HOMOGENIZATION

OF FLOWS
UNIT PHYSICAL OPERATIONS
PRESENT:
• GARCIA LEON FRIDA SOFIA
• GONZALEZ VELAZQUEZ CARLOS ANDRES
• SANTIAGO GONZÁLEZ JOKSANH-OBED
 INTRODUCTION
There
There are
are aa large
large number
number of of industries
industries that,
that, due
due to
to their
their form
form of
of batch
batch or
or
cargo
cargo manufacturing,
manufacturing, working
working hours,
hours, type
type of
of production,
production, etc.
etc. They
They originate
originate
wastewater
wastewater that
that arrives
arrives at
at the
the treatment
treatment plant
plant with
with some
some variations
variations of
of flow
flow
and / or composition
and / or composition

In the case of having a continuous treatment system, if the variation

of the input flows is very pronounced, any type of subsequent
process is difficult, be it biological, physical or chemical.

To avoid these difficulties, cameras (tanks, reservoirs or rafts) that

act as lungs are designed, where wastewater can accumulate
 ADVANTAGES
General improvement of the yields of the processes, that work with flows and
loads more homogeneous

In biological processes, fluctuations in concentration of process effluents are

attenuated.

The entry of high concentrations of toxins into biological processes is

prevented.

It facilitates the operations and programming of maintenance work.

Reduction of the necessary surfaces for the filtration of the effluent,

improvement of the performances of the filters and possibility of achieving
more uniform washing cycles.
The size and costs of the treatment units located downstream are
reduced.

It allows to optimize the size of the installation and avoid the

oversizing of the treatment plant, since it would have to be
sized, for example, for maximum flows.

It facilitates the control of the installation.

 DISADVANTAGES
Lack of aeration when a lot of organic
matter arrives.

Accumulation of sediments and sands in

the background (lack of energy).

Problems in the extraction of coarse or

sedimented material.
 FLOW REGULATION STRATEGIES

The two basic forms of operation of the rafts or flow regulation tanks are:

Online or serial Bypass, parallel or offline

• The regulation raft is in line with the
supply to the treatment plant and,
consequently, all residual water will
pass through the regulation tank or
raft.
• Only the flow that exceeds the
medium, which is forwarded to the
treatment plant when the flow of
arrival is lower than the medium, is
derived to the regulating pool.
 GRAPHIC METHOD

The volume required is determined from a flow chart to be treated, which represents the
accumulated contributions throughout the day.

To determine the necessary volume, a parallel line is drawn to the one that defines the average
daily flow tangent to the curve of the accumulated contribution volumes. The necessary volume
is determined by the vertical distance from the point of tangency to the line that represents the
average flow.

This procedure provides the same results as if the actual flow that occurs every hour is
subtracted, the average hourly flow and the resulting cumulative volume curve is represented.
At the lower tangency point (flow model a), the homogenization tank is empty. From this point, since the
flow that enters is greater than the average flow, (the slope of the contribution curve is greater than the
average flow), the homogenization tank begins to fill, until midnight is reached, at which time it starts to
empty again (the slope is less than the average flow). For the flow model b), at the upper tangency point the
tank is completely full.
 MASS BALANCE METHOD
To carry out the second of the indicated methods, more accurate and easier to perform
than the first, a spreadsheet with the following columns will be prepared:
Accumulated
Accumulated volume
volume of
of water
Volume
Volume ofof water
water that
that that
water Volume
Volume of
of water
water extracted
extracted
that arrives at the plant from
arrives at the plant from
Time (from hour to arrives
arrives at the plant in
at the plant in time
time zero
zero (m3).
(m3). The
The volume
volume of of
from
from the raft from time
which
the raft from time zero,
zero,
which will correspond to the
will correspond to the
hour, for example). the
the referred
referred period
period of
of water
water accumulated in
divided
accumulated in aa day
day average
average flow
flow multiplied
multiplied byby the
the
time divided byby 24
24 hh will
will give
give the
the
time (m3).
(m3). average
average flow (m3 // h).
flow (m3 h).
number of hours elapsed.
number of hours elapsed.

The
The
The positive
positive values
values
The negative
negative values
values represent
represent correspond
the
the water that needs to
water that needs to be
be correspond to the
to the This
This last
last column
column will
will Difference between
stored
stored for those periods of
for those periods amount
amount of water that
of water that
of
needs be
be aa set
set of
of positive
positive the two previous
time
time in
in which
which the
the extractions
extractions needs to
to be
be stored,
stored, since
since and
are
are greater
greater than
than the
the the quantities extracted
the quantities extracted and negative
negative values.
values. columns.
contributions.
contributions. are
are less
less than
than the
the arrivals.
arrivals.
Example
Size a matching tank for a company that discharges
its wastewater 24 hours a day, with an average total
suspended solids (SST) value of 450 mg / L. For this
calculation, an average capacity of flows was made
every hour, which yielded the following average
results, in one week of monitoring:
Hora Flujo (m3/h) Volumen vertido en el intervalo de tiempo
determinado (m3)
01.00 1,5 1,5
02.00 3,1 3,1
03.00 1,5 1,5
04.00 - -
05.00 2,2 2,2
06.00 4,8 4,8
07.00 2,3 2,3
08.00 - -
09.00 1,9 1,9
10.00 3,8 3,8
11.00 3,7 3,7
12.00 1,3 1,3
13.00 0,5 0,5
14.00 4,8 4,8
15.00 0,2 0,2
16.00 0,4 0,4
17.00 2,5 2,5
18.00 5,0 5,0
19.00 2,5 2,5
20.00 0,6 0,6
21.00 1,2 1,2
22.00 1,2 1,2
23.00 0,2 0,2
24.00 0,2 0,2
Caudal medio de descarga: 1,89 m3/h Volumen vertido acumulado (sumatoria): 45,4 m 3
In the monitoring table column 3 is
identical to number 2, because the flow The volume of the equalization tank can be
rate was recorded in m3 / h (column 2) and
the flow discharged in the 1 hour interval calculated as follows:
(column 3), correspondingly corresponds to  
𝟐𝟒𝒉𝒓𝒔
the same value .
∀𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑞𝑢𝑒 𝑖𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑖ó𝑛=( 𝟎.𝟐𝟎∗𝑽𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒅𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒐 ) ∗
𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒇𝒍𝒖𝒋𝒐
To select the pump that will carry, at a
constant flow, the regulated tributary from
the equalization tank to the treatment
plant, it will be assumed with a pumping
value slightly below the estimated average
discharge flow rate (1.89 m3 / h). For this In this case where the cumulative discharged
case, a pumping value of 1.7 m3 / h will be
taken.
volume is 45.4 m3 and the hours of flow and
pumping are 24 hours, it will be:
  𝟐𝟒 𝒉𝒓𝒔 𝟑 𝟑
∀ 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑞𝑢𝑒   𝑖𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑖ó 𝑛=( 𝟎 . 𝟐𝟎 ∗ 𝟒𝟓 , 𝟒 𝒎 ) ∗ =𝟗 , 𝟎𝟖 𝒎
𝟐𝟒 𝒉𝒓𝒔
The power of the mixer is calculated considering that:
• For waters with OSH> 200 mg / L should be 15 to 30 W / m3 of tank
• For waters with OSH <200 mg / L should be 4 to 8 W / m3 tank

In this case where the waters have an average SST value of 450 mg / L,
and a 9.08 m3 tank, assuming a power of 20 W / m3 tank, the mixer
must have a power of:

  20 𝑊 3
3
𝑥 9,08 𝑚 =181,6 𝑊
𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑘
 AGITATION SYSTEMS
The two basic agitation systems are:

• The mixing power must be of the order of 15-25 W / m3 of

Mechanical water (3 to 4 W / m3 in some references).
• In the case of rafts or regulation tanks that always work at a
agitation variable level, it must be taken into account that the
agitators cannot remain airborne.

Agitation by air
injection • The amount of air must be between 0.4 and 0.6 m3 of air /
m3.
through • The type of diffusers to be used are medium or thick bubble.

diffusers
 TYPES OF AGITATORS

VERTICAL • They are installed so that the engine is out of the

wastewater tanks and therefore can use common dry
AGITATORS running engines.

SUBMERSIB • It is a team that allows to generate a flow artificially. The

objective of this flow can be to transport substances, keep
LE solid particles in suspension, homogenize fluids with
different properties, dissolve materials in liquids, favor
AGITATORS biological and chemical reactions.
 TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS
In practice, the volume of the homogenization tank, or the regulation volume,
must be greater than the theoretically determined to take into account the
following factors:
The continuous operation of the stirring and mixing equipment of the
homogenization rafts, to be precise, will not allow a total emptying.

The return of the supernatants and filters at the top of the plant requires an
additional volume than expected.

An additional volume must be taken into account to deal with unforeseen events that
may occur due to unexpected changes in daily flow or composition.

Although no fixed value can be given, the additional volume may vary between 10
and 20% of the calculated value.