to nitrogen gas which is released to the atmosphere. The overall
nitrification-denitrification process is illustrated in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Schematic of nitrification-denitrification process

Nitrification
The biological conversion of ammonium to nitrate is called Nitrification. Nitrification is a two-step process
where ammonia is oxidized to nitrite (𝑁𝑂2− ) in the first step and the nitrite is further oxidized to nitrate (𝑁𝑂3− )
in the second step. Bacteria known as Nitrosomonas convert ammonia and ammonium to nitrite. Next,
bacteria called Nitrobacter finish the conversion of nitrite to nitrate. The reaction are generally coupled and
proceed rapidly to the nitrate form; therefore, the nitrite level levels at any given time are usually low.
𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑠
2𝑁𝐻4+ + 3𝑂2 → 2𝑁𝑂2− + 4𝐻 + + 2𝐻2 𝑂 +𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦

𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟
2𝑁𝑂2− + 𝑂2 → 2𝑁𝑂3− + 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦

These bacteria known as “nitrifiers” are strict aerobes, meaning they must have free dissolved oxygen to
perform their work. Nitrification occurs only under aerobic conditions at dissolved oxygen (DO) level of 1.0
mg/L or more. At dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration less than 0.5 mg/L, the growth rate is minimal.
Nitrification requires a long retention time, a low food to microorganism ratio (F:M), a high mean cell
residence time (Sludge Age), and adequate buffering (alkalinity).

The nitrification process produces acid. This acid formation lowers the pH of the biological population in
the aeration tank and can cause a reduction of the growth rate of nitrifying bacteria . The optimum pH for
Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter is between 7.5 and 8.5 and nitrification stops at a pH below 6.0.

Water temperature also affects the rate of nitrification. Nitrification reaches a maximum rate at
temperatures between 30-35°C. At temperatures of 40°C and higher, nitrification rates fall to near zero. At
temperatures below 20°C, nitrification proceeds at a slower rate. (Company, 2013)
Denitrification

The biological reduction of nitrate (𝑁𝑂3 ) to nitrogen gas (𝑁2 ) by facultative heterotrophic bacteria is called
Denitrification. “Heterotrophic” bacteria need a carbon source as food to live. “Facultative” bacteria can get
their oxygen by taking dissolved oxygen out of the water or by taking it off of nitrate molecules.

Denitrification occurs when oxygen levels are depleted and nitrate becomes the primary oxygen source of
microorganisms. The process is performed under anoxic conditions, when dissolved oxygen concentration
is less than 0.5 mg/L, ideally less than 0.2. When bacteria break apart nitrate ((𝑁𝑂3− ) to gain oxygen ((𝑂2 ),
the nitrate is reduced to nitrous oxide ((𝑁2 𝑂) and in turn, nitrogen gas (𝑁2 ). Since nitrogen has lower water
solubility, it escapes into the atmosphere as gas bubbles. Free nitrogen is the major component of air,
thus its release does not cause any environmental concern. The formula describing the nitrification
reaction is as followed:

6𝑁𝑂3− + 5𝐶𝐻3 𝑂𝐻 → 3𝑁2 + 5𝐶𝑂2 + 7𝐻2 𝑂 + 6𝑂𝐻 −

Oxidation-Reduction Potential (ORP)

Oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) is a measurement that indicates the degree to which a substance is
capable of oxidizing or reducing another substance. Everything that is in water has a pontential or ability
and the ORP is the sum of these potentials. ORP is measured in milivolts (mV). ORP will determine if the
potential is positive (oxidative) or negative (reductive). Negative ORP values can be thought as negative
dissolved oxygen. The more negative the ORP, the more septic. As a substance become more oxidized,
the ORP will increase. Different reaction in wastewater will results different ORP values.

Biochemical Reaction ORP value (mV)

Nitrification +100 to +300
Aerobic BOD reduction +50 to +250
Denitrification +50 to -50
Sulfide Formation -50 to -250
Orthophosphate release -100 to -250
Organic Acid Formation -100 to -225
Methane Production -175 to -400
Figure 4: Wastewater Reaction and their associated ORP values

Mixed Liquor Suspended Solid (MLSS)

The combination of raw wastewater and biological mass is commonly known as Mixed Liquor. Mixed Liqour
is a mixture of raw or settled wastewater and activated sludge within an aeration tank in the activated sludge
process. Mixed Liquor Suspended Solid (MLSS) is the concentration of suspended solids in the mixed liquor,
usually expressed in milligrams per liter (mg/L).

It is important to control the value of MLSS, since too high MLSS content may result the process to be
proned and the treatment system becomes overloaded. This causes the dissolved oxygen content to drop
with the effect that organic matters are not fully degraded and biological ‘die off’. Conversely, if the MLSS
content is too low the process is not working efficiently and is likely to be wasting energy whilst not treating
the effluent effectively. The typical control band is 2000 to 4000 mg/L. (Partech, 2018)
4.0 PROCEDURE

4.1 Set-up Apparatus for clarifier

1. Make sure all valves are intially close.

2. Take out the top lid cover of the aerobic tank, B2.
3. Connect the PU tube (size: 8) to the membrane diffuser and rotameter near the aerobic tank
B2. Then connect the PU tube from the air rotameter to the air compressor.
4. Install a membrane diffuser by placing the diffuser inside the aerobic tank B2 as shown in Error! R
eference source not found.. There are two type of membrane diffuser supplied which are fine
diffuser and coarse diffuser as shown in Error! Reference source not found.. Only one diffuser
is installed at one time depending on the objective of the experiment.
5. Install the stirrer M1 as shown in Error! Reference source not found.. Put back the top lid c
over of aerobic tank B2 and place the DO01, pH01 and ORP01 sensor on their respective port.
Make sure the sensors are immersed lower than the overflow port and tighten them properly.
6. The aerobic batch experiment is ready to use.

4.2 The removal of C/N in Clarifier

1. Follow the general start-up procedure as mentioned for the preparation of clarifier.
2. Make sure all valves are initially closed.
3. Open valve V13 and pump in 10L (5 liter of aerobic sludge + 5 liter of return activated sludge
(RAS) from the wastewater) into the aerobic tank, B2, followed by 20L of supernatant wastewater
from feed tank, B1 to make up the volume to 30L by using the peristaltic pump, P1. Set the
peristaltic pump speed to maximum (600 rpm) to expedite the filling and stop the pump when
desired volume is reached.
4. Turn on the stirrer M1 and regulate the speed to around 100-150 rpm.
5. Switch on the compressor and regulate the rotameter, FI01 to activate the diffuser. Set the
rotameter until the dissolved oxygen, DO01 shows the value between 2-4 mg/L.
6. Determine the initial value of COD, NH3-N and TSS in the reactor by taking the 100 ml sample
from the aerobic reactor, B2.
7. Note: After taking the sampling, make sure to keep the sample inside the ice container to
hibernate the bacteria and stop the reaction.
8. Monitor the pH01, DO01, ORP01 and MLSS01 value of the reactor at appropriate interval time.
The value of ORP01 should be maintained around +100 to +300 mV, while the value of MLSS01
sould be maintained around 2500-2800 mg/L.
9. Note: If the value of MLSS01 is lower than 2500 mg/L, add the sludge into the system. This is to
maintain the food to microorganism (F:M) ratio inside the reactor.
10. Take 100 ml of sample from the aerobic reactor, B2 at appropriate time interval and analyze the
value of COD, NH3-N and TSS value.
11. Stop the process when the desired retention time is achieved.
 12. Follow the general shut down procedure, when the experiment is finished.

4.3 Shut Down Procedure for Clarifier

1 Drain the wastewater from feed tank, B1 and aerobic tank, B2 by opening valve. V1 and V2. Close back
valve V1 and V2, when the draining is finished.
2 Pour in the tap water into the feed tank, B1 and aerobic tank, B2 and clean the tank with soap /detergent.
3 Switch on the peristaltic pump, P1 by opening valve V13 to flush the remaining wastewater inside the
pipes.
4 Drain all the water by opening valve V1 and V2 and close back the valve, when the draining is finished.
5.0 RESULTS

Operating Parameter for clarifier

Picture
Time
No of
(min)
sample
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

6.0 QUESTIONS (Please include in your discussion)

1. Discuss the results above.

7.0 CONCLUSION

Give a conclusion for this experiment

Prepared by: Dr Nur Hanis Hayati Hairom Approved by:

Signature: Anis Signature:

Date: 10 Oct 2021 Date: