Question 1

Question data
Q = 21600 m3 d-1

r= 1000 kg m-3

BOD = 375 mg l-1

TSS = 400 mg l-1
VSS/TSS = 67%
TSS/UBOD = 70.4%
BOD/UBOD = 68%

BODe = 20 mg l-1
TSSe = 22 mg l-1
Biodegradable TSS fraction = 65%

Assumptions

Screens/Grit:
Grit/TSS = 10%
VSS-grit/Grit = 10%

Primary clarifier:
Sludge concentration = 3% vol/vol
BOD removal = 33%
TSS removal = 60%
effluent VSS/TSS = 85%
Solids specific gravity = 1

Secondary treatment:
Aeration tank VSS/TSS = 80%
tc = 10 d
Y = 0.50
kd = 0.06 d-1

Underflow conc = 10000 mg l-1

Flotation thickener:
solids recovery = 90%
Sludge concentration = 4% vol/vol
sludge specific gravity = 1
Sludge digestion:
VSS destruction = 50%
Gas production = 1.16 kg kg-VSS-1
supernatant BOD = 1000 mg l-1
supernatant TSS = 0.5% vol/vol
sludge TSS = 5% vol/vol

Sludge dewatering:
Cake solids = 25%
Sludge specific gravity = 1.06
Solids capture = 95%
Centrate BOD = 1000 mg l-1

Answer

The first thing we need to do convert the inlet concentrations to daily mass values,

BOD = 8100000 g d-1

= 8100 kg d-1
TSS = 8640000 g d-1
8640 kg d-1

The scrreens and grit chamber removes some of the TSS, thus,

TSS = TSSin × (1 - % removed)

= 7776 kg d-1

The BOD in the exit effluent is made up of the soluble BOD exiting the secondary treatment and the
BOD proportion of the TSS

biodegradable TSSe = Biodegradable TSS fraction × TSSe

= 14.3 mg l-1

insoluble UBODe = TSSe / (TSS/UBOD)

= 20.31 mg l-1

insoluble BODe = (BOD/UBOD) × insoluble UBODe

= 13.81 mg l-1

BODe = soluble BODe + insoluble BODe

soluble BODe = 6.19 mg l-1
Now, due to the return flow we head into an iteration to find the solution, for the first pass we can
assume that the return flow is nothing, such as,

Qr = 0 m3 d-1
BODr = 0 kg d-1
TSSr = 0 kg d-1

This means that the flow into the primary clarifier is the sum of the return flow and that from the
grit chamber,

Q = 21600 m3 d-1
BOD = 8100 kg d-1
TSS = 7776 kg d-1

The removal of the BOD and TSS is specified for the primary clarifier, thus the values for the underflow
and overflow can be calculated,

BOD removal = 33%

TSS removal = 60%

BOD removed = 2673 kg d-1

BOD to secondary = 5427 kg d-1

TSS removed = 4666 kg d-1

TSS to secondary = 3110 kg d-1

The volume of the solids in the underflow can be calculated from,

TSSvol = TSS / r solids

= 4.67 m3 d-1

The underflow flow rate can the be calculated from the slurry concentration,

conc = TSSvol / q
q = 156 m3 d-1

Thus the overflow flow rate, and the flow to the secondary treatment, is,

Q= 21444 m3 d-1

For the anaerobic digester we are also going to need to know the fraction of VSS, so we need to
know the VSS in the primary sludge. We know the inlet fraction of VSS/TSS and the fraction to the
secondary prcessing, we also know the amount lost in the grit chamber, so we can undertake this as
a mass balance,

VSSin = TSSin × (VSS/TSS)in

= 5789 kg d-1
The effluent from the primary clarifier is,

VSSeff = TSSeff × (VSS/TSS)eff

= 2644 kg d-1

The VSS removed from the grit chamber is,

VSSgrit = Grit × (VSS-grit/Grit)

= 86 kg d-1

Thus the VSS in the primary sludge is,

VSSsludge = VSSin - VSSeff - VSSgrit

= 3059 kg d-1

Now we can examine the secondary treatment process. The concentrtion of BOD into the process is,

BOD = BODmass / Q
= 0.253 kg m-3
253 mg l-1

The mass of the volatile solids, VSS, created in the secondary process has to be removed as well
as the inlet solids,

VSS = 1654473 g d-1

= 1654 kg d-1

TSScreated = VSS / (VSS/TSS)

= 2068 kg d-1

A mass balance on the secondary process for the TSS,

TSSin + TSScreated = TSSwaste + TSSeffluent

TSSin + TSScreated = 5178 kg d-1
TSSwaste + TSSeffluent = 5178 kg d-1

and on the flow rate,

Qin = Qwaste + Qeffluent

Qin = 21444 m3 d-1
Qwaste + Qeffluent = 21444 m3 d-1
Combining the solids and flow balances based on the known concentrations means that we can
write the effluent flow rate as,

Qeffluent = ((TSSin + TSScreated) - Qin × Cwaste) / (Ceffluent - Cwaste)

= 20973 m3 d-1

Which means that the waste flow rate is,

Qwaste = 472 m3 d-1

The effluent TSS and BOD can now be calcualted from the concentration of each in the exit as the
disinfection will not affect these concentrations,

TSSeffluent = 461401 g d-1

461 kg d-1

BODe = 419455 g d-1

419 kg d-1

The soilds in the waste underflow can then be calculated from the flow rate and the concentration,

TSSwaste = 4717 kg d-1

The BOD here can be estimated by making the assumption that there is insoluble BOD from the
biodegradable TSS as we did before, such that,

TSSwaste = 10000 mg l-1

insoluble BODe = (BOD/UBOD) × Biodegradable TSS fraction / (TSS/UBOD) × TSS
BODw = insoluble BODe + soluble BODe
BODw = 6284.60 mg l-1

Thus,

BODw = 2964501 g d-1

2965 kg d-1
The flotation thickener has a solids collection efficiency, so the captured solids can be given by,

TSS = TSSwaste × collection efficiency

= 4245 kg d-1

The volume of the solids collected can be calculated from,

TSSvol = TSS / r solids

= 4.25 m3 d-1
The flow rate can the be calculated from the slurry concentration,

conc = TSSvol / Q
Q = 106 m3 d-1

Thus the water and TSS not collected is,

Q = 366 m3 d-1
TSS = 472 kg d-1

The BOD can be estimated by assuming the same effect of the TSS,

insoluble BODe = (BOD/UBOD) × Biodegradable TSS fraction / (TSS/UBOD) × TSS

BOD = insoluble BODe + soluble BODe

BODcollected = 2666 kg d-1

BODthrough = 298 kg d-1

For the digester the VSS is important, and thus the VSS in collected soilds is needed,

VSS = TSScollected × (VSS/TSS)aerationtank

= 3396 kg d-1

The blending tank combines the flows from the thickener and the primary clarifier, thus,

Q= 262 m3 d-1
BOD = 5339 kg d-1
TSS = 8911 kg d-1
VSS = 6455 kg d-1

In the digester some of the VSS is destroyed, this means that the TSS after digestion is the remaining
VSS and the proportion of the TSS that is not volitile, thus,

iTSS = TSS - VSS

= 2456 kg d-1

VSS destroyed in digestion = VSS × fraction destroyed

= 3227 kg d-1

TSS after digestion = iTSS + (VSS - VSSdestroyed)

= 5684 kg d-1

As we know the sludge specific gravity we can calculate the total mass entering the digester,

M in = 261655 kg d-1
The gas produced is equal to,

M gas = 3743 kg d-1

Therefore the total sludge output mass must be,

M out = Min - Mgas

= 257912 kg d-1

Assuming the sludge specific gravity, then,

Q out = 258 m3 d-1

Taking a balance for the flow rates and the TSS as done for the secondary clarifier then we can say that,

Q super = (TSSout - Q out × Csludge)/(Csuper - Csludge)

= 160 m3 d-1

Thus,

Q sludge = 98 m3 d-1

The TSS can be then calcualted from the concentrations,

TSSsuper = 801 kg d-1

TSSsludge = 4882 kg d-1

The BOD in the recycled supernatant can then be clacualted from the specified concentration,

BOD = 160 kg d-1

Now we can calculate the change from the sludge dewatering (in this case we are ignoring any mass
added from polymers or sludge conditioning agents added). First we can calculate the sludge cake
properties. The solids can be given by,

Solids = TSS × solids captured

= 4638 kg d-1

The volume of the cake is then taken from the solids fraction in the cake,

Volume = Solids / (cake density × solids fraction)

= 18 m3 d-1

The centrate flow rate is then the remaning flow,

Q centrate = 80 m3 d-1
The TSS in the centrate is the remaining TSS,

TSScentrate = 244 kg d-1

The BOD is specified as a concenration in the centrate, so that,

BODcentrate = 80 kg d-1

The recycled flows can than be added up from the flotation thickener, digester supernatant, and the
centrate, thus,

Q rec = 606 m3 d-1

BODrec = 539 kg d-1
TSSrec = 1517 kg d-1

This balance can be seen on the process flow diagram over the page.

Now the recycle flow can be fed back into the system and the mass balance updated. As this would be
carried out on a computer this can be easilly iterated until there isless than 1% difference in the values.

The updated balance can be seen on the updated process flow diagram.

In reality, the VSS of the returned suspended solids will typically vary from 50 to 75%, so there would be
a small reduction in the VSS compared to the original calculation, but this is unlikely to greatly affect
the calculations for the digester anyway, so can be ignored at this level.
Q , m3 d-1 21600 21600 21600 21444 20973
BOD, kg d-1 8100 8100 8100 5427 419
TSS, kg d-1 8640 7776 7776 3110 461

156 472
2673 2965
4666 106 4717
2666
4245

262 366
5339 298
8911 472

160 18
-1
160 Gas, kg d 98 80 -
801 3743 - 80 4638
4882 244
Q , m3 d-1 21600 21600 22323 22131 21572
BOD, kg d-1 8100 8100 8743 5858 431
TSS, kg d-1 8640 7776 9570 3828 475

723 191 559

643 2885 3512
1794 5742 126 5588
3158
5029

317 433
6044 354
10771 559

181 24
-1
181 Gas, kg d 133 109 -
904 3753 - 109 6300
6632 332