Sludge Production and Settleability in Biofilm-Activated

Sludge Process
Moharram Fouad1 and Renu Bhargava2
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Abstract: The sludge production and settleability have been estimated experimentally in a completely mixed biofilm-activated sludge
reactor 共hybrid reactor兲. A steady-state hybrid reactor was run at different stages of suspended biomass concentration 共X兲 under constant
values of influent substrate concentration 共So兲 and hydraulic retention time 共HRT兲. The values of X were gradually decreased in these
stages until the system completely washed out of the suspended biomass and converted to pure biofilm reactor. As a result, the role of
biofilm in the treatment gradually increased with an increase in the effluent substrate concentration 共S兲. The experiment was supported by
a mathematical expression for describing the sludge yield in the system under the previous conditions. The experimental and theoretical
studies in the present work reveal that there is a critical phase of the hybrid system at which the system produces a high rate of excess
sludge. That critical phase is found at a specific ratio between the suspended and the attached growth. Avoiding that critical phase enables
the sludge production in the hybrid reactor to be reduced and optimized. Further, the minimum sludge production was found when the
biofilm is theoretically inactive for chemical oxygen demand 共COD兲 removal 共S ⬍ Smin兲. At this stage, biomass production was reduced by
about 48% compared to the conventional activated sludge process. The observed sludge yield 共Y obs兲 in the hybrid process was varied from
0.148 to 0.25 gm volatile suspended solids 共VSS兲/gm COD removed at the minimum and critical stage respectively, while the values of
Y obs were 0.285 and 0.185 gm VSS/ gm COD removed in the pure suspended and pure attached growth, respectively.
DOI: 10.1061/共ASCE兲0733-9372共2005兲131:3共417兲
CE Database subject headings: Activated sludge; Settlement; Biofilm; Biomass; Cisterns; Sludge treatment; Wastewater treatment.

Introduction QwXu + QeXe = Y obsQ共So − S兲 共2兲

Excess biomass produced during the biological treatment of
wastewaters requires costly disposal. Its disposal may account for
60% of total plant operating cost 共Horan 1990兲. Further, as envi-
ronmental and legislative constraints increase, the cost of sludge
disposal is significantly going to increase 共Lapinski and Tunnac-
liffe 2003兲. Thus, there is a considerable impetus for reducing the
amount of sludge produced from wastewater treatment.
One of the most widely used methods of wastewater treatment
is the activated sludge process 共ASP兲 共Snidaro et al. 1997兲. Al-
though ASP is advantageous compared to many methods of
wastewater treatment, but the rate of sludge production is rela-
tively high for most of its versions. At steady state, the rate of
sludge production 共QwXu + QeXe兲 for ASP can be estimated ac-
cording to the following definitions of 共Lawrence and McCarty
1970兲.
QwXu + QeXe = YQ共So − S兲 − VXKd 共1兲
In practice, Eq. 共2兲 can also be used to estimate the rate of sludge
production 共Metcalf & Eddy 1991兲.
1
Lecturer, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Mansoura, Mansoura,
Egypt. E-mail: mfouadce@iitr.ernet.in
2
Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, IIT, Roorkee, Roorkee
247667, India 共corresponding author兲. E-mail: renbhfce@iitr.ernet.in
Note. Discussion open until August 1, 2005. Separate discussions
must be submitted for individual papers. To extend the closing date by
one month, a written request must be filed with the ASCE Managing
Editor. The manuscript for this paper was submitted for review and pos-
sible publication on December 18, 2003; approved on June 22, 2004. This
paper is part of the Journal of Environmental Engineering, Vol. 131,
No. 3, March 1, 2005. ©ASCE, ISSN 0733-9372/2005/3-417–424/
$25.00.
where Y obs is obtained as Y / 共1 + ␪cKd兲, in which, Y=yield coeffi-
cient; V=reactor volume; Q=flow rate into the reactor; ␪c
=sludge residence time; and Kd=the specific decay rate.
On the basis of the above equations, the sludge production is
significantly reduced for higher values of ␪c and Kd as well as
lower value of Y 共Henze et al. 1987; Saunamaki 1988; Horan
1990兲. Consequently, numerous techniques were developed for
reducing the sludge production in ASP by optimizing the param-
eters Y , Kd, and ␪c. The most accepted techniques for optimizing
these parameters biologically are to:
• Increase the solid retention time 共Sakai et al. 1992兲,
• Incorporate anaerobic, or attached operation in sequence with
ASP 共Chudoba et al. 1992兲,
• Operate the process under a low loading rate with a high bio-
mass concentration and high sludge age 共Henze et al. 1987;
Saunamaki 1988兲,
• Charge the reactor with special cultures 共e.g., Bdelloid roti-
fers兲, which consume high amounts of biomass 共Lapinski and
Tunnacliffe 2003兲, and
• Manage the food chain, which stimulates the balanced growth
of cells, and thus the growth of higher organisms such as pro-
tozoa and metazoa 共Ratsak et al. 1994; Lee and Welander
1996a,b兲.
Designing ASP for low sludge production using the above-
mentioned techniques is costly in many cases. It may require
either more reactors or a high rate for sludge recycle and, conse-
quently, a large number of settlers. However, incorporating the
fixed biofilm inside the activated sludge reactor can achieve the
previous objectives without any additional units or enlargement
of the existing capacities. This process is based on growing the
biofilm on a fixed or movable carrier inside the reactor under

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J. Environ. Eng. 2005.131:417-424.

 completely mixed conditions. Therefore, it has the following ad-
vantages toward the sludge yield:
• Has a significant increase in the sludge age 共Golla et al. 1994;
Morper 1994; Muller 1998; Wanner et al. 1988 兲;
• Has a higher biomass concentration in the reactor correspond-
ing to lower wastage of sludge, lower solid loading on the final
settling tanks and smaller sludge recycle 共Chen et al. 1994;
Chen et al. 1997兲;
• Has good settling characteristics and no bulking problems
共Lessel 1991; Martinez and Luciano 1992兲;
• Can be incorporated easily into the existing ASP systems
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共Morper 1994; Muller 1998兲.
Although the hybrid system is well known to have excess
sludge less than the conventional ASP, but its optimum conditions
for minimum sludge production are not clear. In the conventional
ASP, the approximate values of Y obs can easily be predicted from
Eq. 共2兲 under any conditions. It increases with lower levels of ␪c
until reaching maximum value at a biomass washout conditions at
minimum sludge age 共␪cM 兲. Its maximum value 关共Y obs兲max兴 can be
estimated from the following equation:
共Y obs兲max = Y/共1 + ␪cM Kd兲 共3兲
Generally, 共Y obs兲max, in ASP, has a fixed value for each specific
wastewater and can be obtained by substituting 1 / ␪cM as YK − Kd
in Eq. 共3兲.
共Y obs兲max ⬵ Y − Kd/K 共4兲
where K=maximum specific rate of substrate utilization.
In the hybrid system, the relation between Y obs and ␪c is not
clear, moreover estimating that 共Y obs兲max is not known. The pres-
ence of the fixed biofilm inside the hybrid reactor will have a
significant change in estimating Y obs under any values of X and
␪c. Therefore, other relations are expected to describe the param-
eters Y obs and 共Y obs兲max instead of Eqs. 共2兲–共4兲. Although the pa-
rameter, Y obs in that system may increase with lower levels of X,
but due to the presence of biofilm, Y obs cannot attain its maximum
value 关共Y obs兲max兴 as in ASP. With an increase in X, the reactor
gradually will be converted to pure attached growth. Therfore,
Y obs must attain its typical value of the fixed biofilm when the
system becomes free of the suspended cells at biomass washout
conditions. Consequently, in the hybrid system, some divergence
is expected for the parameter Y obs against X as well as against ␪cM .
Certainly, this divergence is not found in the conventional ASP.
Therefore, the present study has focused on minimizing the
sludge production in the hybrid reactor by optimizing the amounts
of the suspended and attached growth. The first aim of this study
is to provide an integrated view and a better understanding of the
sludge yield of such a system using its theoretical relationships.
Second, it aims to support the theoretical findings through experi-
ment results. In the present study, the parameters Y obs and sludge
volume index 共SVI兲 will be observed experimentally for the exit
sludge for a wide range of X in presence of the biofilm. Conse-
quently, the level of X—which reduces the sludge reduction and
gives an accepted value of SVI—will be found. Further, the cor-
relation between SVI, X, and the rate of the sludge production
may be obtained. This study may be useful to add a new approach
to minimize the amount of the exit sludge of high quality using
the hybrid reactor.
418 / JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / MARCH 2005
J. Environ. Eng. 2005.131:417-424.
The Observed Sludge Yield „Yobs… for the Hybrid
Reactor
It is useful to estimate the theoretical value of the Y obs of the
hybrid system and compare it with that of the conventional ASP.
Estimating Y obs will reveal the points of maximum and minimum
sludge yield in the hybrid system analytically.
Generally, for any biological method of wastewater treatment,
Y obs can be obtained as
Rate of wasted sludge共QwXu + QeXe兲
Y obs = 共5兲
Q共So − S兲
The rate of wasting sludge 共QwXu + QeXe兲 can be estimated by
performing the biomass balance for a typical hybrid system as
shown in Fig. 2共b兲. This system is assumed to run under steady-
state conditions for biomass and substrate with a single rate-
limiting substrate concentration through the reactor. Both sus-
pended and attached growths are assumed to have the same
kinetic parameters 共Williamson and McCarty 1976兲. Therefore,
the following equation can be written for the system, which has
active mass of biofilm 共M f 兲 and suspended biomass 共XV兲:
QwXu + QeXe = YQ共So − S兲 − VXKd − M f kd 共6兲
Substituting the active mass of the biofilm as AVL f X f and making
substitution for L f as JY / 共btX f 兲 共Rittmann 1982a兲, Eq. 共6兲 can be
rewritten as
YQ共So − S兲 − VXKd − YAVJKd/bt
Y obs = 共7兲
Q共So − S兲
where A=specific surface area of biofilm; L f =biofilm thickness;
X f =biofilm microbial density; J=substrate flux into biofilm;
bt=sum of specific decay and shear loss rates; bs=specific shear
loss rate; and KS=Monod half-velocity coefficient.
In Eq. 共7兲, X can be evaluated from the substrate balance equa-
tion of the reactor at steady state as follows:
XK
A
= 冋
共So − S兲
␪A
−J 册
Ks + S
S
共8兲
where that ␪=hydraulic retention time in the reactor. Many mod-
els are available to express the substrate flux 共J兲 as a function of
S. For simplicity, the biofilm one-dimensional model of 共Suidan
and Wang 1985兲 is used in this study.
冋 冉 冊 册
1.19 −0.61
J*
0.5J*2 + J* 1.0 +
3.4
S * = J *L * + 共9兲
tanh共J*/S*min兲
where J*=dimensionless substrate flux into biofilm 共J*
= J / 冑共KsKX f D f 兲兲 ; L*=dimensionless thickness of the stagnant
layer; S*=dimensionless effluent substrate concentration 共S*
= S / Ks兲; and S*min=dimensionless minimum substrate concentra-
tion that can sustain biofilm 共S*min = 1 / 共YK / bt − 1兲. This model was
developed on the bases of Fick’s law, Monod expressions and
mass balance of biofilm. It gives similar results to Sáez and Ritt-
mann’ model 共1988, 1992兲. Further many biofilm reactors 共com-
pletely mixed, plug flow, fluidized bed, packed bed, aerobic,
anaerobic, or anoxic兲 are amenable to analysis using this model
共Suidan et al. 1989兲.
Combining Eqs. 共7兲–共9兲 enables Y obs to be estimated as a func-
tion of So , S , ␪ , Smin, and L as well as the kinetics of both
growths 共K , KS , Y , bt , X f , D, and D f 兲. It is clear that Y obs in the
 hybrid reactor is a complicated parameter. It is expressed in many
variables and kinetics. Therefore, it is better and easy to express
Y obs in a dimensionless form.
Eq. 共7兲 can be arranged as follows after dividing it by the yield
coefficient 共Y兲:

Y obs Kd 共XK/A兲共bt/YK兲 + J
=1− 共10兲
Y bt 共So − S兲/A␪
Substituting S*min as 1 / 共YK / bt − 1兲 and X from Eq. 共8兲 yields the
following equation:
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Y obs Kd 关共So − S兲/A␪ − J兴共Ks/S + 1兲/共1/S*min + 1兲 + J

=1−
Y bt 共So − S兲/A␪
共11兲
Rewriting Eq. 共11兲 in dimensionless form yields

* Y obs
Y obs =
Y
Kd 关共S*o − S*兲/A*␪* − J*兴共1/S* + 1兲/共1/S*min + 1兲 + J*
=1−
bt 共S*o − S*兲/A*␪*
共12兲
*
where is Y obs=dimensionless yield coefficient
共Y obs / Y兲 ; A*=dimensionless specific surface area of biofilm reac-
tor 共A* = A冑D f / K兲; and ␪*=dimensionless hydraulic retention time
in the reactor 关␪* = ␪k冑共X f 兲 / 共Ks兲兴. Combining Eqs. 共9兲 and 共12兲
enables Y obs *
to be plotted as a function of S* and 共S*o − S*兲 / A*␪*
for a fixed values of S*min , L*, and Kd / bt. It was found that these
curves of Y obs *
are approximately similar when they were drawn Fig. 1. 共a兲 Y obs *
共Y obs / Y兲 as a function of S* and A*␪* / 共S*o − S兲
for different values of S*min , L*, and Kd / bt. Two of these typical at bt / Kd = 2.0, L = 1.0, and S*min = 0.10, and 共b兲 Y obs
* *
共Y obs / Y兲 as a
curves are illustrated in Figs. 1共a and b兲, which are drawn for function of S and A ␪ / 共So − S兲 at bt / Kd = 2.0, L = 1.0, and S*min
* * * * *

L* = 1.0 and 0.10 with same values of S*min, and Kd / bt. These
*
curves reveal many important facts about Y obs in the hybrid sys-
tem. They prove the reduction of the sludge yield of the hybrid
reactor compared to the conventional ASP analytically. This re-
duction increases with higher values of A* if the other parameters
* quality of that system.
are kept constant. Further Y obs reaches its maximum value with
increase of S* in the pure suspended growth reactor 共A* = 0.0兲, but
it cannot attain that value in the hybrid growth. In the hybrid
growth, Y *obs goes up to a critical value, but it decreases again due
to the presence of biofilm. Therefore, in that reactor, there is a
critical value for the sludge yield, at which the system produces a
high rate of the excess sludge. Generally, the value of 共Y obs兲crit is
less than the corresponding value in the suspended growth reactor
under same operating conditions. Moreover, 共Y obs兲crit decreases
with a higher amount of biofilm. Therefore, a greater reduction of
the excess sludge is obtained if the operation conditions of the
system avoid the point of 共Y obs兲crit.
Although 共Y obs兲max in the conventional ASP can be expressed
as a function of kinetic parameters 关Eq. 共3兲兴, the parameter
共Y obs兲crit for the hybrid reactor cannot be described easily. Many
attempts were conducted to express 共Y obs兲crit as a function of the
kinetic parameters of both growths. Unfortunately, all of them
needed very long derivations with many parameters, despite the
total use of the dimensionless form. For the hybrid system, esti-
mating 共Y obs兲crit using the kinetic parameters requires the solution
of many differential equations simultaneously, which may be out-
side the scope of this paper. Therefore, experimental study was
conducted to support the above theoretical findings and to give
= 0.10
more details about the optimal and the critical sludge yield of the
reactor. Further, this experiment is focused also on the sludge
Experimental Methods
Fig. 2 illustrates flow diagram and schematic of a typical hybrid
reactor used for the present study. The reactor was made of Per-
spex sheet, has a total empty-bed volume of 35 L 共50 cm length
⫻ 20 cm width⫻ 35 cm height兲. Fine bubble diffusers and a peri-
odical high-speed stirrer were used for aeration. The stirrer helped
to prevent the clogging of a biomass between the biofilm carriers
and in some zones of the reactor, as well as to enhance the oxy-
genation level. The biofilm carrier was made of a fine plastic net
supported on 22 circular frames of 18 cm diameter. Plastic media
was suspended at the reactor center and occupying about 30% of
its volume. A Perspex tank 35⫻ 35 cm with adjustable height was
used as a settler.
A synthetic wastewater composed of diluted molasses, urea,
and KH2PO4 in the ratio of chemical oxygen demand 共COD兲/N/
P/300/10/1 was used throughout the study 共Kargi and Karapinar
1997; Billore et al. 2001兲 with 0.2 mg/l of MgSO4. The major
characteristics of the synthetic wastewater 共which contains 1 ml
molasses in 1 liter of tap water兲 were COD⬇860 mg/l, biochemi-

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J. Environ. Eng. 2005.131:417-424.


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Fig. 2. Aerobic hybrid process: 共a兲 Flow diagram of the pilot plant;
and 共b兲 schematic of aerobic hybrid process
cal oxygen demand 共BOD兲⬇350, total organic carbon 共TOC兲
⬇245 mg/L, sulphate⬇245 mg/L, and chloride⬇20 mg/L. The
synthetic solution was diluted or concentrated according to the
desired value of influent substrate concentration 共So兲. The tem-
perature was maintained at 28–32°C using a submersed heater
inside the reactor. The pH was controlled manually to 7.0 in the
reactor using NaOH as a buffer solution in the influent. The re-
actor was seeded by activated sludge from local ASP and the
system was run for about 1 month to acclimatize the cells in pure
suspended growth. The experiment was conducted for three
growths 共pure suspended, hybrid, and pure attached growth兲. In
all phases, COD 共So兲 of 500 mg/ L and oxygenation level 共DO兲 of
2.0–3.0 mg/ L were used. A hydraulic retention time 共HRT兲 of 6.0
h was used in the suspended and hybrid growths while HRT was
reduced to 2.8 h in the attached growth. As soon as the suspended
growth attained the steady state, the common kinetic parameters
of both growths 共K , Ks , Y, and Kd兲 were obtained. After evalu-
ating the kinetic parameters, the values of Y obs and SVI were
observed for that phase. Finally, the system was converted to a
hybrid reactor by placing the carrier. Thirty days after placing the
carrier, the biofilm covered the whole net and filled in all the
pores uniformly. Thus, the specific surface area of the net was
neglected and the carrier was considered as thin plates with a
diameter 18 cm providing the total surface area 共A f 兲 of the carrier
of 11,200 cm2. In the hybrid growth, the parameters S, SVI, and
Y obs were observed during the decreasing values of X. Then, the
system was washed out of the suspended biomass and the reactor
was run as a pure attached reactor to get an approximate evalua-
tion of the parameter Smin, and to observe the parameters SVI and
Y obs in that phase. During the experiment, So , S , X , NH4
-N , SVI, and Y obs were recorded while the DO, temperature, pH,
and airflow rate were continuously monitored. Further micro-
420 / JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / MARCH 2005
J. Environ. Eng. 2005.131:417-424.
scopic examination for the reactor content and the exit sludge was
carried out regularly using phase contrast microscope.
Kinetic Parameters
In the present study, the parameters K , KS , Y , bt , X f , D , D f ,
and L must be known to verify the experimental result and de-
velop all the necessary curves. In the suspended growth phase, the
kinetics parameters of this wastewater were found as K
= 7.7 mg COD d−1 / mg 共volatile suspended solid兲, KS
= 118 mg COD/ L , Kd = 0.08d−1, and Y = 0.36 mg VSS/ mg COD.
Based on the experimental results of this phase reasonable value
of Smin could be obtained in accordance with its definition 共bio-
film become ineffective at S equal Smin兲. In the attached growth
phase, Smin was found at substrate concentration of 18.0 mg/ l. At
that concentration, the treatment efficiency was neglected. This
suggests that Smin is found at a substrate concentration of
18.0 mg/ l. Based on the relation between Smin and bt 共Smin
= Ks / 共YK / bt − 1兲 and the relation between bt and bs 共bt = kd + bs兲
represented by Rittmann 共1982a,b兲 respectively, the values of bt
and bs were found as 0.367d−1 and 0.287d−1, respectively. The
parameter X f was estimated using a biofilm volume and weight
measurements with its average value of 28 mg/ l. As sucrose
共C12H22O11兲 is the main component of molasses, the diffusion
coefficients in water 共Dw兲 and biofilm 共D f 兲 in the present study
were considered as concentrated sucrose diffusion and the ratio
D f / Dw = 0.8 found by Williamson and McCarty 共1976兲 was used.
Consequently, the diffusion coefficients were considered as Dw
= 6.944Ã 10−6 cm2 / s 共0.6 cm2 / d兲 and Df
= 5.5Ã 10−6 cm2 / s 共0.48 cm2 / d兲 at 30°C°. For completely mixed
conditions, the effective thickness of the stagnant layer 共L兲 was
taken as 0.0065 cm 共Rittmann 1982a兲.
Results and Discussion
In the pure suspended growth, the values of Y obs and SVI were
found as 0.285 gm VSS/gm COD and 185, respectively. These
values were observed at VSS of 1,600 mg/ l with approximate
values of ␪c and S of 3.0 d and 40 mg/ l respectively. At that
stage, no wall growth was observed in the reactor, due to the high
turbulence of the stirrer, but filamentous bacteria dominated the
exit sludge with very small number of protozoa. The steady state
of the hybrid growth started at that level of X 共VSS
= 1,600 mg/ l兲 with the presence of biofilm. Figs. 3 and 4 were
obtained through the hybrid phase by decreasing the values of X
at steady-state points. The data in these figures were drawn with
decreased values of X 共x axis兲 as obtained from the experimental.
Figs. 3 and 4 represent 52 runs in the hybrid growth and 4 runs in
the pure attached growth. Through the hybrid phase, the plates
decreased the turbulence in the reactor despite the running of
stirrer, thus filamentous bacteria adhered to the reactor walls as
well as the biofilm supports. At the beginning of the hybrid sys-
tem, no significant amount of filamentous bacteria was found in
the effluent, but little was found in the excess sludge associated
huge amount of protozoa. Y obs decreased to 0.148 VSS/ gm COD
removed, as the minimum value of Y obs in all the experiments
关Fig. 3共a兲兴. A further significant increase was observed in the
effluent clarity associated with satisfactory value of SVI of 120
关Fig. 3共b兲兴. At that point, a low level of S was observed
共COD 18 mg/ l兲 as is shown in Fig. 4共a兲 which reveal the inactive
role of the biofilm in COD removal. 共S 艋 Smin兲.
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Fig. 3. 共a兲 Experimental values of Y obs against X in the hybrid reactor
throughout the washout of the suspended biomass 共semilog scale兲;
and 共b兲 SVI against X in the hybrid reactor throughout the washout of
the suspended biomass 共semilog scale兲
With a decrease of X values, a higher level of S was obtained
关Fig. 4共a兲兴, associated with a significant increase of Y obs 关Fig.
3共a兲兴 and a decrease of SVI. A high level of Y obs was observed
when X ranged from 900–300 mg/ l VSS. Further Y obs reached its
maximum value 共0.25兲 at X value of 700 mg/ l VSS. At the be-
ginning of this range 共X = 900 mg/ l VSS兲, the filamentous bacte-
ria were reduced in the reactor, and at the end of this range 共X
= 300 mg/ l VSS兲 the minimum level for protozoa were observed
in the excess sludge. Further SVI attained its minimum and maxi-
mum value before and just after that point of maximum Y obs re-
spectively 关Fig. 3共b兲兴. With more decrease of X , Y obs, and SVI
again came down until the system reached the attached phase.
With more decrease of X, it was difficult to attain the pure
attached growth with completely washout of the suspended cells
under same that HRT 共6.0 h兲. Therefore, HRT was reduced to 2.8
h, which was suitable to attain insignificant level of X. A further
correction factor was applied to the results 共four runs兲, which
were obtained under a HRT of 2.8 h to match with that of a HRT
of 6.0 h. In the pure attached growth, Y obs was found as 0.185 gm
VSS/ gm COD removed. Although the experimental data in Figs.
3 and 4 confirm the principle of critical Y obs in the hybrid system,
but the operation conditions which lead to critical Y obs is not clear.
Therefore, the present study proposes theoretical limits and stages
for operating the hybrid reactor. These stages will be useful for
understanding the behavior of this reactor for many purposes,
such as sludge yield, sludge quality, COD removal, etc.
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J. Environ. Eng. 2005.131:417-424.
Fig. 4. 共a兲 Experimental values of S against X in the hybrid reactor
throughout the washout of the suspended biomass 共semilog scale兲;
and 共b兲 experimental fraction 共R兲 against X in the hybrid reactor
throughout the washout of the suspended biomass 共semilog scale兲
Proposed Operation Stages for the Experiment
If R is the fraction of substrate used by the suspended biomass,
then Eq. 共8兲 can be rearranged as
KS
VX = QR共So − S兲 共13a兲
Ks + S
AJ = Q共1 − R兲共So − S兲 共13b兲
In the basis of R value, five stages can be defined for the hybrid
reactor. The first one of these stages can be defined at R = 1.0
when the hybrid reactor runs at a high concentration of the sus-
pended biomass and low level of substrate. At that stage, the
substrate flux into the biofilm 共J兲 is negligible and the biofilm is
inactive for COD removal irrespective of its amount in the reac-
tor. Theoretically, stage 共1兲 is found at a COD level lower than the
minimum substrate concentration in the bulk 共Smin兲. The other
four stages in the hybrid reactor can be created easily by a gradual
washout of the suspended biomass, which enables higher COD in
the reactor. With a higher level of substrate, the flux into the
biofilm 共J兲 will increase, which increases the biofilm role in re-
actor. Therefore, at a slightly higher level of S, the second stage is
found at 1.0⬍ R ⬍ 0.5 when the substrate begins to flux into the
biofilm. In that case, the biofilm has a minor role in the treatment,
but the role of the suspended growth is dominant. At some sub-
strate level higher than stage 共2兲, at R = 0.5 the third case occurs,
at which the attached and suspended biomass have an equal role
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by British Columbia Institute of Technology on 01/02/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.
Fig. 5. 共a兲 Experimental values of Y obs against R in the hybrid reactor
throughout the washout of the suspended biomass; and 共b兲 SVI
against R in the hybrid reactor throughout the washout of the
suspended biomass
in the treatment. With a greater decrease in X, the fourth case is
found, at which the attached growth has a dominating role in the
reactor with a minor role of the suspended biomass at 0.5⬍ R
⬍ 0.0. Finally, the fifth case appears at completely biomass wash-
out conditions when the system converts to a pure attached reac-
tor at R = 0.0.
The above stages are the possible stages for running the hybrid
reactor. Fig. 4共b兲 illustrates the experimental values of R after
evaluating according to Eq. 2共b兲. Based on the value of R, Figs.
5共a and b兲 were obtained. These figures reveal that, stage 共1兲
achieves the optimum sludge yield and gives good results for
sludge settleability. On the other hand, the last part of stage 共2兲
leads to the maximum undesired levels for the sludge yield and
settleability. These results can be interpreted easily in the basis of
R. At stage 共1兲, the biofilm has insignificant role of sludge yield,
moreover, it increases the whole decay rate of the reactor. Con-
sequently, significant part of the suspended cells is expected to
attach and decay on the biofilm at that stage. Therefore, stage 共1兲
achieves the minimum sludge production of the system. At stage
共2兲, Y obs increases for the suspended growth with decrease of ␪c,
moreover, the biofilm delivers a significant amount of cells to the
reactor. Further, the whole decay rate of the reactor is decreased.
Therefore, stage 共2兲 achieves the maximum sludge production of
the system. At stages 共3兲 and 共4兲, the biofilm begins to control the
treatment, so the reactor attains the typical value of Y obs for the
attached growth with a decrease of the sludge production of the
422 / JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / MARCH 2005
J. Environ. Eng. 2005.131:417-424.
Fig. 6. 共a兲 Comparison between the experimental and predicted
values of Y obs against the suspended biomass 共X兲 共semilog scale兲; and
共b兲 comparison between the experimental and predicted values of
Y obs against the suspended biomass 共X兲 共mathematical scale兲
system. Therefore, the excess sludge in the hybrid reactor can be
minimized as well as its SVI can be enhanced by operating the
system near stage 共1兲 as shown above.
The last part of the present study is to compare the experimen-
tal and the theoretical values of Y obs 关Eq. 共7兲兴. As shown in Figs.
6 and 7, the predicted values of Y obs using Eq. 共7兲 are higher than
the experimental results. It is clear that, the estimation the sludge
production using the numerator of Eq. 共7兲 is inaccurate. Although
many reasons can cause the discrepancy of estimating the excess
sludge, applying the same kinetics 共Y and Kd兲 for both growths
may be the main reason. Several attempts have been done to
modify the numerator of Eq. 共7兲 to improve its prediction. These
attempts were done by decrease Y and increase Kd. These at-
tempts did not give complete matching results, even at using, the
experimental values of Y obs as presented in Eq. 共14兲.
Y obs = R共Y obs兲sus + 共1 − R兲共Y obs兲bio 共14兲
where 共Y obs兲sus and 共Y obs兲bio=experimental observed sludge yield
for suspended biomass and biofilm, which are 0.285 and 0.185,
respectively. Eq. 共14兲 is a simplified form of Eq. 共7兲. Figs. 6 and
7 reveal Y obs against the corresponding value of X and S, respec-
tively 关based on Eq. 共14兲兴. It is clear that Eq. 共14兲 gives some
matching results when the system approaches the pure attached
growth 共Figs. 6 and 7兲. At small COD value 共S ⬵ Smin兲, Eq. 共14兲
cannot predict the experimental values. This divergent is driven
from the structure of the equation itself. This equation neglects
the role of the biofilm at 共S = Smin兲 when R = 1.0, despite the sig-
 wastewater but decreases with higher values of biofilm car-
rier.
5. Minimum sludge production of the hybrid reactor 共Y obs
= .148兲 with accepted settleability was found at a low COD
level 共S ⬍ Smin兲 at a negligible level of the biofilm flux.
6. The maximum sludge production of the hybrid reactor
共Y obs = 0.25兲 is found when the flux into the biofilm is signifi-
cant with the presence of the suspended biomass.
7. In the hybrid reactor, SVI of the exit sludge attains its mini-
mum value 共SVI= 95兲 when the bulk substrate is just begin-
ning to flux into the biofilm 共before the point of the maxi-
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mum sludge production兲.

8. In the hybrid reactor, SVI of the exit sludge attains its higher
values 共SVI= 171兲 just after the point of the maximum rate of
the sludge production.
9. In the hybrid reactor, the theoretical expression of the excess
sludge, which assumes the same kinetics of both the fixed
and suspended culture, predicts values higher than those
from experiment.
10. The experiment results from the present study reveal that
there is a significant role of the inactive part of the biofilm
for reducing the excess sludge of the hybrid reactor. The
inactive part of the biofilm is not incorporated in the theoret-
ical expression of the sludge yield.

Notation

The following symbols are used in this paper:

Fig. 7. 共a兲 Comparison between the experimental and predicted
values of Y obs against the effluent substrate 共S兲 共semilog scale兲; and
共b兲 comparison between the experimental and predicted values of
Y obs against the effluent substrate 共S兲 共mathematical scale兲
nificant role of the biofilm for reducing the excess sludge at that
case. At R = 1.0, the sludge yield in the hybrid reactor not equal
共Y obs兲sus as estimated from Eq. 共14兲, but the biofilm significantly
increase the whole decay rate of the reactor. This is due to con-
sidering the active part only to express the biofilm activity, and
neglecting the decay of its total mass. Therefore, any form of Eq.
共14兲 will not give precise predictions with the experimental. On
the other hand, the experiment confirms the significant effect of
the inactive part of biofilm on the excess sludge in the hybrid
reactor.
Conclusion
Based on this study the following conclusions and important facts
can be drawn.
1. In the hybrid reactor, reducting the excess sludge and im-
proving its SVI are correlated with the active portion of bio-
film and the mass of the suspended growth.
2. Due to the presence of biofilm in the hybrid reactor, Y obs of
the combined system cannot increase to the maximum value
关Y / 共1 + ␪cM Kd兲兴 as found in the conventional ASP, but it will
diverge to attain the typical value of the attached growth.
3. In the hybrid reactor, there is a critical value of Y obs, which is
found at some specific ratio of the suspended biomass to the
fixed biofilm.
4. The critical value of Y obs is not constant for each specific
A ⫽ specific surface area of biofilm 关L−1兴;
A* ⫽ dimensionless specific surface area of biofilm
=A冑D f / K;
bs ⫽ specific shear loss rates 关T−1兴;
bt ⫽ sum of specific decay and shear loss rates =bs
+ kd关T−1兴;
D f ⫽ molecular diffusion coefficient in biofilm
关L2T−1兴;
Dw ⫽ molecular diffusion coefficient in water 关L2T−1兴;
J ⫽ substrate flux into biofilm 关ML−2T−1兴;
J* ⫽ dimensionless substrate flux =J / 冑共KsKX f D f 兲;
K ⫽ maximum specific rate of substrate utilization
关T−1兴;
Kd ⫽ specific decay rate 关T−1兴;
Ks ⫽ Monod half-velocity coefficient 关MsL−3兴;
L ⫽ thickness of the stagnant layer 关L兴;
L* ⫽ dimensionless thickness of the stagnant layer
=L冑共KX f 兲 / 共KsD f 兲共D f / Dw兲;
Q ⫽ flow rate into the =关L3T−1兴;
R ⫽ the fraction of substrate used by the suspended
biomass;
QwXu ⫽ daily mass of the wasted sludge 关M / T兴;
QeXe ⫽ mass of sludge in the treated effluent 关M / T兴;
S ⫽ effluent substrate concentration 关MsL−3兴;
S* ⫽ dimensionless effluent substrate concentration
=S / Ks;
S*min ⫽ dimensionless minimum substrate concentration
in the bulk liquid;
So ⫽ influent substrate concentration 关MsL−3兴;
S*o ⫽ dimensionless influent substrate concerntration
= S o / K s;
V ⫽ liquid volume of reactor 关L3兴;
X ⫽ suspended biomass concentration 关ML−3兴;

JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / MARCH 2005 / 423

J. Environ. Eng. 2005.131:417-424.

 X f ⫽ biofilm microbial density 关ML−3兴;
Y ⫽ sludge yield coefficient 关Mx / Ms兴;
Y obs ⫽ observed yield coefficient 关Mx / Ms兴;
共Y obs兲sus ⫽ observed yield coefficient for the suspended
biomass 关Mx / Ms兴;
共Y obs兲bio ⫽ observed yield coefficient for the biofilm
关Mx / Ms兴;
共Y obs兲max ⫽ maximum observed yield coefficient 关Mx / Ms兴;
*
Y obs ⫽ dimensionless observed yield coefficient= Y obs / Y;
共Y obs兲crit ⫽ critical yield coefficient in the hybrid reactor;
␪ ⫽ hydraulic retention hydraulic time in the reactor
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关T兴;
␪* ⫽ dimensionless hydraulic retention time in the
reactor= ␪k冑共X f 兲 / 共Ks兲;
␪c ⫽ sludge residence time 关T兴; and
␪cM ⫽ minimum sludge residence time 关T兴.
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