XJTLU

Department of Civil Engineering

COURSEWORK 2 - BRIEFING SHEET

COURSE MODULE (and code): CEN 306 - Water Resources Engineering 2

ASSIGNMENT TITLE: Sludge settling properties and clarifier design
Lecturer responsible: Dr. Xiaonan Tang
Date set: Monday, April 5, 2022
Required date of submission: Online submission on LM (Tuesday 19th May, 2022)
Required format of submission: Standard report
Penalty scheme for late submission: Standard scheme

Aims: To give the students experience in measurement of basic sedimentation characteristics of

activated sludge, determination of required input parameters for clarifier design, and
designing a secondary clarifier.

Outline:
1. Measurement of sludge settling properties.
2. Calculation of sludge volume index.
3. Designing the clarifier.
4. Report writing - Present your results, remember to include your calculations and
assumptions.

Recommended reading: Lecture notes.

At the end of this assignment a student should be able to:

o Measure sludge settling properties
o Calculate sludge volume index
o Design a secondary clarifier

1
Experimental principle:
Sludge settling is measured by filling a clear column of height H with sludge collected from the
aeration tank of a wastewater treatment plant and recording the position (height) of the surface of
the sludge in the column (the sludge blanket) as a function of time (t). During the precipitation,
the sludge blanket will gradually sink as the sludge settles and compacts.

Equipment and materials:

1. 5-10 liters of activated sludge collected from the aeration tank of a wastewater treatment plant
preferably on the day of the experiment
2. Quantitative filter paper (pre-dried at 105oC for at least 24 hours)
3. Funnel and funnel holder
4. Drying oven
5. Analytical balance
6. Desiccator
7. Weighing bottle (pre-dried at 105oC for at least 24 hours)
8. 100mL graded cylinder glass
9. Siphon, suction ball and sludge extraction tool
10. Stopwatch

Experimental Procedure:
1. Wash the 100mL graded cylinder glass with distilled water and dry it.
2. Put 100mL of sludge mixture into the cylinder glass and start the stopwatch.
3. Record the volume the sludge at 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 45 and 60 minutes.
4. Cut the filter paper to a proper shape, put it in the weighing bottle and weigh both. Record the
weight (W1).
5. Fold and insert the paper into the funnel.
6. Pour the sludge from the 100 mL cylinder glass into the filter and let it drain.
7. When drained, put the filter paper with sludge into the weighing bottle, and dry at 105oC for
24 hours.
8. Remove weighing glass (and filter) from oven and place in desiccator until cool (1 hour).
9. Weigh them, and record the weight (W2).

2
Table for recording the measurements

Settling time 1 3 5 10 15 20 30 45 60
(min
Sludge
volume (mL)
W1 (g)
W2 (g)

Repeat the measurement procedure 2 times

Settling time 1 3 5 10 15 20 30 45 60
(min
Sludge
volume (mL)
W1 (g)
W2 (g)

Calculations
• Plot the sludge volume as function of time.
• Calculate the sludge concentration in the mixture used (X2).
• Calculate the sludge volume index SVI.
• Design a secondary clarifier for this sludge assuming inlet flow (Q1) = 1000 m3/d and a
return sludge flow (Q4) of 1500 m3/d. Ignore effects of excess sludge flow.