Tenth International Water Technology Conference, IWTC10 2006, Alexandria, Egypt

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UPGRADING OF SUSPENDED GROWTH PROCESS USING SUBMERGED MEDIA

Diaa El Monayeri1, Salah Bayomi2, Hesham El Karamany3, and Ibrahim Hendy4 Prof., 2 Assoc Prof., 3 Assistant Prof., 4 Eng. Environmental Engineering Department, Zagazig University, El-Zagazig, Egypt
1

ABSTRACT
Combined suspended / attached growth (CSAG) systems have been emerging recently to increase the efficiency of the existing systems. It takes its importance from high biomass concentrations that can be achieved within the system. The present study investigates the enhancement (if any) of conventional activated sludge (AS) process performance using attached media submerged in the aeration tank. The main purpose of this work is to find out the optimum combination of attached growth and suspended growth systems that achieve the best removal ratios (RR) of BOD and COD. Two models have been set up and run treating primary treated domestic wastewater. One of these two models has been run as an aeration tank without any submerged media. This model has been utilized as a reference for the other model that runs as a combined suspended attached growth process. These two models worked parallel with the same influent wastewater and the same experimental conditions to investigate the effect of the added media volume in the aeration tank, the hydraulic retention time (HRT), and the sludge retention time (SRT), on the removing BOD5, and COD. Ratios of submerged media volume to reactor volume ranges from 10 % to 60% have been tested. It was found that 30 % was the optimum ratio of media submerged in the reactor. The obtained results indicated that old and over loaded plants can be improved using attached media to carry the extra hydraulic and organic loading rates. Keywords: Combined suspended/attached growth, activated sludge, BOD5, COD, overloaded plants, upgrading.

INTRODUCTION
Aerobic biological systems for wastewater treatment are based on either suspended or attached growth. Biological processes for wastewater treatment such as trickling filters and activated sludge plants have been used since the late 19th and early 20th centuries and are well established (Grady, 1983). Recently, the combination of the two types of growth in one system (CSAG) has been found to be advantageous for improvement of the efficiency and/or capacity of existing treatment plants. Incorporating biofilm within the activated sludge process is one of the most commonly adopted configurations of the hybrid (CSAG) reactors (Fouad; 2004). In this system the biofilm is grown on a fixed or movable carrier in the biological reactor. As a result of this

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combination, the substrate removal efficiency is significant even at low temperature. Further more the system stability and the sludge properties are improved, (Fouad, 2004). These systems have been developed as high-rate COD removal processes as well as an economic means for upgrading COD removal plants to nutrient removal (Yuan et al., 2001). Although the system has been incorporated in many areas, evaluation of its performance based on kinetic principles has not yet been elucidated. The system is more complex compared to the biofilm or the pure suspended growth reactor. Analysis of the system is difficult due to the need for biofilm analysis, differentiation between the suspended and the attached growth behavior, and the complexity of the combined system. At present, hybrid (CSAG) reactors are designed based on a recommended ratio of the biofilm carrier to the reactor associated with desired removal efficiency. This ratio is obtained from field experience or experimental results, (Gebara, 1999) Higher BOD removal in a CSAG system is associated with the presence of two types of microorganisms in the reactor, the fixed and the suspended. Thus more microorganisms require more food leading to more BOD removal even at high organic loading rates, (Gebara, 1999) Biomass concentration in biological reactors can be increased by a variety of immobilization techniques. Passive immobilization can be achieved by providing solid surfaces in aeration tanks to facilitate the natural process of microbial attachment. This application of support materials to the activated sludge process combines the advantages of attached-growth systems and suspended-growth systems. By means of biomass carriers, it is possible to obtain a twofold increase in biomass concentration in the aeration tanks compared to that in the conventional activated sludge process. The increased concentration of immobilized biomass would reduce the process dependence of secondary clarification and lead to reduce volume of the reactor, increased treatment system stability and improved performance. In other words, a CSAG system could almost double the treatment capacity of an activated sludge plant without increasing its physical tankage, (Wang, 2000) Support material can be placed directly into the activated sludge tank and may be either firmly arranged in the tank (stationary) or maintained in free motion together with the activated sludge (mobile) depending on their sizes, (Wang, 2000). Macrocarriers such as modular plastic media and synthetic fiber media are fixed in the aeration basin. These macrocarriers can easily be retained in the system without the need for the secondary clarifiers; however, they occupy a large volume of the reactor. Microcarriers such as plastic foam or other porous materials (less than 1 mm in size) are always suspended in activated sludge tanks and provide a large surface area for the immobilization of biomass, without reducing the effective volume of the tanks. These carriers are easy to handle; however, due to their size, additional measure of separation and recycling systems are needed to retain them in the aeration tanks, (Wang, 2000)

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MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY

Primary treated wastewater from El Aslogy Wastewater Treatment Plant, Zagazig, Egypt, was used as an influent of wastewater in this study. The primary treatment works in the mentioned facility includes mechanical cleaning screen, aerated grit removal chamber and primary sedimentation tank. The influent wastewater was characterized by measuring such parameters as BOD5, COD, pH, total suspended solids (TSS), total solids (TS), total volatile solids (TVS), total fixed solids (TFS), temperature, and ammonia nitrogen. The results of these measurements in influent wastewater are shown in table (1).

Table (1): Influent wastewater characteristics Item BOD5 (ppm) COD (ppm) pH Temp. C TSS (ppm) Range 140-300 323-461 6.5-7.5 16.5-27 53.5-234.7 Item TS (ppm) TVS (ppm) TFS (ppm) Ammonia (ppm) Range 664-2940 180-2320 82-792 21.1-32.4

MODEL
The primary treated wastewater was pumped to the model shown in fig. (1) using two pumps work alternatively. The two pumps discharged wastewater in a head tank through a strainer of 2 mm openings to prevent inert materials and solids from entrance to the aeration tank. The head tank was 2-m3 volume tank. Head tank was cleaned after each run of experiment work to remove accumulated solids and reduce growth of algae. The head tank worked also as another sedimentation tank and this is the reason of low values of TSS in influent wastewater. Two models have the same design; one of them was conventional AS system and the other was a CSAG reactor. The two models worked parallel at the same time with the same raw wastewater and the same hydraulic conditions. The effluent water characteristics from the two systems were compared to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed system (CSAG system) in removing BOD5 and COD. Each model consisted of a complete AS process i.e. aeration tank and settling tank as shown in figure (1).

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NO
1m

Discription Constant head tank Activated sludge reactor Combined suspended-attached growth reactor Fine screen (2 mm)
0.8m

NO 5 6 7 8

Discription Sedimentation tank Sewerage system entrance Source of primary treated wastewater pumping system

1 2 3

1m

4
1m 0.25m

submerged pump

Influent
0.75m 1m

Effluent of the model

Effluent channel of primary sedimentation tank

5
to sewerage system return sludge

Sec A-A

1m

0.25m

4 8
Influent

0.8m

sludge withdrawal pipe

Effluent of the model

0.75m 0.8m

to sewerage system

2m

air supply

Over flow pipe

2
Influent

5 6
Effluent of the model
0.75m 0.8m

sludge withdrawal pipe

7
1m

air supply
1m 0.25m 0.8m

Plan

Figure (1) Schematic sketch of the pilot plant model.

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Aeration tank was constructed from steel. It was painted using epoxy, and had dimensions of 1.0 m length, 0.75 m width, and 1.0 m depth. The depth of the tank divided to 0.75 m of water and 0.25 m free board. The total volume of tank was 0.5625 m3. The tank was supplied with a diffused air via a system consists of a network of 12.5 mm diameter plastic pipes placed at the bottom of the tank and have nozzles of 6 mm diameter for aeration, nozzles were distributed at the whole surface area of the tank. The supplied air was delivered from air blowers station at Al Aslogy Wastewater Treatment Plant with rate of 3.53 m3/hr for the two reactors. The supplied air quantity was sufficient to maintain dissolved oxygen concentration more than 2 mg/l. DO concentration was measured each run to confirm this value. While a DO of at least 1 mg/l appears to be a requirement to prevent oxygen from becoming the limiting nutrient in nitrification (Metcalf and Eddy, 1991), 2 mg/l of dissolved oxygen is typically considered the cutoff value to fully ensure nitrification is not oxygen limited (Wild et al., 1971). Table (2) shows the design parameters of aeration tank. Rounded shape gravel with size of 4-5 cm was extracted. From previously sieved gravel, and then is cleaned with tab water to remove any dust or inert materials attached to it. Porosity of gravel was calculated with volumetric method and it was about 40.6 %.The volume of media submerged in aeration tank varied from10 % to 60 % using six steel boxes of a volume approximately equal 0.1 of the total aeration tank

Table (2): Actual design parameters of the aeration tank for the present study Parameter Discharge HRT SRT Dissolved oxygen Air quantity Range 0.056- 0.28 m3/h 2- 10 hr 0- 15 days 2 5 ppm 6-30 m3air /m3 water

Finally a square tank with dimensions of 0.8 m by 0.8 m with depth of 0.75 m and total volume of 0.28 m3 has been utilized as a final clarifier. HRTs in the clarifier varied from 1 to 5 hr; with surface loading rate (SLR) ranges from 2.1 to 10.5 m/d. Settled sludge in the bottom of tank was drawn manually through a control valve four times a day to return it to the reactor. The settling tank was made of Plexiglas; and covered by a black plastic cover (2 mm thickness) to reduce growth of algae.

EXPERIMENTAL WORK
The BOD5, COD, TSS, Dissolved oxygen, temperature and PH were measured for influent and effluent samples. Sampling points were taken at aeration tank inlet for raw wastewater, and sedimentation tanks outlets for treated wastewater. All measurements were analyzed in Environmental Engineering Department Laboratory, Faculty of

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Engineering, Zagazig University, Egypt. All measurements were analyzed in accordance with The Standards Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, 16th Edition, 1985. The two models worked with the same influent wastewater and the same atmospheric conditions to investigate the effect of volume of media, hydraulic retention time (HRT), and sludge retention time (SRT), on CSAGs process performance in removing BOD5, and COD. To investigate the effect of ratio of volume of media to reactor volume, and hydraulic retention time, six runs were conducted, utilizing different percentage of aeration tank volume occupied by submerged media. For each volume of media different flow rates were applied to the AS reactor and the combined reactor with the same values at the same time , to compare the effeiciency of each type of treatment. In this paper the main conventional pollutants BOD5 and COD was taken into consideration. Table (3) shows runs of the experimental work. Due to presence of the submerged media in the combined reactor, the effective reactor volume was reduced by volume occupied by media. So, feeding the same discharge yields retention time in AS reactor longer than that in CSAG reactor. Table (3) illustrate hydraulic retention time and rate of discharge for all runs of the experimental program.

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Table (3) Hydraulic retention time and discharge for each run of experimental program Set No Volume of media (% From AT volume) Surface Run Discharge Retention time (hr) area of No (M3/hr) Activated Combined 2 media (m ) 1 0.281 2 1.3 2 0.141 4 2.6 27.78 3 0.094 6 3.9 4 0.070 8 5.2 5 0.056 10 6.5 6 0.281 2 1.4 7 0.141 4 2.8 23.15 8 0.094 6 4.2 9 0.070 8 5.7 10 0.056 10 7.1 11 0.281 2 1.5 12 0.141 4 3.1 18.52 13 0.094 6 4.6 14 0.070 8 6.1 15 0.056 10 7.7 16 0.281 2 1.6 17 0.141 4 3.3 13.89 18 0.094 6 4.9 19 0.070 8 6.6 20 0.056 10 8.2 21 0.281 2 1.8 22 0.141 4 3.5 9.26 23 0.094 6 5.3 24 0.070 8 7.1 25 0.056 10 8.8 26 0.281 2 1.9 27 0.141 4 3.8 4.63 28 0.094 6 5.6 29 0.070 8 7.5 30 0.056 10 9.4

60

50

40

30

20

10

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Results of all sets are illustrated in the following figures, in which values of BOD5 and COD removal ratios (RR) for both reactors are plotted. For the first set, volume of media to the reactor volume was 60%, figures (2, 3), results showed that the mean of RR for AS system is higher than that of CSAG system in both

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BOD5and COD, this may be due to the large volume of inert media that reduced the effective volume of reactor, reduced HRT and reduced the contact time between air and water. CSAG system seemed to be submerged filter as the attached media is nearly fill all the reactor volume. RR of BOD5 and COD increased with the depression of flow discharge for the two systems.

RR (%)

100.0 90.0 80.0 70.0 60.0 50.0 40.0

0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 Retention time(hr) 8.0 10.0 12.0

COD AS COD CSAG BOD 5 AS BOD 5 CSAG

Figure (2) (Set no 1) removal ratio of BOD5 and COD for AS system and CSAG system volume of media = 60%.

RR % 100.0 90.0 80.0 70.0 60.0 50.0 40.0 0.281 0.141 0.094 Discharge(m /hr)
3

COD A S COD CSAG BOD A S BOD CSAG 0.07 0.056

Figure (3) (Set no 1) removal ratio of BOD5 and COD for AS system and CSAG system volume of media = 60%.

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When the volume of media reduced by removing one box of media (set no 2) the effective volume of reactor increased and HRT increased and contact time between air and water increased also. As a result the average RR of the CSAG system increased to be nearly equal to that of AS in BOD5 removal, but RR of COD in CSAG system was more than that of AS system. This may be due to higher biomass concentrations in fixed-film processes result in higher sorption rates, figures (4, 5). It is noticed that the difference in COD removal between the two systems increased when the flow rate increased. This result illustrates that the CSAG system has the ability to carry high organic loads more than AS system.

RR % 100.0 90.0 80.0 70.0 60.0 50.0 40.0 0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 Retention time (hr) 8.0 10.0 12.0 COD AS COD CSAG BOD 5 AS BOD 5 CSAG

Figure (4) (Set no 2) removal ratio of BOD5 and COD for AS system and CSAG system volume of media = 50%.

RR % 100.0 90.0 80.0 70.0 60.0 50.0 40.0 0.281 0.141 0.094 Discharge(m /hr)
3

COD A S COD CSAG BOD A S BOD CSAG 0.07 0.056

Figure (5) (Set no 2) removal ratio of BOD5 and COD for AS system and CSAG system volume of media = 50%.

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By removing another box of media to reach to 4 boxes (40%) the third set gave the same results as the second set with a little increase of CSAG system performance more than AS, they still nearly equal in BOD5 removal and the CSAG system had average RR more than AS in COD removal. These results showed that the trend of reducing volume of media in the reactor increases the RR performance, figures (6, 7).

RR %. 100.0 90.0 80.0 70.0 60.0 50.0 40.0 0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 Retention time (hr) 8.0 COD AS COD CSAG BOD 5 AS BOD 5 CSAG 10.0 12.0

Figure (6) (Set no 3) removal ratio of BOD5 and COD for AS system and CSAG system volume of media = 40%

RR % 100.0 90.0 80.0 70.0 60.0 50.0 40.0 0.281 0.141 0.094 Discharge(m /hr)
3

COD A S COD CSAG BOD A S BOD CSAG 0.07 0.056

Figure (7) (Set no 3) removal ratio of BOD5 and COD for AS system and CSAG system volume of media = 40%

A further decrease of volume of media was made by removing the third box of media to reach 30% volume of media (set no 4), it was noticed that the removal ratio of both BOD5 and COD was increased in CSAG system more than AS system with observed

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difference. BOD5 average RR was increased by about 3% and COD average removal ratio was increased by 8 %. These values means that 30% is better than higher volumes of media (60%, 50%, 40%) and the same trend of reducing volume of media increasing RR still continued. Figs (8, 9) showed that the difference in RR for both BOD5 and COD between the two systems increased with the depression of flow discharge. The difference in RR was about 20 % for COD at Q = 0.281 m3/hr. the highest RR for AS system was 81.7 % for COD it was reached at Q = 0.056 m3/hr. this RR could be achieved by the CSAG system at Q = 0.09 m3/hr. This means that the CSAG system can achieve the same RR of AS system when carry a discharge equal 1.6 of the discharge of AS system.

RR(%) 100.0 90.0 80.0 70.0 60.0 50.0 40.0 0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 Retention time (hr) 8.0 COD AS COD CSAG BOD 5 AS BOD 5 CSAG 10.0 12.0

Figure (8) (Set no 4) removal ratio of BOD5 and COD for AS system and CSAG system volume of media = 30%

RR % 100.0 90.0 80.0 70.0 COD A S 60.0 50.0 40.0 0.281 0.141 0.094 Discharge(m /hr)
3

COD CSAG BOD A S BOD CSAG 0.07 0.056

Figure (9) (Set no 4) removal ratio of BOD5 and COD for AS system and CSAG system volume of media = 30%

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With the same trend a further decrease of media to be 20% (two boxes only) and RRs were measured. It was found that the results begin to reduce and the trend of reducing volume of media increasing the RR was finished at the fourth set with 30% volume of media. RR of BOD5 is reduced in CSAG system to reach values nearly equal that of AS system, and COD also was reduced but still more than COD RR in AS system by 5%. This value illustrates the effect of high concentration of biomass in the reactor in increasing COD removal ratio, which may be due to adsorption, Figures (10, 11).

RR(%) 100.0 90.0 80.0 70.0 60.0 50.0 40.0 0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 Retention time (hr) 8.0 COD AS COD CSAG BOD 5 AS BOD 5 CSAG 10.0 12.0

Figure (10) (Set no 5) removal ratio of BOD5 and COD for AS system and CSAG system volume of media = 20%

RR % 100.0 90.0 80.0 70.0 60.0 50.0 40.0 0.281 0.141 0.094 Discharge(m /hr)
3

COD A S COD CSAG BOD A S BOD CSAG 0.07 0.056

Figure (11) (Set no 5) removal ratio of BOD5 and COD for AS system and CSAG system volume of media = 20%

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In the last run with volume of media =10% (one box of media) results showed RR of BOD5 in CSAG system higher than that of AS by 2%, and COD RR of CSAG system higher than that of AS by 3% this result illustrated that CSAG system acted as AS with an enhancement in both BOD5 and COD with similar increasing values. This due to the presence of small volume of media, which increases the total biomass concentration in the reactor and at the same time the volume of reactor still big enough to act as, AS system with high HRT result in contact time between air and water, Figures (12, 13).

RR % 100.0 90.0 80.0 70.0 60.0 50.0 40.0 0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 Retention time (hr) 8.0 10.0 12.0 COD AS COD CSAG BOD5 AS BOD5 CSAG

Figure (12) (Set no 6) removal ratio of BOD5 and COD for AS system and CSAG system volume of media = 10%

RR % 100.0 90.0 80.0 70.0 60.0 50.0 40.0 0.281 0.141 0.094 Discharge(m /hr)
3

COD A S COD CSAG BOD A S BOD CSAG 0.07 0.056

Figure (13) (Set no 6) removal ratio of BOD5 and COD for AS system and CSAG system volume of media = 10%

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To compare results of the two systems a comparison ratio was used. This ratio was the ratio of (RRs for CSAG system / RRs for AS system). It is a dimensionless value which may be named R, it has the following expression: RRCSAG R= RR AS Where: R = comparison ratio. RRCSAG = RR for BOD5 or COD for CSAG system for any set. RRAS = RR for BOD5 or COD for AS system for the same set. R was a number around 1 it acts as the CSAG system, when R is bigger than 1 this means that CSAG system have a better performance than AS system and vice versa. When R plotted versus the datum value which is 1 (for all sets) and acts as the AS system, the graph will give a global overview of the study results. Figure (14) shows values of R for BOD5 against the datum value, and figure (15) shows values of R for COD against the datum value.

1.15

1.10
COD RR (CSAG) / COD RR (AS)

1.05

1.00

0.95

0.90 R 0.85 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Volume of media /Volume of Aeration tank (%) Datum value

Figure (14) values of R for BOD5 for all sets

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1.15
COD RR (CSAG) / COD RR (AS)

1.10 1.05 1.00 0.95 0.90 R 0.85 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Volume of media /Volume of Aeration tank (%) Datum value

Figure (15) values of R for COD for all sets

From previous results and figures (14, 15) it is clearly noticed that the optimum ratio of the specified media was 30 %, as the mean BOD5 removal ratio of the CSAG system was higher than the mean BOD5 removal ratio for AS system by 3% (from 80.5 % to 83.4%) , with R =83.4 / 80.5 = 1.04. And the mean COD removal ratio of the CSAG system was higher than the mean COD removal ratio for AS system by 8% (from 71.2% to 79.4%), with R = 79.4 / 71.2 = 1.12. This means that the combination of suspended growth system with attached growth system using attached media in an aerated reactor have better performance than the solo suspended growth in the same reactor. Figures (8, 9) showed also that to reach the maximum value of efficiency for the existing system, CSAG system could treat a discharge of 1.6 of the existing system discharge. This means that old and over loaded plants can be enhanced to carry hydraulic loading rates equal 1.6 of its design rates without additional reactors. To design a simple empirical model for biological aerated filters (A.T. Mann and T. Stephenson, 1997) used two identical polyvinyl chloride (PVC) reactors. The two reactors were built 2 m in height and with diameter of 0.2 m. The reactors were run with settled domestic sewage introduced at the bottom through a centrally placed 5-cm filter nozzle. Two types were used as submerged media one of them was sunken media and the other was floating. Results of the two reactors show that RRs for TCOD were 59.2, and 75.3% for sunken media and floating media respectively. For any other details of the models and other parameters refer to (Mann and Stephenson, 1997). It is noticed that RR for the present study are similar to results of floating media. It should be mentioned that the conditions of the two works are approximately similar. But the best set of the present study (set no 4) has RRs for TCOD more than that mentioned for floating media as set no 4 has mean TCOD RR of 79.4%, while the floating media model has mean TCOD RR of 75.3%. This may be due to two reasons 1) the combination of suspended growth and attached growth systems in the present study. 2) Longer HRT in set no 4 than that of floating media model as the floating media reactor

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was aerated biological filter i.e. the filter is full with media. It should be mentioned also that the media used in floating model was plastic media with high surface area (1160 m2/m3), and high voids ratio compared with that of the present study, which is gravel. And this leads to the need of trying such a good media in CSAG processes to investigate its effect on the process performance, and this is one of the important recommendations of this study. Suzuki et al., 1999, developed a simulation model for a combined activated sludge and biofilm process to remove nitrogen and phosphorous. Two kinds of experiments were conducted for model development one investigated nitrification efficiency of biofilms formed on media with different substrate loads. It was consist of aeration tank with volume of 18.5 L and fluidized media, without activated sludge. Three reactors that different in influent concentration were operated with four different flow rates 0.0554, 0.111, 0.222, and 0.444 m3/d which gives HRT of 8, 4, 2, and 1 hr respectively. The results of one of the reactors was mentioned to be 77.9, 77.2, 73.3, and 59% for sCOD removal ratio, these data were for HRT of 8, 4, 2, and 1 respectively, (Suzuki et al., 1999). It should be mentioned that all results were for tertiary treatment as influent COD, and ammonia nitrogen were about 30 mg/l, and 24 mg/l respectively. So, the results of COD are approximately similar to the present study however, the two studies were completely different in conditions. The other was a pilot plant experiment, in which performance of combined activated sludge and biofilm process to remove nitrogen and phosphorus process (CAB/NP) was investigated using a pilot plant supplied with settled municipal wastewater, (Suzuki et al., 1999). The influent wastewater has an average COD, and T-N (total nitrogen) values of about 275, and 19 mg/l respectively. These were measured at time without rainfall, the values of rainfall conditions were about 120, and 17 mg/l. Average values of soluble COD (sCOD) was about 70ppm and 35 ppm for time without rainfall, and with rainfall respectively. When these water characteristics treated with the pilot plant it gives RRs of sCOD about 71% at without rainfall conditions and 43% at with rainfall conditions, (Suzuki et al., 1999). It in noticed that the values of RR were for sCOD only without taking TCOD into consideration. It is noticed also that these values of RR are small values compared with RRs of the present study results; it may be due to using big ratio of media 40%. Clap et al., 1994, made a performance comparison between activated sludge and fixed film processes for priority pollutants removal. Parallel AS and biological aerated filter (BAF) reactors were used; treating settled raw wastewater from the Niagara Falls, New York treatment plant. Approximately 20% of the influent was attributed to domestic sources, 27% to industrial sources, and the remainder to infiltration and inflow. In addition to the priority pollutants analysis, which is the main purpose of the study, conventional pollutant removals were evaluated through out the study. For more details refer to Clap et al., 1994. RRs of TCOD were 80.3, 75, 80.9, and 70.4% for low rate activated sludge (AS-L), high rate activated sludge (AS-H), low rate biological aerated filter (BAF-L), and high rate biological aerated filter (BAF-H) respectively. For TBOD results were 96.5, 96.5, 94.7, and 89.5% for AS-L, AS-H,

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BAF-L, and BAF-H respectively. Results are in general more than that of the present study. This may be due to the low strength of the influent wastewater, result in high removal ratio for TBOD and TCOD. Another study of CSAG systems was the hybrid biological nutrient removal (BNR) process combines activated sludge with fully and partially submerged RBC in anaerobic, anoxic and aerobic reactors to improve nitrogen, phosphorus and organic matter removal from municipal wastewater. The process, developed and modified at National Central University, Taiwan, is referred to as the Taiwan National Central University Process or the TNCU-I Process, (Ouyang et al., 1999). The TNCU-I process includes anaerobic, anoxic and aerobic activated sludge reactors in series, with two stages of fully submerged RBC in each of the first two reactors, and two stages of partially submerged RBC in the third reactor, followed by a clarifier, (Ouyang et al., 1999). Results of RR for TCOD were 91.3, 90.7, and 90.3% and TBOD5 RRs were 97.1, 96.1, and 96.6% respectively, these RRs were for HRT of 12, 10, and 8 hr respectively. Results shown previously have high ratios of COD and BOD5 compared with that of the present study. This is may be due to the following reasons: 1) Higher values of HRTs compared with the present study as the HRT ranged between 8-12 hr while the HRT of the present study ranges between 2-10 hr. 2) Using Synthetic wastewater with high ratio of biodegradable organic matter that can be easily removed while the present study using primary treated wastewater from actual operated wastewater treatment plant. 3) Using three kinds of treatment processes in series (anaerobic, anoxic, and two aerobic reactors) result in high COD, and BOD5 RRs. Using the same reactors with the same conditions but without added RBCs RR for TCOD was 90.3%. The effluent TCOD concentration is not very different from that of the TNCU-I process. The degradation of organic carbon in the process without added RBC is approximately equivalent to that in the TNCU-I process, (Ouyang et al., 1999)

CONCLUSIONS
1. The combination of suspended growth system and attached growth system (CSAG) has higher efficiency than suspended growth system (AS), for volume of media from 10 to 50% of the reactor volume. More than 50% CSAG has less efficiency than AS. It is not useful to use submerged media with volumes more than 50% of reactor volume. 2. When HRT increased RR values were increased for BOD5, COD and ammonia nitrogen. RR values were increased with decreasing rate of increasing. It was generally noticed that after HRT = 8 hr RRs (flow rate less than 0.07 m3/hr) were approximately constant for AS system. And after flow rate less than 0.094 m3/hr RRs were approximately constant for CSAG system. These results showed that CSAG system was more effective and had capacity more than AS system. 3. Increasing surface area increase process performance and in opposite inert volume of media reduced the actual volume of reactor and reduces process performance.

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4. The optimum ratio (the ratio that achieve max RRS of pollutants) of volume of the specified media which was gravel with size of 4-5 cm to reactor volume was 30%. 5. CSAG has the ability to remove COD more than BOD5 with comparison to AS system. 6. The obtained results indicated that old and over loaded plants can be improved using attached media to carry the extra hydraulic and organic loading rates.

RECOMMENDATIONS
From the results of this study, it is suggested that the future research should study the following points. 1- Other types of media especially media with high surface area and high porosity like random plastic media, plastic sheets or nets, or any suitable media. 2- Effect of dissolved oxygen concentration on RR efficiency. 3- Detailed study for the effect of SRT on RR efficiency. 4- Detailed study for Nutrients removal taking into consideration phosphorous as an important pollutant. 5- Study of sludge properties results from CSAG system. 6- Air requirements, energy requirements and economics for CSAG system. 7- Mathematical modeling for CSAG system 8- The effect of adding bacteria to the system

REFERENCES
1. Mann, A.T., and Stephenson, T., Modeling Biological Aerated Filters For Wastewater Treatment. Wat. Res., Vol. 31, No. 10, pp. 2443-2448, 1997. 2. Ouyang, C.F., Chuang, S.H., and Su, J.L., Nitrogen and Phosphorus Removal in a Combined Activated Sludge. RBC Process Proc. Natl. Sci. Counc. ROC(A) Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 181-204, 1999. 3. Chuang, S.H., Ouyang, C.F., and Wang Y.B., The Kinetic Behaviors of Simultaneous Phosphorus Release and Denitrification on Sludge for BNR Processes. J. Chine. Instit. Eng., 19(5), pp. 575- 583, 1996b. 4. Gebara, F., Activated Sludge Biofilm Wastewater Treatment System, Wat. Res. Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 230-238, 1999. 5. Grady, C.P.L., Modeling of biological fixed films a state-of-the-art review in fixed film biological processes for wastewater treatment. (Edited by Wu Y. C. and Smith E.) pp. 75-134. Noyes Data Corp., Park Ridge, NJ, U.S.A., 1983. 6. Clapp, L.W., Talarzyk, M.R., Park, J.K., and Boyle, W.C., Performance Comparison Between Activated Sludge and Fixed Film Processes for Priority Pollutant Removals, Water Environ. Res., 66, 153, 1994.

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