CE 428 Water and Wastewater Design

Trickling Filters
Dr. S.K. Ong
has been in use for nearly 100 years for the treatment of municipal wastewater
consist of a media bed (crushed rocks, plastic, redwood, etc. o!er which wastewater is continuously distributed.
"astewater is distributed using a rotary distributor pro!iding an uniform load o!er the filter surface.
#ost common de!ices consist of two or four arms.
$hey are dri!en by the reaction of the wastewater flowing out of the distribution no%%les.
$hese de!ices re&uire a minimum pressure head of '( ins., measured from the center of the arm.
)ir supply is from natural air circulation
#icroogranisms attached themsel!es to the sold surface of the media. $hey are generally heterotropic and
facultati!e bacteria. $hey grow into a dense biofilm on the surface.
Organics*substrate and o+ygen will diffuse into the biofilm, ,O' will diffuse out.
)s the biofilm grows thicker, o+ygen will be utili%ed before it reaches the media-biofilm interface. )naerobic and
endogeneous decay conditions will occur at the interface and attachment is weakened. $he biofilm is washed out.
$his phenomenon is called sloughing. .t is usually a function of the hydraulic and organic loading.
$rickling /ilters are classified based on the hydraulic loading rates
- low, intermediate or standard, high rate or super-high rate (see $able 0-1
.n addition, the filters ha!e different types of recirculation (see /igure 0-'.
Design of Trickling Filters
1o uni!ersal e&uation a!ailable for the design of trickling filters. #ost e&uations are semi-empirical.
$he following e&uation known as the Schult%-2ermain formula is shown to be ade&uate (3&uation 0-10 in #etcalf
and 3ddy book
1
1
]
1

,
_

n
$
'0
i
e
)
4
D K e+p
S
S
where Se 5 total 6OD7 of settled effluent filter (mg*8
Si 5 total 6OD7 applied to filter (mg*8
5
r 5 recirculation rate (fraction
k'0 5 treatability constant corresponding to a specific filter media of depth D at '0
o
, (gal*min
0.7
*ft
D 5 depth of filter (ft
4$ 5 !olumetric flow rate (4 9 r4
) 5 surface area of filter
n 5 constant
$o estimate treatability constants at different depths use:
7 . 0
'
S
1
S
7 . 0
'
D
1
D
1
k
'
k

,
_

,
_

"here k' 5 treatability constant corresponding to a filter at depth D'

k1 5 treatability constant corresponding to a filter at depth ;.1 m and influent 6OD of 170 mg*8
D1 5 ;.1 m ('0 ft packing depth (m
D' 5 site specific depth of second filter (m
S1 5 170 g 6OD*m
<
S' 5 site specific influent 6OD concentration, g 6OD*m
<
/or K at different temperatures, use )rrhenius e&uation
k$ 5 k'0
$-'0
where 5 1.0<7
$able 0 - ; k !alues for 2ermain e&uation
$ype of wastewater k !alue (8*s
0.7
*m'
Domestic 0.'10
/ruit canning 0.1=1
#eat packing 0.'1;
>efinery 0.070
Sugar processing 0.<71
Synthetic diary 0.1?0
$e+tile mill 0.10?
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Example - Trickling Filter Design
Design a trickling filter tower using plastic packing to treat wastewater from a rural community. 2i!en the
following:
)!erage year round domestic flow 5 '.7 mgd (0,(;0 m
<
*d
)!erage year-round domestic 6OD7 5 ''0 mg*8
Desired effluent 6OD7 5 <0 mg*8
$emperature: #ay - Oct 5 '0
o
,
Aan. 5 10
o
,
$reatability constant k'7*D'0 5 0.1 (gal*min
0.7
*ft
'
(deri!ed from treatability studies using
a '0 feet deep test filter
>ecirculation, r 5 1.0
)ssume two towers with depth of '0 feet media. ,ompute area needed at summer and winter months.
,ompute Si
8 * mg 1'7
0 . 1 1
<0 ( 1 ( ''0
r 1
rS S
e o

+
+

+
+
4$ per filter 5 4 9 r4 5 '.7 + 10
;
9 (1('.7 + 10
;
*' gal*day 5 1?<; gal*min
1eed to correct the treatability constant for temperature (note donBt ha!e to correct the k for depth as design depth is
similar with treatability studies
Summer #onths "inter #onths
k'0*D'0 5 k'7*D'0
$-'7
5 (0.1 (1.0<7
'0-'7
5 0.0=(
k10*D'0 5 k'7*D'0
$-'7
5 (0.1 (1.0<7
10-'7
5 0.0;0
Surface area needed for summer
'
ft = . 1'(0
7 . 0 * 1
'0 ( 0=( . 0 (
1'7
<0
ln
?<' , 1
n * 1
D
'0 D * $
k
i
S
e
S
ln
4 )

1
1
1
1
]
1

,
_

1
1
1
1
1
]
1

,
_

Surface area needed for winter

'
ft ; . '((0
7 . 0 * 1
'0 ( 0;0 . 0 (
1'7
<0
ln
?<' , 1
n * 1
D
'0 D * $
k
i
S
e
S
ln
4 )

1
1
1
1
]
1

,
_

1
1
1
1
1
]
1

,
_

"inter controls
Diameter 5 77.= feet. Select ;0 ft.
,heck:
Cydraulic loading 5 1?<'*'((0 5 0.?1 gal*min*ft
'
5 101= gal*d*ft
'
(high rate filters
Organic loading 5 (0(;0 + 10
<
8*day + 1'7*'0 + '((0 5 '(1(
<
mg 6OD*d*ft
<
5 0.07< lb*d*ft
<
5 7< lb*d*1000 ft
<
Design Data for Combined BD !emo"al and #itrification in Trickling Filters
3mpirical design approaches based on pilot- and full-scale plants are generally used to guide nitrification designs in
!iew of the difficulty in predicting biofilm co!erage area and thickness.
BD $oading !ate
/or rock trickling filters:
/or 00 D nitrification efficiency, 6OD loading should be less than 0.0= kg 6OD*m
<
*d (7 lb 6OD*1000 ft
<
*d
)t a loading rate of 0.'' kg 6OD*m
<
*d (1( lb 6OD*1000 ft
<
*d, about 70D nitrification efficiency is e+pected.
BD %&rface $oading !ate
.nstead of using !olumetric 6OD loading !alues, 6OD loading based on packing surface area (not cross-sectional
area can be used. 1itrification efficiency was found to be similar for both rock and plastic packing at similar 6OD
surface loading rate. /or E 00D ammonia remo!al, surface loading rate should be less than '.( g 6OD*m
'
*d.
'ol&metric xidation !ate
O+idation of 6OD and ammonia in trickling filters with plastic packing can be characteri%ed by a !olumetric
o+idation rate defined as:
kg * g 10 ( F
4 G 1O ( ; . ( S H
FO>
<
+ o
+

where FO> 5 !olumetric o+idation rate (kg*m

<
*d
So 5 influent 6OD concentration (g*m
<

1O+ 5 ammonia-nitrogen o+idi%ed (g*m

<

4 5 influent flowrate (m
<
*d
F 5 packing !olume (m
<

FO> !aried from 0.?7 to 1.0 kg*m

<
*d
ke( and )lbertson relations*ip
Okey and )lbertson found a linear relationship between the specific nitrification rate and the influent 6OD*$K1 for
combined systems. See /igure below. $he regressed e&uation which is '7D below the mean of the obser!ed data is
gi!en by
>a 5 0.=' (6OD*$K1
-0.((
>a 5 nitrification rate (g 1*m
'
*d
6OD*$K1 5 influent 6OD to $K1 ratio (g*g
/rom >a the surface area needed can be determined.
.nfluent 6OD*$K1