Secondary treatment

Major treatment – biological processes

Biodegradation kinetics
Types of secondary treatment operation units
A. Attached culture systems
B. Suspended culture systems:
i) Activated sludge system
ii) Membrane bioreactors
Attached culture system
Attached culture system

Trickling filter
Trickling filter with advanced media
 Attached
culture
• Schematic
process for
trickling filters :
• Biofilm
formation,
respiration and
slush out
Slush out
 Attached culture - Biotowers

Designnuance.com Quora.com

Se/ So = exp (- kD/Qn) ; Sa = (So +RSe)/(1+R)

Se, So, Sa – Concentration of effluent, influent substrate , mixture of raw and recycling,
respectively (BOD5 mg/L)
Q – hydraulic loading rate, m3/m2.min ; D – depth of the medium, m
k – treatability constant (related to wastewater and medium characteristics (1/min) (0.01 -
0.1, average for municipal WW and plastic media = 0.6)
n – coefficient of medium characteristics (0.5 for plastic media)
R – ratio of influent to recycling flow
 Attached culture –
Rotating Biological Contactor -RBC
Attached culture - RBC
Mixed cultures - Algae towers

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 Suspended culture:
Activated sludge treatment
 1. The principle

Microbiology & Physics

Activated settling
sludge

• Activated sludge tank - microbiology

– convert wastewater constituents to sludge
• Settling tank – physics
– clarification - separate sludge from water
– thickening - separate water from sludge

11
 BOD bottle represents all that happens in
reactor when biodegradation takes place
Day 1 Day 5
O2 O2 O2 O2
Electron acceptor
O2
O2 O2 O2
O2
O2 O2

Organics = Electron donor

DO = 8 mg O2/L DO = 3 mg O2/L 12
Microbial growth curve phases
 Kinetics
• dX/dt = m X – growth rate of the biomass
• X – concentration of biomass
• S- concentration of limiting food in solution
• mmax Maximum growth rate constant
• Ks – half saturation constant = concentration
of limiting food when m = 0.5mmax
 Life defined by this curve (Monod)
(Figure 6-18, p.459)

➔ growth rate = m= mmaxS

- kd
Ks+S

• k = mmax/Y

mmax
m
½ mmax
growth rate

S
Ks 15
 Rate of substrate (bsCOD) utilized
• dX/dt =- kXS/(Ks + S) (mg COD/L d)
• Specific bacteria growth rate m (mg VSS/mgVSS d)
• mmax = k*Y or k = mmax/Y
• r su = dS/dt = - mmaxXS/Y(Ks + S) = - kXS/(Ks + S)

rsu,max
X = 100 mg/L
rsu k= 6.6 mg bsCOD/mg VSS*d
Ks = 5 mg bsCOD/L
½ rsu,max

S
Ks 16
 Biological process dynamics

• Batch food removed and Biomass Growth

shown followed by decay as food becomes
scarce
• Biomass Yield Y = g Biomass produced
g COD used (consumed substrate)

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 Net biomass growth is reduced by decay
rd=-kdX
• Growth net = growth from food – decay “growth”

rx = -Yrsu - kdX
rx = Y kXS- - k X
d
Ks+S
• Substrate is converted to biomass. Conversion efficiency
is called yield Y.
• Efficient aerobic bacteria convert 40-80% of food to
biomass Y = 0.4-0.8. “Inefficient” anaerobic bacteria have
Y = 0.1 - 0.15 g VSSproduced/g CODremoved
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COD consumed & adsorbed
• Bacteria
– biodegrade soluble food (bsCOD) - Juice
– solubilize biodegradable particulates (bpCOD) Meat
– adsorb inert non-biodegradable particulates
(nbpCOD) Fiber
• Juice, Meat, Fiber
• Bacteria don’t need fiber (we try to remove it
then by primary treatment)

19
 Principles of Activate Sludge (AS) system
Primary Cl. Second. Cl.
PE
Reactor
X

RAS = return activated sludge

WAS = Waste
Activated Sludge

• Bacteria only eat soluble food (bsCOD)

• Particulate/colloidal food adsorbed for later
• Biomass = bacteria + protozoa
• Bacteria work. Protozoa eat bacteria
• Biomass multiplies → removed as WAS
• Biomass recycled → RAS
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 Summary of bio-treatment in suspended
growth culture = activated sludge
Biomass separated from
Soluble and non-settleable clean effluent in this Final
“food” Clarifier

Q Q
Q Biomass under aeration in
the reactor grows on
incoming “food”

Return activated sludge

Primary Major portion of biomass is recycled back
sludge to the process Waste
activated sludge
Portion of biomass, equal
to the amount grown on
“food” consumed, is wasted
Settled biomass. When it settles fast and from the system. Engineer
compacts well the actual volume of return controls that and thus
sludge is smaller e.g. 35%Q. If it is bloated determines the SRT
(bulky) and settles poorly you must recycle
more volume (same TSS dry solids) 21
 Solids residence time SRT is the most important
design parameter
• SRT defines how long solids are in the system
• The more difficult the compound the longer it
takes to break it down (chew it) and the
longer your design SRT must be:
– Growth rate µ for bugs growing on difficult
compounds (or ammonia) is low hence the SRT
must be very long
• Designer must know his target SRT – do pilot
studies and find out

22
 Nomenclature
• Q·S Load = Flow·concentration
[m3/d·kg/m3 = kg/d]

• X·V Sludge inventory·Biomass

[kg/m3·reactor volume m3 = kg VSS]

• F/M food/microorganism = Load/Sludge inventory

[(kg COD/d)/kgVSS]
• HRT Hydraulic residence time HRT = ϴ =V/Q
• SRT Time to digest the food SRT = ϴc = X·V/Xr·QWAS
[kg VSS sludge inventory/(kg VSS/d) of WAS]
• WAS Waste activated sludge XV/SRT [kg VSS/d]
23
 Minimum SRT defined in a reactor treating
different substrates
SRTmin = 1/µmax
SRTdesign ≥ 2·SRTmin
Effluent concentration

Phenol
(mg/L)

Complex
Industrial COD

Acetate Ammonia

0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0

SRTmin, acetate SRT (d)
SRTmin, phenol SRTmin, NH3
24
 Modeling activated sludge reactor
(SRT≈ 1/m ; HRT = τ) SRT >>HRT = τ

Q, So X;S S, Q Xe
X, V,
Xo Q+Qr
RAS
WAS
X r Qr S
Xr Qw
• HRT = V/Q Note: Xr = Xu = Xw
• SRT = Biomass present/Biomass removed
SRT = (V•X)/(Xr•Qw) 25
 Biomass mass balance

Rate of Rate of Rate of Net growth of

biomass = biomass -- biomass +
biomass
accumulation flow into Flow out of In the system
in system the system the system

• dX/dt·V = Q·Xo - (Q- Qw)Xe + rxV

0 0 Steady state
No cells in flow
• dX/dt·V = Q·Xo - (Q- Qw)Xe + rxV

YSµ
• 1/SRT = -Y rsu/X – kd = - kd
Ks+S
26
 Substrate mass balance
VdS/dt· = Q·(So- Se) + rsuV
S = Ks(1 +kdSRT)/[SRT(Y k -kd)-1]
effluent depends on SRT. Does not
depend on So
HRT = θ, SRT = θc,
X = [SRT·Y(So-S)]/[HRT(1+kdSRT]
Biomass depends on So and Y

27
 What does it mean?

• At high S concentration growth rate is maxed out and

becomes independent of food → rsu =rrsu, max
• At low S concentration growth rate is increasing as
food (S) increases

So S

In a completely mixed reactor

The S is always low and equal
to effluent concentration 28
 Oxygen uptake rate OUR

• ro = - rsu – 1.42 rx
gO2/m3
• Equation for remember.
min
ro = g O2/m3d
rsu = g bsCOD/m3d
rx = g VSS/m3d
1.42 g bsCOD/g VSS

29
 How much sludge should we waste?
What is WAS?
• WAS = biomass inventory/SRT
• We must waste all sludge(biomass) produced
so that the concentration stays constant

30
Settling of biomass is tricky as bugs get bloated
(phenomenon called bulking) when food or
season changes
Sludge volume index=
SVI

SVI=[SV/MLSS]1000 =
[350/3500]*1000= 100

SV=350 mL/L (after 30 min)

MLSS= 3500 mg/L

Biomass Inventory
SRT =
Biomass wasted/d
31
Do a mass balance
and calculate recycle RAS

(Q+Qr)X
Q Q, Xe
V*X

Qr, Xr Qw, Xr

What happens if the sludge/biomass will not settle?

32
 Types of Membrane Bioreactor (MBR)

External membrane module

Internal membrane module
(submerged) in a separate tank
Submerged Membrane Bioreactor

SMBR or MBR
 Principles

• MBR works as an activated sludge reactor

• Filtration through the membrane substitutes
the secondary clarifier
• MBR has a long SRT
 Submerged Membrane Electro-
Bioreactor - SMEBR
• Removed COD,
nutrients,
metals,
pathogens, etc. -
• Do not require
primary
treatment unit,
small footprint
and also mobile
system
SMEBR, Elektorowicz et al., US Pat. 8 147 700
 Example1: simplified (1):
BOD removal system at long SRT=10 d

• Assume SRTdesign =10 d, Y = 0.6 gVSS/g BOD, So=200

mg/L, kd = 0.06 gVSS/gVSS·d, k = 5 g BOD/gVSS·d; X =
3500 mg VSS/L; Ks=50 mg BOD/L

• From equation for biomass X we can derive V,

remembering that HRT =V/Q V=2290 m3 which for
Q=11 250 m3/d gives
HRT=4.9 h

37
 Effluent cBOD, bsCOD is very small
from long SRT (2)
• S = Ks(1 +kdSRT)/[SRT(Yk -kd)-1] =
= 50(1 + 0.06*10)/[10(0.6*5-0.06)-1] =
= 80/28.4 = 2.8 mg/L BOD5
This is so low that we should not even bother with
calculating effluent BOD at such long SRT. Any BOD5<
5 mg/L is hard to measure
In modern biological nutrient removal (BNR) we will
be only concerned with nitrifiers’ growth rate i.e.
nitrification SRT. The resulting SRT will be so long that
cBOD will be long gone before we start
removing NH3-N 38
 • PROJECT – cover page
Title: Design Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) for the City XX using software GPS-X by
Hydromanits
Note: Consider the location of the plant in the existing area.
Consider provided data. Search for additional information if needed
Objective and methodology:
It is expected that student design a Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in two potential options
for the above-mentioned municipality using GPS-X. Team should present two WWTP options and
defend one. The project should contain at least:
1. Abstract
2. Table of content
3. Description of area.
4. Characteristics of wastewater parameters.
5. Discussion of the concept
6. Layout of operation units and their description
7. Output from computer containing: BOD, SS, DO concentration, etc
8. Discussion of results
9. Providing arguments regarding their choice in the context of the effluent quality,
costs and dimensions, etc.
Delivery:
1. A written Final Report including the above-mentioned content
2. Final presentation , both document have to be uploaded to Moodle