Dr. Md.

Mujibur Rahman
Professor of Civil Engineering

Ahsanullah University of Science & Technology

(AUST) Dhaka

© Professor Dr. Md. Mujibur Rahman 1

 Primary Sewage Treatment:
Primary Settler/ Sedimentation Tank/ Clarifier

© Professor Dr. Md. Mujibur Rahman 2

Primary Settler/ Sedimentation Tank/ Clarifier

 A settler is a primary treatment

technology for wastewater; it is
designed to remove suspended solids
by sedimentation.
 The low flow velocity in a settler allows
settleable particles to sink to the
bottom, while constituents lighter than
water float to the surface.
 Settlers can achieve a significant initial
reduction in suspended solids (50-70%
removal) and organic material (20-40%
BOD removal)
  Wastewater/sewage contains impurities which in flowing wastewater
will remain in suspension but in quiescent water will settle under the
influence of gravity.
 Sedimentation is the process of removing solid particles heavier than
water by gravity settling. It is the widely used unit operation in water
and wastewater treatments.
 The terms sedimentation, settling and clarification are used
interchangeably.
 The unit sedimentation basin may also be referred to as a sedimentation
tank, clarifier, a settling basin or settling tank.
 Sedimentation is used to remove both inorganic and organic particles
which are settleable in continuous-flow conditions.
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 Circular Sedimentation Tank

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 Horizontal Flow Sedimentation Tank

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 Based on solids concentration and the tendency of particle interaction, there
are four types of settling which may occur in wastewater settling operations.
The four types of settling are:
 Discrete settling (Class I)
 Flocculent settling (Class II)
 Hindered settling (Class III)
 Compression settling (Class IV)

Discrete settling (Class I)

 This occurs when particles settle as individual entities and their concentration
in suspension is considerably less; particles settle unhindered by container
walls or neighboring particles.
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 Flocculent settling (Class II)
 In reality, under quiescent conditions suspended particles in water or
wastewater exhibit a natural tendency to contact and agglomerate. As
particles coalesce and flocculation occurs, they grow bigger in size, the
mass of the particles increases, and they settle faster. This phenomenon
is called flocculent (Class/Type II) settling.

Hindered settling (Class III)

 In systems with high concentration of suspended solids the velocity
fields of closely spaced particles are obstructed, causing an upward
displacement of fluid that hinder settling of particles and in turn
reduces the settling velocity.

© Professor Dr. Md. Mujibur Rahman 8

 Compression settling (Class IV)

 When the particles are further compressed due to settling of particles

at the top layer, the concentration of particles at the bottom increases
as the liquid from settled particles moves up through particle
interstices. This phenomenon is called compression (Class/Type IV)
settling.

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 Schematic of settling regions Type I

Type II

Type III

Type IV

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 Typical circular primary settling tank

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11
  Most suspended solids in wastewater are "sticky" in nature and flocculate
naturally. Primary settling operations proceed essentially as type-2 settling
without the addition of coagulants, mechanical mixing and flocculation.
 The organic material is slightly heavier than water and settles slowly, usually in
the range of 1.0 to 2.5 m/h. Lighter materials primarily oil and grease float to
the surface and must be skimmed off.
 Design criteria for primary sedimentation tanks are as follows.

© Professor Dr. Md. Mujibur Rahman 12

 Detention time or Hydraulic retention time (HRT):
 Is the length of time a particle or a unit volume of wastewater remains in a
tank. It is an important design parameter that is used for computing the
volume and sizing of treatment units.
Flow through velocity or Horizontal velocity, vh
In any tank where the flow is continuous, the solid particles in wastewater
experience two types of velocities – one along the horizontal direction due to
drag force, and another along the vertical direction due to gravitation force.

The horizontal component is called the ‘flow through velocity’, (vh), while the
vertical component is known as ‘settling velocity’, (vs).

© Professor Dr. Md. Mujibur Rahman 13

  The knowledge of settling velocity of particle is used to determine the depth
of sedimentation tank unit to separate the suspended solids by gravity settling
and for checking the adequacy of length or diameter of a tank to remove
particles.
 Heavier particles that enter the tank follow the resultant path due to settling
velocity component of the flow and get removed.
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 Surface Loading Rate (SLR) or Overflow Rate:
 It is the volume of wastewater flow (flow rate) applied per unit surface area of
the sedimentation tank and is normally expressed in units of m3/d/m2 or
m3/m2-d (which is numerically equal to m/d).

 This is a significant design criterion as it is used to determine the surface area

of the tank.
𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒘(m3/d)
Surface loading rate =
𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒂 (m2)
= settling velocity (m/d)

Therefore, numerically, surface loading rate = settling velocity, vs

 As surface loading is the hydraulic flow applied per unit surface area of the
tank, it is also known as hydraulic loading.
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 General Design Criteria for PST:

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  The quantity of sludge removed in
primary sedimentation may
depend on several variables,
including the strength of the
incoming waste, the efficiency of
the clarifier, and the conditions of
the sludge (i.e., specific gravity,
water content, etc.).
 Removal efficiencies of well-
designed primary tanks depend
upon overflow rates, as shown in
Figure on the left.

Figure: Suspended solids and BOD

removal as a function of overflow rate.
(Adapted from Steele and McGhee, 1979)
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 Design example: A municipal wastewater-treatment plant processes an average flow of
5000 m3/day with peak flows as high as 12,500 m3/day. Design a primary clarifier to
remove approximately 60 % of the suspended solids at average flow.
Solution: From Fig. an overflow rate of 35 m3/m2/d should yield a suspended solids
5000 m3/d
removal efficiency of about 60 %. Required surface area is = = 143 m2
35 m3/m2.d
4𝐴 4𝑥143
Using a circular tank, the diameter is, 𝑑 = √ =√ = 13.5 m
𝜋 3.14
Assuming a side wall depth of 3 m, volume of tank is, v = 143 x 3 = 429 m3
429 m3
and the detention time at average flow is = 3 = 0.09 day = 2.06 hrs.
5000 m /d

12500 𝑚3/𝑑
At peak flow conditions the overflow rate is = = 87 m3/m2/d
143 𝑚2
429 m3
And the detention time at peak flow is = = 0.82 hr. = 49 mins.
12500 m3/d
From Fig. the suspended solids removal efficiency drops to about 38% for peak flow
conditions.
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© Professor Dr. Md. Mujibur Rahman 2/20/2023