See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/283436291

Low-Cost Design of Stepped Cascade Aeration System

Article · April 2012

CITATION READS

1 1,530

4 authors, including:

Ravikumar Kanapuram Mukesh Goel

VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering & Technology Sheffield Hallam University
36 PUBLICATIONS   89 CITATIONS    46 PUBLICATIONS   146 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Estimating Groundwater recharge potential View project

Surface and Groundwater Modeling View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Ravikumar Kanapuram on 03 November 2015.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 International Journal for Humanities, Science and Technology Vol 1 (3) 2012
Low-Cost Design of Stepped Cascade Aeration System
Sanjib Moulick1, K. Ravikumar2, Mukesh Goel2 and Ashutosh Das2
1
Department of Agricultural & Food Engineering, IIT Kharagpur, Kharagpur - 721302.
2
Centre for Environmental Engineering, PRIST University, Thanjavur – 613403
Abstract
Since eons various methods for the
purification of water have been devised. The aim of
this project is to portray one such very effective
method that has been used since ages and to
analyze the various parameters like salinity,
dissolved oxygen and temperature that influence
the oxidation and hence the purification. The
experimental work is substantiated with theoretical
values and establishes the fact that chutes increase
the dissolved oxygen in the water and increase
significantly the rate of energy dissipation taking
place along the chute and reduce the size of the
required downstream energy dissipation basin. It
also makes use of the latest technology available
by making use of RCC gabions that are sturdy.
Introduction
Stepped channels and spillways are used
since more than 3,000 years. Recently new
construction materials (e.g. RCC, gabions) have
increased the interest for stepped chutes. The steps
significantly increase the rate of energy dissipation
taking place along the chute and reduce the size of
the required downstream energy dissipation basin.
Stepped cascades are used also for in-stream re-
aeration and in water treatment plants to enhance the
air-water transfer of atmospheric gases (e.g. oxygen,
nitrogen) and of volatile organic components (VOC).
The process by which oxygen present in air
becomes entrained in the water is called aeration .
In waste water treatment processes, air is either
mechanically bubbled into the treated water or
water is allowed to flow turbulently over the rocks,
steps or any hydraulic structure as a means of
adding atmospheric oxygen before discharging to a
stream or river. In fact, post-aeration is necessary at
many facilities in order to comply with the
minimum dissolved oxygen concentration as per
the State’s Water Pollution Control Regulations.
Some of the hydraulic structures that are employed
for the aeration purposes are weirs, spillways,
gated sills, ogee crests, gated conduit outlets,
stepped cascades and tainter gates. However, one
of the most cost effective post-aeration designs is
a stepped -cascade aerator.
Stepped cascades have been used for a long
time for the purpose of energy dissipation and
aeration. There are many existing equations in use
for modeling the oxygen transfer at stepped cascade
123
aerators (developed for other hydraulic structures)
(Avery and Novak, 1978; Thene, 1988; Holler,
1970; Pruel and Holler, 1969; Markofsky and
Kobus, 1978; Nakasone, 1987; Rindels and
Gulliver, 1993; Foree, 1976; Tsivoglou and
Wallace, 1972; Wilhelms and Smith,1981; Watson
et al, 1981). These equations are mostly empirical
and limited to certain situations. The hydraulics
behind the stepped cascade aerators plays a
major role in oxygen transfer mechanism
(Chanson and Toombes, 2002). A stepped cascade
flow is characterized by a succession of free-falling
nappes (i .e., nappe flow) at low flow rates. At
large flow rates with identical chute geometry
(step height, mean slope), the water skims over
the pseudo-invert formed by the step edges (i.e.,
skimming flow). For an observer on the chute
bank, a skimming flow has the same appearance
as a smooth-invert chute flow. For a range of flow
rates in between, a transition flow pattern is
observed. It is characterized by significant splashing
and flow deflections at certain steps (Chanson and
Toombes, 2002). Stepped chute hydraulics is not
simple, because of different flow regimes, most
importantly, strong flow aeration, very-strong
turbulence and interactions between entrained air
and turbulence (Chanson and Toombes, 2002).
The findings of Chanson and Gonzalez (2005)
during dimensional analysis for physical
modeling of air-water transfer for stepped
cascades emphasized that physical modeling of
stepped chutes based upon a Froude similitude is
more sensitive to scale effects than classical
smooth-invert chute studies.
Aeration
The process by which oxygen present in
air becomes entrained in the water is called
aeration. The water is brought in intimate contact
with air, so as to absorb oxygen and to remove CO2
gas. It may also help in killing bacteria to a certain
extent. It also helps in removing H2S gas and iron
and manganese to a certain extent from the treated
water. In waste water treatment processes, air is
either mechanically bubbled into the treated water
of water is allowed to flow turbulently over the
rocks, steps or any hydraulic structure as a means of
adding oxygen before discharging to a stream or
river. Post- aeration is necessary at many facilities
in order to comply with the minimum dissolved
 International Journal for Humanities, Science and Technology Vol 1 (3) 2012
oxygen concentration in the State's Water Pollution
Control Regulations. Some of the hydraulic
structures that are employed for the aeration
purposes are weirs, spillways, gated sills, ogee
crests, gated conduit outlets, stepped cascades and
tainter gates.
In waste water treatment processes, air is
either mechanically bubbled into the treated water
of water is allowed to flow turbulently over the
rocks, steps or any hydraulic structure as a means
of adding oxygen before discharging to a stream
or river. Post-aeration is necessary at many
facilities in order to comply with the minimum
dissolved oxygen concentration in the State's
Water Pollution Control Regulations. Some of the
hydraulic structures that are employed for the
aeration purposes are weirs, spillways, gated sills,
ogee crests, gated conduit outlets, stepped
cascades and tainter gates.
This process is explained as follows
l. In this method, the water is made to fall
through a certain height (1-3m) over a series
of steps with a fall of about 0.15 to 0.3 m in
each step.
2. Cascade aerators are widely used as water
features.
3. These take large quantities of water in a
comparatively small area at low head.
4. These are simple to clean and can be made
of robust and durable materials with a long
life.
5. The plates can be made of cast iron or of
RCC or of timber, or even of glass.
6. The aerator should preferably be installed
in open air.
7. For protection against air pollution,
freezing and algal growth, it can be
installed in a small house having plenty
of louvered air inlets.
8. Cascade aerator are efficient in raising
dissolved oxygen content of water but not
of carbon dioxide removal which can be
removed only in the range of 60-70%
9. This aids in the self- purification of the
river water, which occurs due to increase
in DO which accelerates the process of
decomposition of organic matter.
10. Since raw water does not contain too
much color and odour, only nominal
aeration is proposed by constructing an
124
artistic cascade type aerator.
11. These can help in maintaining the water
oxygen levels in water and remove
dissolved iron and manganese, remove
CO2 and H2S gases as well as the color
and tastes caused by volatile oils, etc.
released by algae and other micro-
organisms.
12. Raw water reaching the plant can be
pumped into the aerator tank through a
450 mm dia pipe and will outflow
through 4 nos of 250 mm dia pipes.
Material Balance Equation:
The material balance equation relating to
instantaneous rate of change in DO concentration
(dCt/dt) to the rate of oxygen mass transfer between
air voids and water is,
dCt/dt = kL. a(Cs-Ct) ------------------1
where kL the liquid mass transfer coefficient; a- the
air/water interfacial surface area per unit volume of
water; Cs- the DO concentration at saturation and Cc
the DO concentration at time t.
The term kLa is known as the overall mass
transfer coefficient and is a function of
temperature, liquid viscosity, turbulence or
degree of mixing, time of exposure, and in the
case air entrainment, bubble size( Avery and
Novak, 1978).
Cs is related to existing partial pressure of O2 (P02
) in air by Henry's law
Cs =kHPO2------------------------------2
Where kH is Henry's law constant for 02 and it is a
function of temperature and ionic strength of water
(Standard Methods, 1992)
Integrating eqn.l between the limits of 0 and t for
time, and C0 and C1 for DO concentration results in
the equation of gas transfer in which 'r' is
commonly called the deficit ratio ( Avery and
Novak, 1978).
Cs-Ct/(Cs-C0) = 1-1/r------------------3
For oxygen transfer at cascades, the DO
concentration upstream (Cu) and downstream (Cd)
of the cascade are used in place of C0 and C1 in
eqn.3 or eqn.4 to calculate ‘r’ and 'E'.
E = Cd – Cu/(Cs – Cu) = 1-1/r
Materials and Methods
The working principle is when water flows
through the series of steps oxidation takes place due
 International Journal for Humanities, Science and Technology Vol 1 (3) 2012

to the fall from certain height and also due to the area
of contact surface, thereby the amount of dissolved
oxygen increases as the water progresses. The
process was repeated and checked for various
conditions of flow.
Description of the setup:
The cascade part was designed with the
following dimensions: Rise= 0.5m; Tread= 0.5m;
Total rise= 1.5m. The steps had been made of GI
sheets of gauge 1mm thick. Angle sections were used
at the edges for supporting the series of steps. All
pipe fittings were done using PVC pipes of diameter
1 inch and 2 inches. Pitot tubes were used for
measuring the velocity of the water at required
places. The type of pump used was jet pump
(Capacity: 0.5 HP Speed: 1800 rpm). Water analyzer
kit (Systronics, 387) was used for determining the
salinity, temperature and dissolved oxygen. The
experimental setup is shown in the figure below
(Fig.1).
Experimental procedure:
Initially the barrel was filled with water and
a small quantity of the same was taken in a beaker
and analyzed for salinity, temperature and dissolved
oxygen. Now as the water in the barrel was pumped
through the pipes, the flow rate was controlled by
using a gate valve provided next to the pump. With
valve fully open the discharge was calculated by
using a vessel of known volume (V) and time (t)
taken for vessel to be filled. The velocity of the flow
in the first step is determined by inserting a pitot tube
and the velocity is calculated using the formula V =
(2gh)1/2
Now the sample water collected in the
beaker was taken and the values of salinity,
temperature and dissolved oxygen were recorded. As
the water was allowed to progress through the series
of steps and finally collected in barrel. In the final
step the velocity of the water was again measured
using pitot tube and the values of salinity,
temperature and dissolved oxygen were noted down
and compared with the initial values.
The same process was repeated by adjusting
the valve for 6 turns,9 turns,12 turns and l4 turns
from the valve fully open so that the discharge is
varied and the corresponding velocities at the final
step is noted. Then the values of the two velocities
were compared and the values of salinity,
temperature and dissolved oxygen were found out
using the water analyzer kit and compared with the
initial values.

Fig1. Experimental Set up

Results and Discussion
Results of the experiments are presented in Tables 1 to 6. Efficiencies were calculated for each case, as the flow
rate and times were varied at different turns of valve openings. It can be inferred from the above analysis.

125
 International Journal for Humanities, Science and Technology Vol 1 (3) 2012

1. As the water flows through the series of steps the oxygen content is found to be higher than the initial value
due to the surface contact with atmosphere..
2. As the discharge was varied, the flow rate could be controlled. Lesser the discharge more the time taken for
the water to flow through the series of steps and, as a result, more the contact time and subsequent
contribution to the rise in dissolved oxygen content.

Table 1: Measurement of salinity, temperature and dissolved oxygen

Description Salinity (ppm) Temperature (oC) Dissolved Oxygen (ppm)

Sample Water 2850 25 0.2

Table 2: Value fully open

Dissolved Oxygen
Description Salinity (ppm) Temperature (oC) Velocity (cm/s)
(ppm)
First step 2650 27.9 0.5 54.40
Second step 2670 27.3 0.7 52.24

V = 74.74*10-3 m3; T = 54s ; Q = 1.38*10-3 m3/s

Efficiency = (Cd – Cu)/(Cs - Cu)

= (0.7-0.5)/(7.9-0.5) = 2.7 %

Table 3: 6 Turns (closing) of the valve from fully open

Description Salinity (ppm) Temperature (0C) Dissolved Oxygen Velocity (cm/s)

(ppm)
First step 2690 26.9 0.5 70.40
Second step 2660 26.7 0.8 64.19

V = 74.74*10-3 m3 ; T = 62s ; Q = 1.21*10-3 m3/s

Efficiency = (Cd – Cu)/(Cs - Cu)
= (0.8-0.5)/(8.1-0.5) = 9.95%

Table 4: 9 Turns (closing) of the valve from fully open

Description Salinity (ppm) Temperature (oC) Dissolved Oxygen Velocity (cm/s)

(ppm)
First step 2670 26.6 0.2 79.24
Second step 2680 26.4 0.3 70.04

V = 74.74*10-3 m3 ; T = 62s ; Q = 1.21*10-3 m3/s

Efficiency = (Cd – Cu)/(Cs - Cu)
= (0.3-0.2)/(8.1-0.2) = 1.27%

Table 5: 12 Turns (closing) of the valve from fully open

Description Salinity (ppm) Temperature (oC) Dissolved Oxygen Velocity (cm/s)

(ppm)
First step 2690 26.9 0.2 79.78
Second step 2680 26.6 0.8 52.25

V = 74.74*10-3 m3 ; T = 64s ; Q = 1.17*10-3 m3/s

Efficiency = (Cd – Cu)/(Cs - Cu)
= (0.8-0.2)/(8.1-0.2) = 7.6%

126
 International Journal for Humanities, Science and Technology Vol 1 (3) 2012
Table 6: 14 Turns (closing) of the valve from fully open
Description Salinity (ppm) Temperature (oC)
First step 2670 26.6
Second step 2680 26.4
V = 74.74*10-3 m3 ; T = 343s ; Q = 0.22*10-3 m3/s
Efficiency = (Cd – Cu)/(Cs - Cu)
= (2.3-1.8)/(8.1-1.8) = 7.9%
Conclusion
The research work opens up the scope of
using the most traditional way of water treatment,
i.e., aeration and estimates the optimized
configuration for DO-enrichment, with detailed
technical estimation. In fact, the given guidelines can
be used for creating least cost-aeration in water-
bodies or treatment of wastewater or with minor
modification of existing hydraulic structures.
Acknowledgement
The authors express their sincere thanks to our B.
Tech. (Civil) students Jehoshuah Sylvester, Johnson,
Mohameed Ameen, Sanya Atlaf and
Sivashanmuganathan for their assistance in carrying
out this work.
References
Avery, S.T., and Novak, P. (1978). “Oxygen transfer
at hydraulic structures.” Journal of the Hydraulics
Division, American Society of Civil Engineers,
104(1), 1521-1540.
Chanson, H., and Gonzalez, C.A. (2005). “Physical
modeling and scale effects of air –water flows on
stepped spillways.” Journal of Zhejiang University
Science, 6A (3):243-250.
Chanson, H., and Toobes, L. (2002). “Experimental
study of gas-liquid interfacial properties in a stepped
cascade flow.” Environmental Fluid Mechanics
2:241-263.
Foree, E.G. (1976). “Re-aeration and velocity
prediction for small streams.” Journal of the
Environmental Engineering Division, American
Society of Civil Engineering, 102(5), 937-951.
Holler, A.G. (1970). “Reaeration of discharge
through hydraulic structures.” Project Report, U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, Ohio River Division,
Cincinnati, OH.
Markofsky,M., and Kobus, H. (1978). “Unified
presentation of weir-aeration data.” Journal of
Hydraulics Division, American Society of Civil
Engineers, 104(4),462-468.
127
View publication stats
Dissolved Oxygen Velocity (cm/s)
(ppm)
0.2 79.24
0.3 70.04
Nakasone, H. (1987). “Study of aeration at weirs and
cascades.” Journal of Environmental Engineering,
Jan/Feb 1987, Vol. 113(1), pp 64-81.
Preul, H.C., and Holler, A.G.(1969). “Reaeration
through low dams in the Ohio River.” Proceedings of
the Industrial Waste Conference, Purdue University,
South Bend, Ind., 1249-1270.
Rindels, A.J., and Gulliver, J.S. (1991). “Oxygen
transfer at spillways.” Air-water mass transfer, Proc.,
2nd Symp on Gas Transfer at Water Surfaces, Steven
Wilhems and John Gulliver, eds., American Society
of Civil Engineers, Reston, Va, 524-533.
Srikanth Koduri and Brian David Barkdoll (2002).
“Evaluation of Oxygen transfer at stepped cascade
aerators.” Conference Proceeding of World Water &
Environmental Resources Congress 2003 and Related
Symposia, June 23.26, 2003, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania.
Thene, J.R. (1988). “Gas transfer at weirs using the
hydrocarbon gas trace method with headspace
analysis.” M.S.Thesis, University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis.
Tsivoglou,E.C., and Wallace,J.R. (1972).
“Characterization of stream reaeration capacity.”
USEPA Report No. R3-73-012, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Washington,D.C.
Watson, C., Walter, W.R.., and Hogan, S.A. (1978).
“Aeration performance of low drop weirs.” Journal of
the Hydraulics Engineering, American Society of
Civil Engineers, 124(1), 6349.
Wilhelms, S.C., and Smith, D.R. (1981). “Reaeration
through gated conduit outlet works.” Technical
Report E-81-5, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
Waterways Experiment Station, Vickburg, MS.