Pergamon

0043-1354(94)00155-3
Wat. Res. Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 633-643, 1995
Copyri ght 1995 Elsevier Science Ltd
Printed in Gr eat Britain. All rights reserved
0043-1354/95 $7.00 + 0.00
COD A N D N I T R O G E N MASS B AL ANCE S I N ACTI VATED
S L U D GE S YS TEMS
P. S. BARKER and P. L. DOLD*
Department of Civil Engineering, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario,
Canada L8S 4L7
(First received December 1993; accepted in revised form May 1994)
A~t r act - - COD and nitrogen balances were performed on four different types of laboratory-scale
activated sludge system: aerobic, anoxic, anoxic-aerobic and anaerobic-anoxic-aerobic (biological excess
phosphorus removal systems). The systems included a variety of configurations, with differing wastewater
characteristics and operating parameters. The results suggest that good COD balances are to be expected
in aerobic and anoxic-aerobic systems. Systems incorporating anaerobic zones exhibit low COD balances
(less than 80%). Fermentation in the anaerobic zone apparently is implicated in this "loss" of COD. The
consequences of the COD "loss" include both a significant decrease in oxygen requirements and in sludge
production compared to aerobic or anoxic-aerobic systems. Possible mechanisms for the loss of COD and
areas which require further study are discussed.
Key words--activated sludge, mass balances, COD, TKN, nitrification, denitrification, biological excess
phosphorus removal (BEPR), fermentation, anaerobic stabilization
I NTRODUCTI ON
Cur r ent under st andi ng of act i vat ed sludge system
behavi our has devel oped from observat i ons on oper-
at i ng systems. These have been full-scale pl ant s, pi l ot
pl ant s and l abor at or y- scal e experi ment al systems.
There is a f undament al requi rement i f conclusions
dr awn from anal ysi s of experi ment al dat a are defen-
sible; namely, t hat dat a gat hered from the exper-
i ment al system are reliable. Mass bal ances provi de
one way of checki ng the rel i abi l i t y of the dat a.
Surpri si ngl y this is sel dom done, most likely because
gat heri ng the dat a to conduct these bal ances may
necessitate addi t i onal sampl i ng and moni t or i ng of the
experi ment al system, beyond t hat regarded as necess-
ary for addressi ng a par t i cul ar research probl em.
Al so, in cert ai n cases it may not be feasible t o gat her
the requi red dat a; for example, on a full-scale pl ant
with dynami c influent l oadi ng.
Two bal ances which oft en can be appl i ed to exper-
i ment al dat a are for chemical oxygen demand ( COD)
and ni t rogen (N). In addi t i on to reflecting the val i di t y
of experi ment al dat a, results of mass bal ance calcu-
l at i ons can also be used to investigate process be-
havi our, l eadi ng to an i mpr oved under st andi ng of t he
underl yi ng mechani sms.
This paper reviews the results of COD and ni t rogen
mass bal ances on l abor at or y- scal e act i vat ed sludge
systems with a range of confi gurat i ons, oper at i ng
par amet er s and influent wast ewat er characteristics.
*Author to whom all correspondence should be addressed.
In the discussion of results, emphasi s is on nut ri ent
removal systems. In the bi ol ogi cal excess phos-
phorus removal (BEPR) systems i nvest i gat ed in
this study, the results of COD bal ances suggest the
possi bi l i t y of ferment at i ve processes occurri ng in t he
anaerobi c zone, l eadi ng to a "l oss" of COD from
the system.
DATABASE FOR COD AND NI TROGEN MASS
BALANCES
Comprehensi ve dat a are requi red to per f or m COD
and N mass balances. The dat a set includes infor-
mat i on on oper at i ng par amet er s (flows, recycle rates,
sludge wastage, etc.), influent and effluent concen-
t rat i ons of COD, TKN and ni t rat e, as well as the
concent rat i on of ni t rat e in each react or, the oxygen
ut i l i zat i on rate(s) and the volatile suspended solids
(VSS) concent rat i on of the waste sludge. In addi t i on,
the COD/ VSS rat i o and the TKN/ VSS rat i o should
also be report ed.
The compl et e dat a set seldom is avai l abl e for
systems which receive a t i me-varyi ng (i.e. dynami c
i nput of flow and/ or concent rat i on. Al so, for dy-
nami c systems, it is necessary to consi der accumu-
l at i on terms in mass bal ance calculations; this
compl i cat es the procedure consi derabl y. All of the
systems consi dered in this paper were oper at ed under
"st eady st at e" condi t i ons as far as is pract i cal . That
is, the systems each received a fixed influent volume
per day at a const ant rate, and the composi t i on of
the influent was nearl y uni form from day to day.
Al so, a fixed volume of mixed l i quor was removed
633
634 P.S. BARKER and P. L. DOLD
from the systems each day to maintain a constant
sludge age (SRT, MCRT). Where municipal waste-
water was used as influent, the influent was prepared
by diluting high-strength wastewater to a target
COD concentration for the duration of each study.
Because the wastewater was drawn from the
same source, the composition (TKN/ COD ratio,
unbiodegradable fractions, etc.) remained reasonably
constant.
An important aspect regarding steady-state data is
that the system necessarily should be operated for an
extended period (3-4 sludge ages) to ensure attain-
ing a "steady" operating condition. Even under this
condition there will be fluctuations in the values of
monitored parameters from day to day. Therefore
it is essential that data used in mass balances
should be averages obtained over an extended period
after attaining steady state. This will account for
small fluctuations in response. Also, averaging over
an extended period avoids the necessity to include
accumulation terms in mass balance calculations. In
the mass balances reported here the steady-state data
were gathered in this manner.
Data from five sources for four different types of
activated sludge system were used in this investi-
gation:
aerobic systems--Schroeter et al . (1982)
anoxic only systems--McClintock e t al . (1988)
anoxic-aerobic systems--Arkley and Marais
(1981)
anaerobic-anoxic-aerobic systems--Wentzel
et aL (1989, 1990).
C O D MASS BALANCES ON EXPERIMENTAL DATA
The premise of a COD balance is that it should be
possible to account for the COD entering an acti-
vated sludge system via the influent in the following
fractions:
COD (unfiltered) leaving the system in the
effluent
o COD incorporated into the sludge mass
through cell synthesis, enmeshment or
absorption, leaving the system in the sludge
wastage stream
COD oxidized (i.e. the electrons which are
transferred from the organic material to the
electron acceptor). In purely aerobic systems
this fraction can be estimated from the oxygen
utilization rate (after deducting the oxygen
required for nitrification). In systems incorpo-
rating anoxic zones (that is, where nitrate is
present but oxygen is not), it is also necessary
to account for COD oxidized through deni-
trification.
The assumption here is that any COD loss due
to volatilization of organics is negligible. Also, it
is assumed that denitrification under aerobic con-
ditions is not significant. These aspects are discussed
later.
In systems incorporating denitrification, the
mass of COD oxidized through denitrification can be
accounted for by estimating the equivalent amount of
oxygen which would have been needed if oxygen had
been the electron acceptor instead of nitrate. It has
been proposed that denitrification is essentially a four
step process (Payne, 1981).
NO3 --, NO{ ~ NO ~ N20 ~ N2
Each step may be represented by a half reaction
where e- denotes electron equivalents (COD) trans-
ferred from the organic substrate:
2e- + NO 3 + 2H ~ NO~- + H20
e- + NO/ + 2H --* NO + H20
2e + 2NO + 2H ---, N20 + H20
2e- + N20 + 2H ---, N2 + H20
The net reaction is obtained by combining the four
equations:
10e- + 2NO3 + 12H ~ N2 + 6H20
or equivalently,
e +-~NO3 6 + 1 3
- +~H --* i-6N2 + ~H20
Similarly, the half reaction for the reduction of
oxygen is given by:
1 H + 1
e- +~O2+ --* i H20
The above two equations imply that the transfer of
one electron equivalent requires the reduction of
1/4 mol of oxygen or 1/5 mol of nitrate, i.e.:
-~mol nitrate - = ~ mol oxygen
g NO 3 - N - 32
= ~- g oxygen
1 mg NOa -- N - 2.86 mg oxygen
The assumption here is that nitrate denitrified is
converted to nitrogen gas (N2), and that there is no
release of intermediates (NO2, NO, N20). If inter-
mediates were released the factor of 2.86 would be
lower.
A detailed description of the COD mass balance
procedure is described in the Appendix.
NITROGEN MASS BALANCES ON EXPERIMENTAL
DATA
In general, nitrogen enters the system in the
form of organic N or ammonia. The influent TKN
gives a measure of the amount of these compounds
present. If the system is nitrifying, the majority of
the influent TKN is converted to nitrate. If the
system includes unaerated zones, then denitrifi-
cation will result in the conversion of a portion of
the nitrate to nitrogen gas (or the intermediates
discussed above). Nitrogen leaving the system in
the gaseous form can be estimated by performing a
COD and nitrogen mass balances 635
T I
Fig. 1. Aerobic system configuration utilized by Schroeter et
al. (1982).
NO3 T
Fig. 2. Anoxic system configuration utilized by McClintock
et aL (1988).
ni t rat e bal ance on the unaer at ed reactors. A fract i on
of the influent TKN is also utilized in cell synthesis,
leaving the system in the sludge wast age system.
Therefore, it shoul d be possi bl e to account for the
mass of ni t rogen in the influent in the following
fract i ons
effluent TKN (unfiltered)
effluent ni t rat e
TKN of the waste sludge
ni t rogen convert ed to gaseous ni t rogen
t hr ough deni t ri fi cat i on (i f the system includes
unaer at ed zones).
As with the COD bal ance, aerobi c deni t ri fi cat i on is
not consi dered here. A significant amount of aerobi c
deni t ri fi cat i on in a system woul d result in low COD
and N balances.
A det ai l ed descri pt i on of t he ni t rogen mass bal ance
pr ocedur e is descri bed in the Appendi x.
AEROBIC SYSTEMS
Schroet er et al . (1982) oper at ed four pai rs of
aerobi c lab-scale systems at t emperat ures of 12 and
20C. The systems were oper at ed at sludge ages of
3, 8 and 20 days; two systems were oper at ed at the
3 day sludge age for reasons discussed later. The
influent consi st ed of domest i c wast ewat er, di l ut ed
with t ap wat er to a concent r at i on of 500 mgCOD/ I.
Al l systems were single react or systems as shown
in Fig. 1.
The results of mass bal ances for COD and N
for t he Schroet er et al . (1982) systems are listed in
Tabl e I. The results are very good for all systems,
regardl ess of whet her ni t ri fi cat i on was occurri ng
(systems at the 3 day sludge age and 12'~C were not
nitrifying; all ot her systems nitrified fully). As the
ni t rogen bal ances are close to 100%, it is unlikely t hat
aerobi c deni t ri fi cat i on occurred in these systems to a
significant extent.
Ini t i al l y onl y one system was operat ed at a 3 day
sludge age; however, the COD bal ance obt ai ned at
12C was poor (81.7% versus N bal ance of 97.4%).
Exami nat i on of the system i ndi cat ed t hat i nadvert ent
aerat i on due to t urbul ence at the react or surface was
the cause, leading to underest i mat es of the oxygen
ut i l i zat i on rate. When the pr obl em was remedied
(by using a smaller stirrer paddl e) two systems were
oper at ed in paral l el and very good COD and N
bal ances were obt ai ned for bot h. This highlights the
need for careful at t ent i on to experi ment al detail, and
the utility of mass balances in checki ng the val i di t y of
experi ment al dat a.
ANOXIC ONLY SYSTEMS
McCl i nt ock et al . (1988) operat ed lab-scale single
react or aerobi c and anoxic systems in paral l el at five
different sludge ages. The 3 day sludge age systems
were oper at ed as flow t hrough systems; systems at
longer sludge ages were oper at ed as single react or
systems with a baffle inserted to separat e the mi xed
l i quor zone from the sludge settling zone. Funct i on-
ally the systems are shown schematically in Fig. 2.
Al l systems received a synthetic sewage (pri mari l y
bact opept one), with ni t rat e and oxygen suppl i ed in
excess to the anoxic and aerobi c react ors, respect-
ively. Unfort unat el y, as oxygen ut i l i zat i on rates were
not report ed, COD balances cannot be conduct ed on
the aerobi c systems.
Results of mass balances for COD and N for
the McCl i nt ock et al. (1988) systems are listed
in Tabl e 2. COD balances on the anoxic systems
ranged from approx. 95 to 85%, with a decreasing
t rend with increasing sludge age (except for the
15 day system); nitrogen bal ances are reasonabl e
for all systems. (It should be not ed t hat the dat a
from the 15 day anoxic system is quest i onabl e as
solids pr oduct i on in this system was report edl y
greater t han t hat for the 15 day aerobi c system, while
Table 1. COD and nitrogen mass balances for aerobic systems [data from Schroeter
et aL (1982)]
N balance (%) COD balance (%)
Sludge age
System (d) 12 C 20 C 12 C 20C
1 3 100.2 100.5 99.6 100.4
2 3 100.2 99.5 99.7 100.2
3 8 100.2 97.5 99.6 99.9
4 20 99.2 99.4 99.4 98.4
636 P. S. BARKER and P. L. DOLD
Table 2. COD and nitrogen mass balances for anoxic and aerobic systems
[data from McClintock et aL (1988)]
Sl udge age N bal ance COD bal ance
System Type (d) ( %) ( %)
1 Aer obi c 1.5 107.9 Not avai l abl e
2 Aer obi c 3.0 99.9 Not avai l abl e
3 Aer obi c 6.0 103.3 Not avai l abl e
4 Aer obi c I 0.0 96.0 Not avai l abl e
5 Aer obi c 15.2 98.8 Not avai l abl e
6 Anoxi c 1.5 95.5 94.7
7 Anoxi c 3.0 98.3 94.4
8 Anoxi c 6.1 95.4 91.0
9 Anoxi c 9.6 95.9 85.5
10 Anoxi c 15.1 98.0 93.6
the ot her anoxic systems were observed to pr oduce
approx. 40% less solids t han the cor r espondi ng
aerobi c systems). Compar i ng these COD bal ance
results with t hose for the Schroet er e t al . (t982)
aerobi c systems, it appear s t hat compl et el y anoxic
systems (especially at l onger sludge ages) may exhibit
poor er balances.
In consi deri ng possi bl e expl anat i ons for the lower
COD bal ances in anoxic systems, it is useful to
consi der the assumpt i ons made in performi ng a
COD bal ance on an anoxic system. The i mpl i ci t
assumpt i on with an oxygen equivalence fact or of 2.86
for ni t rat e denitrified is t hat deni t ri fi cat i on is com-
plete. I f deni t ri fi cat i on i nt ermedi at es such as nitric
oxi de (NO) or ni t rous oxi de ( N: O) were released to
the at mosphere, fewer el ect rons woul d be t ransferred
per uni t ni t rat e denitrified, and the equivalence fact or
woul d be lower t han 2.86. I f this were the case, the
act ual COD bal ance woul d be even lower t han t hat
cal cul at ed using a fact or of 2.86. As these anoxi c
systems t end to have low COD balances, it seems
unlikely t hat the release of deni t ri fi cat i on i nt ermedi -
ates is a maj or factor; t herefore ot her possi bl e causes
for the lower COD bal ances shoul d be consi dered
(these are discussed later).
ANOXIC-AEROBIC SYSTEMS
Ar kl ey and Mar ai s (1981) oper at ed lab-scale
aerobi c, pre-deni t ri fi cat i on and post -deni t ri fi cat i on
systems. Al l systems were oper at ed at a 20 day
sludge age with muni ci pal wast ewat er as influent.
System 1 (operat ed as a cont rol ) was a single react or
aerobi c system (Fig. 1). Systems 2, 3 and 4 were
two-in series react or confi gurat i ons oper at ed in
three possi bl e modes: (i) bot h react ors aerat ed; or
(ii) first react or unaerat ed (pre-denitrification); or
(iii) second react or unaerat ed (post -deni t ri fi cat i on).
The pre- and post -deni t ri fi cat i on system configur-
at i ons are shown in Fig. 3. Dat a for the experi ment al
st udy were report ed for a number of phases corre-
spondi ng to different oper at i ng modes. For example,
System 2 was oper at ed sequent i al l y in a post -
deni t ri fi cat i on, a pre-deni t ri fi cat i on and a fully
aerobi c mode in phases I, II and III, respectively
(see Tabl e 3). Tabl e 3 also lists the unaerat ed volume
(or mass) fractions for phases with unaer at ed
reactors.
An i mpor t ant feature of the dat a is the ni t rat e
concent r at i on in the unaerat ed react or in systems
oper at ed in the pre-deni t ri fi cat i on mode. For System
2 (phase II, with an unaerat ed volume fract i on of 0.4)
the ni t rat e concent r at i on in the unaer at ed react or was
approx. 14 mgN/1; t hat is, the react or was anoxic. For
System 4 (phases II and IV, with a l arger unaerat ed
volume fract i on of 0.7) the ni t rat e concent rat i on
in the unaerat ed react or was essentially zero; t hat is,
the react or was anaerobi c.
Results of mass bal ances for COD and N for
the Ar kl ey and Mar ai s (1981) systems are listed in
Tabl e 3. Balances were performed onl y for those
phases where the systems appear ed to be at st eady
state. The following features are evident:
COD balances on compl et el y aerobi c systems
average approx. 95%
the pre-deni t ri fi cat i on system with an anoxic
react or (as opposed to anaerobi c) exhibits a
COD bal ance close to 100% ( 96. 9%- - Syst em
2, phase II)
t he post -deni t ri fi cat i on system with an anoxic
react or (as opposed to anaerobi c) also exhibits
a COD bal ance close to 100% (97.70/0 _
System 2, phase I)
PRE-DENITRIFICATION SYSTEM
POST-DENITRIFICATION SYSTEM
T F
Fig. 3. Pre- and post-denitrification system configurations
utilized by Arkley and Martin (1981).
COD and nitrogen mass balances
Table 3. COD and nitrogen mass balances for aerobic and anoxic-aerobic systems [data from Arkley
and Marais (1981)]
Unaerated N balance COD balance
System Phase Type fraction (%) (%)
1 I Aerobic 0 99.0 92.7
I 11 Aerobic 0 93.4 95.8
I I 11 Aerobic 0 99.4 94.2
2 1 Post-denitrification 0.40 99.2 97.7
2 II Predenitrification 0.40 110.4 96.9
2 III Aerobic 0 102.3 96.5
3 I11 Aerobic 0 100.4 95.3
4 II Predenit.--anaerobic 0.70 105.5 77.3
4 Ill Aerobic 0 102.1 98.1
4 1V Predenit.--anaerobic 0.70 93.5 74.2
637
t he pr e- deni t r i f i cat i on syst ems whi ch mai n-
t ai ned essent i al l y anaer obi c condi t i ons in t he
unaer at ed r eact or bot h exhi bi t COD bal ances
bel ow 80% (Syst em 4, phase II and IV)
t he oper at i ng mode f or Syst em 4 sequent i al l y
was changed f r om pr e- deni t r i f i cat i on to fully
aer obi c and t hen r et ur ned t o pre-deni t ri fi ca-
t i on in phases II, I I I and IV, respect i vel y. The
ni t r at e concent r at i on in t he unaer at ed r eact or
f or phases II and IV achi eved a st eady- st at e
val ue o f zero. The COD bal ance changed f r om
77.3 t o 98.1 t o 74. 2% as t he oper at i ng mode
changed
ni t r ogen bal ances f or all phases aver age close
to 100%.
These obs er vat i ons suggest t hat COD bal ances
f or bot h aer obi c and a noxi c - a e r obi c syst ems shoul d
be cl ose to 100%. However , when an anaer obi c
condi t i on exists in t he syst em, t he cal cul at ed COD
bal ance is si gni fi cant l y l ower: this phe nome non is
di scussed later.
ANAEROBIC- ANOXIC- AEROBIC SYSTEMS
Went zel e t al . (1990) pr ovi de compr ehens i ve
dat a f or 30 l ab-scal e nut r i ent r emoval syst ems t reat -
i ng muni ci pal wast ewat er. These syst ems var i ed in
conf i gur at i on, r eact or sizes, recycle rat i os, i nfl uent
fl owrat es and were oper at ed over a r ange of sl udge
ages f r om 3 to 21 days. Ther e were five basic con-
f i gur at i ons as shown in Fig. 4: Phor edox, 3-st age
Bar denpho, J ohannes bur g, Uni ver si t y o f Cape Town
( UCT) , and t he modi f i ed UCT ( MUCT) confi gur-
at i on. Da t a were r epor t ed f or each syst em f or a
number of di fferent bat ches of i nfl uent wast ewat er
( denot ed by a l et t er appended t o t he syst em numbe r
in Tabl e 4). In addi t i on, Went zel e t al . (1989) re-
por t ed dat a for f our di fferent l ab-scal e enhanced
cul t ur e BEPR syst ems wi t h acet at e as influent. The
enhanced cul t ures ( gr eat er t han 90% pol yP or gan-
isms) were devel oped usi ng modi f i ed Bar denpho and
UCT syst ems oper at ed at sl udge ages of 7.5, 10 and
20 days.
PHOREDOX (NO) SYSTEM
r 0
3-STAGE BARDENPHO SYSTEM
UCT SYSTEM
I - - I I -1
1 I I - -
1
MODIFIED UCT SYSTEM
JOHANNESBURG], SYSTEM ~ O
L E G E N D " ~
AERO BIC REACTO R /
A N O X lC REACTOR
ANAEROBIC R E A C T O ~
Fig. 4. NDBEPR system configurations for which Wentzel et al. (1989, 1990) reported data.
638 P. S. BARKER and P. L. DOLD
Mass balances for COD and N were conducted on
the data sets for which all the relevant data were
reported; in certain instances VSS data were omitted
and it was not possible to calculate balances. In
certain of the remaining cases for the mixed culture
systems treating municipal wastewater, the validity
of the data was questionable. This was generally
reflected by very poor N balances; for example,
balances of 200% output N compared to input N.
Those data sets were not considered here. Table 4
presents results of COD and N mass balance calcu-
lations for the mixed culture systems with N balances
between 90 and 110%, as well as the enhanced culture
systems. The following observations are noted:
COD balances on the BEPR systems treating
municipal wastewater are generally substan-
tially lower than those for the non-BEPR
systems described earlier (some systems show
balances below 70%)
the average of the COD balances for the mixed
culture BEPR systems with municipal waste-
water as influent is only 78%
COD balances for the enhanced culture sys-
tems with acetate as influent are all close to the
average of 91% for these systems
N balances for both the mixed culture and the
enhanced culture BEPR systems are close to
100%
These results suggest that the presence of an
anaerobic zone may lead to an appreciable reduction
in the calculated COD balance for systems with a
fermentable substrate (such as domestic wastewater).
DISCUSSION
The following points summarize the results for
COD and N balances conducted on the four types of
activated sludge system:
COD balances on the completely aerobic sys-
tems are close to 100%
COD balances on the anoxic only systems
range from 95 to 85%, possibly with a de-
creasing trend as the sludge age increases
the anoxic-aerobic systems which did not ex-
hibit anaerobic conditions show COD bal-
ances close to 100%, while those in which the
unaerated reactor nitrate concentration
dropped to zero have balances less than 80%
the average of the COD balances for the mixed
culture BEPR systems with municipal waste-
water as influent is only 78%. The average
for the enhanced culture BEPR systems with
acetate as influent is 91/'o
nitrogen balances for all systems are close
to 100%. This would indicate that nitrogen
loss through denitrification under aerobic con-
ditions was not significant for these systems.
The most significant finding is that for systems
incorporating anaerobic zones (i.e. BEPR systems)
the COD balances, averaging less than 80%, do not
account for a substantial portion of the influent
COD.
This apparent "loss" of COD in BEPR systems
with anaerobic zone has been reported previously, for
example, by Burke et al. (1986) in a study on short
Table 4. COD and nitrogen mass balances for BEPR systems [data from Wentzel
et al. (1989, 1990)]
Sludge age N balance COD balance
System Type* (d) (%) (%)
Sy s t e ms wi t h muni ci pal wast ewat er as influent
1 a Phoredox 3 93.9 79.4
1 b Phoredox 3 109.8 64.6
2a Phoredox 4 95.7 85.6
5a Jhb 5 103.3 81.3
6a UCT 6 97.5 67.0
8a UCT 8 99.2 89.7
10b UCT 8 110.0 74. I
1 la UCT 10 98.0 70.0
16a MUCT 15 95.2 85.5
18a MUCT 15 98.6 83.2
19b MUCT 15 96.8 74.2
19c MUCT 15 94.6 85.4
22a MUCT 20 103.9 65.3
22b MUCT 20 97.6 77.8
23a MUCT 20 95. I 73.2
23b MUCT 20 92.1 86.9
23c MUCT 20 100.3 87.6
24a MUCT 20 100.2 60.7
24c M UCT 20 92.4 80.0
24d MUCT 20 93.4 84.3
26a MUCT 21 102.8 85.2
Averages 98.6 78.1
Enhanced cul t ure s ys t ems wi t h acet at e as influent
1 Bardenpho 20 103.6 88.9
2 UCT 10 103.1 91.1
3 Bardenpbo I 0 88.6 90.4
4 Bardenpho 7.5 95.9 92.3
Averages 97.8 90.7
COD and nitrogen mass balances 639
sludge age BEPR systems. Bordacs and Tracy (1988)
observed t hat the presence of an anaer obi c zone
leads to as much as a 30% reduct i on in oxygen
requi rement s compar ed to a convent i onal aerobi c
process. However, the st udy was based on the as-
sumpt i on t hat t he reduct i on in oxygen consumpt i on
is due to the ret ent i on of organi c st orage pr oduct s
(such as PHB) by the pol yP organi sms, and COD
measurement s were not made. Dol d (1990) not ed
t hat , unless COD loss associ at ed with anaer obi c
f er ment at i on was t aken i nt o account , BEPR act i -
vat ed sludge model s over predi ct bot h oxygen con-
sumpt i on rat es in aer at ed zones of BEPR systems and
vol at i l e suspended solids pr oduct i on.
A requisite for BEPR is the presence of an
anaer obi c zone which allows the pol yP organi sms t o
sequester short chai n fat t y aci ds ( SCFA) such as
acetate. These SCFAs are st ored by the organi sms in
the form of PHB until an el ect ron accept or is avai l -
able. The st ored PHB is t hen used for gr owt h and P
upt ake.
Gener al l y the influent waste cont ai ns onl y a very
low concent r at i on of SCFA; t herefore the SCFA
necessary for BEPR must be pr oduced within the
system, likely in the anaer obi c r eact or t hr ough a
ferment at i ve process. The pr oduct i on of SCFA under
anaer obi c condi t i ons has been observed by Meganck
e t al . (1985). It was not ed t hat significant numbers
of the bact eri a A e r o m o n a s h y d r o p h i l a , a facul t at i ve
organi sm capabl e of utilizing some sugars and alco-
hols under anaer obi c condi t i ons, were present in
sludge from a lab-scale BEPR system. Pr oduct i on
of SCFA in the anaer obi c zone of BEPR systems
pr esumabl y results from t he ferment at i on of the
"compl ex" readi l y bi odegr adabl e COD in the influent
(i.e. the SCFA are pr oduced vi a the oxi dat i on of the
influent compl ex readi l y bi odegr adabl e COD using
an i nt ernal l y suppl i ed organi c compound as the
oxi di zi ng agent). This hypot hesi s is suppor t ed by the
wor k of Bordacs and Chiesa (1989) who used r adi o-
l abel l ed subst rat es (glucose and acet at e) to t rack the
car bon flow in phosphor us accumul at i ng cultures.
Results i ndi cat ed t hat a great er percent age of the
labelled car bon was convert ed to car bon di oxi de
under anaer obi c condi t i ons when glucose was the
labelled subst rat e compar ed to acet at e (12 and 2%,
respectively).
The "l oss" of COD in BEPR systems most likely
is associ at ed with the f er ment at i on process occurri ng
in the anaer obi c zone. However, a full under st andi ng
of the f er ment at i on behavi our does not exist. It has
been suggested t hat the COD "l oss" is due to release
of gaseous f er ment at i on pr oduct s (excluding car bon
di oxi de which does not have a COD).
Burke e t al . (1986) suggested t hat generat i on of
hydrogen gas occurs dur i ng the acidogenesis process
in the anaer obi c react or. Many facul t at i ve organi sms
have been document ed t hat are capabl e of ferment i ng
glucose to pr oduce hydrogen and car bon di oxi de
gases (St ani er e t al . , 1976). Among these are some
species of the genus A e r o m o n a s , ment i oned earl i er as
one of the organi sms found to occur in significant
numbers in BEPR pi l ot pl ant s (Meganck e t al . , 1985;
Mal nou e t a l . , 1984).
A possi bl e al t ernat i ve to hydrogen as a gaseous
COD loss woul d be generat i on of met hane dur i ng
ferment at i on. For the systems i nvest i gat ed in this
study, t heoret i cal l y met hane pr oduct i on shoul d not
have been possi bl e due bot h to the t emper at ur e at
which these pi l ot pl ant systems were oper at ed (20C),
and the fact t hat met hanogeni c bact eri a are obl i gat e
anaer obes (Stanier, 1976) and woul d not likely sur-
vive the anaer obi c/ aer obi c sequencing. However, this
possi bi l i t y should not be i gnored as met hanogeni c
bact eri a capabl e of t ol erat i ng low oxygen concen-
t rat i ons have been document ed ( Gr ady and Lim,
1980).
An al t ernat i ve t heor y to expl ai n the significant
di sappear ance of COD in BEPR systems is the
hypot hesi s t hat ferment at i on in the anaer obi c react or
results in the pr oduct i on of volatile compounds,
which are then released from the system under
aerobi c condi t i ons. The pr oduct i on of volatile com-
pounds (such as et hanol , acetic aci d and ot her
volatile fat t y acids) under oxygen limited condi t i ons
has been document ed for a number of facultative
organi sms (Stanier e t al . , 1976; Vollbrecht, 1982). A
recent st udy by Wabl e and Randal l (1992) pr oposed
t hat this is a mor e pr obabl e mechani sm for COD
loss t han t hat of hydrogen or met hane generat i on.
However, the vol at i l i zat i on mechani sm seems un-
likely as these readi l y bi odegr adabl e component s
should be removed from sol ut i on pr i or to the aerat ed
zone.
Asi de from the observat i ons on BEPR sys-
tems t reat i ng muni ci pal wastewater, this st udy has
identified two addi t i onal aspects which require
further research:
results from anoxi c onl y systems i ndi cat e
t hat COD "l oss" occurs to a limited extent
in these systems; this may also be associ at ed
with ferment at i on. General l y the percept i on
is t hat ferment at i on shoul d not occur in
anoxic zones of act i vat ed sludge systems.
However, ferment at i on has been observed
in the presence of ni t rat e in pure cul t ure
studies ( Hadj i pet r ou and St out hamer, 1965;
St out hamer and Bettenhausen, 1972)
in the enhanced cul t ure systems with acetate as
influent the COD bal ances do not account for
approx. 10% of the i nput COD. Fer ment at i on
in these systems should be mi ni mal . The COD
"l oss" possi bl y is associ at ed with the process
of PHB format i on.
CONCLUSIONS
The results of this st udy suggest t hat while
good COD balances are to be expected in aerobi c
640 P. S. BARKER and P. L. DOLD
a n d a e r o b i c - a n o x i c syst ems, syst ems i n c o r p o r a t i n g
a n a e r o b i c zones (i.e. BEP R s ys t ems ) t e nd t o exhi bi t
l ow C OD bal ances (less t h a n 80%) . Thi s " l o s s " o f
C OD a p p a r e n t l y is as s oci at ed wi t h t he f e r me n t a t i o n
pr oces s es oc c ur r i ng i n t he a n a e r o b i c zone o f BEP R
syst ems t r e a t i ng muni c i pa l was t ewat er . Wh e t h e r t hi s
C OD l oss is a di r ect r esul t of f e r me n t a t i o n ( t h r o u g h
t he ge ne r a t i on of gas whi c h evol ves d u r i n g t he act ual
f e r me n t a t i o n pr ocess) , or a n i ndi r ect r esul t ( t hr ough
t he p r o d u c t i o n of vol at i l e c o mp o u n d s whi ch ar e
r el eased f r om t he s ys t em u n d e r a e r a t e d c ondi t i ons ) ,
r e ma i ns t o be de t e r mi ne d.
I r r es pect i ve of t he r eas on( s ) f or t he COD " l os s " ,
t hi s p h e n o me n o n ha s si gni f i cant i mpl i c a t i ons wi t h
r egar ds t o r educed a e r a t i on cost s a n d sl udge pr o-
duc t i on i n BEP R ver s us c o n v e n t i o n a l a c t i va t e d
sl udge syst ems. I f t he caus es of t hi s l oss of C OD c a n
be de t e r mi ne d, i t ma y be pos s i bl e t o des i gn a n d / o r
ope r a t e s ys t ems so as t o ma xi mi z e C OD l oss t he r e by
r e duc i ng t he cos t of a e r a t i on a n d sl udge t r e a t me n t /
di s pos al .
Acknowl edgement --Thi s study farmed part of the activities
of the Nat ural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
(NSERC)/ Wast ewat er Technology Centre Industrial Chai r
in Envi ronment al Systems Engineering. The support of the
Chai r sponsors is acknowledged.
REFERENCES
Arkley M. J. and Marais G. v. R. (1981) The effect of the
anoxic zone an sludge product i on and settleability in
the activated sludge process. Research Report W38,
Depart ment of Civil Engineering, University of Cape
Town.
Bordacs K. and Chiesa S. C. 0989) Car bon flow pat t erns
in enhanced biological phosphorus accumulating acti-
vated sludge cultures. Wat. Sei. Technol. 21, 387 396.
Bordacs K. and Tracy K. (1988) Retention of organic
storage product s in anaer obi ~aer obi c activated sludge.
In Proceedings of the 61st Annual Conf. of the Water
Pollution Control Federation, Dallas, Tex.
Burke R. A., Dold P. L. and Marai s G. v. R. (1986)
Biological phosphorus removal in short sludge age
activated sludge processes. Research Report W58,
Depart ment of Chemical and Civil Engineering, Univer-
sity of Cape Town.
Dold P. L. (1990) A general activated sludge model incorpo-
rating biological excess phosphorus removal. In Proceed-
ings of the CSCE Annual Conf., May, Hamilton, Canada.
Grady C. P. L. and Lim H. C. (1980) Biological Wastewater
Treatment. Dekker, New York.
Hadj i pet rou L. P. and St out hamer A. H. (1965) Energy
product i on during nitrate respiration by Aerobacter aero-
genes. J. gen. Microbiol. 38, 29-34.
Mal nou D., Meganck M., Faup G. M. and du Rostu M.
(1984) Biological phosphorus removal: study of the mai n
parameters. Wat. Sei. Technol. 16, 173 185.
McClintock S. A., Sherrard J. H., Novak J. T. and Randall
C. W, (1988) Nitrate versus oxygen respiration in the
activated sludge process. J. Wat. Pollut. Control Fed. 60,
342 350.
Meganck M., Mal nou D,, Le Flohic P., Faup G. M. and
Rovel J. M. (1985) The importance of acidogenic micro-
flora in biological phosphorus removal. Wat. Sci. Tech-
nol. 17, 199-212.
Payne W. J. (1981) Denitrification. Wiley-lnterscience,
New York.
Schroeter W. D., Dold P. L. and Marais G. v. R. (1982)The
COD/VSS ratio of the volatile solids in the activated
sludge process. Research Report No. W45, Depart ment
of Civil Engineering, University of Cape Town.
Stanier R. Y., Adelberg E. A. and Ingraham J. (1976) The
Microbial World, 4th edition. Prentice Hall, Englewood
Cliffs, N.J.
St out hamer A. H. and Bettenhausen C. (1972) Influence
of hydrogen acceptors on growth and energy produc-
tion of Proteus mirabilis. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 38,
81-90.
Vollbrecht D. (1982) Oxygen-dependent switch-over from
respiratory to fermentative metabolism in the strictly
aerobic Alcaligenes eutrophus. Eur. J. appl. Microbiol.
Biotechnol. 15, 117- 122.
Wable M. W. and Randall C. W. (1992) Investigation
of reduction in oxygen requirements of biological
phosphorus removal systems. War. Sci. Technol. 26,
2221 2223.
Wentzel M. C., Ekama G. A., Loewenthal R. E., Dold P.
L. and Marais G. v. R. (1989) Enhanced polyphosphate
organism cultures in activated sludge systems. Part 11:
experimental behaviour. Wat. SA 15, 71-88.
Wentzel M. C., Ekama G. A., Dold P. L. and Marais
G. v. R. (1990) Biological excess phosphorus r emoval - -
steady state process design. War. SA 16, 29~J,8.
WRC (1984) Theory, Design and Operation of Nutrient
Removal Activated Sludge Processes. Wat er Research
Commission of South Africa.
AP P ENDI X
COD and N Balance Calculations
(1) Nomenclature
Q = average influent flowrate (l/d)
q = average wastage flowrate (l/d)
$1, = total influent COD (mgCOD/l)
ST~ = total effluent COD (mgCOD/l)
f cv = COD/VSS ratio (mg COD/ rag VSS)
X v = mixed liquor volatile suspended solids of
waste stream (mg VSS/I)
O T = total oxygen utilization rate (mg O/l/h)
MO~ = mass of oxygen consumed for nitrification
(rag O/d)
V~,~r = volume of aerobic reactor (litres)
NTi = average influent TKN (mg N/I)
NT~ = average effluent TKN (mg N/l)
NNe = average effluent nitrate (mg NO3-N/I
NN.,~r = average aerobic nitrate (mg NO3-N/I)
N N ...... = average anoxic nitrate (rag NO3-N/I)
NN ....... = average anaerobic nitrate (mg NO3-N/I)
.[~ = nitrogen fraction of waste sludge (mg N/l)
s = settler underflow recycle ratio with respect to
influent flowrate
r = anoxic mixed liquor recycle ratio
a = nitrified/aerobic mixed liquor recycle ratio
Mdcn,~ ....... = mass of nitrate denitrified in the anoxic zone
(rag N/ d)
Md~.. ....... = mass of nitrate denitrified in the anaerobi c
zone (rag N/d)
Ma~.,~, T = total mass of nitrate denitrified in the system
(mg N/d)
MCOD.~M = mass of COD in the system effluent (rag
COD/ d)
Mcoo,,,,, = mass of COD in the wastage stream (rag
COD/ d)
Mc oD. ae r = mass of COD oxidized under aerobic con-
ditions (mg COD/ d)
MC'OD.d~.. = mass of COD oxidized t hrough denitrification
(mg COD/ d)
McoD.o,,~d = total mass of COD oxidized in the system (rag
COD/ d)
COD and ni t rogen mass bal ances
641
MN.N~ = mass o f ni t r at e- ni t r ogen in t he syst em effluent
(mg N/ d)
MN,T~ = mass o f TKN in t he syst em effluent (rag N/ d)
MN . . . . . = mass o f ni t r ogen in t he wast age st r eam (mg
N/ d).
(11) Deni t r i f i cat i on cal cul at i ons
In ni t ri fyi ng syst ems wi t h unaer at ed zones, in or der t o
per f or m bot h COD and N bal ances, t he mass o f ni t rat e
whi ch is deni t ri fi ed in each of t he unaer at ed r eact or s must
be det er mi ned f r om mass bal ance on ni t rat e. Referri ng to
Fig. A1, for a UCT t ype syst em, t he mass o f ni t rat e ent er i ng
t he anoxi c r eact or per day is given by:
i nput ni t rat e = aQNN.ae r + sQNr~ ~ + (1 + r ) QN N . . . . . . .
Similarly, t he mass o f ni t rat e leaving t he anoxi c r eact or is
given by:
out put ni t rat e = r QN N . . . . . + (1 + s + a ) QN N . . . . .
= ( l + r + s + a ) QN N . . . . .
The mass o f ni t rat e deni t ri fi ed per day (Md~,, . . . . . . ) is equal
to t he di fference bet ween t he i nput and out put ni t rat e:
Mdeni ...... = aQ NN.ae r 4- s Q NNe 4- (1 4- r ) Q N N . . . . . .
- ( l + r + s + a ) QN N . . . . . ( AI )
As a small quant i t y o f ni t rat e will of t en be i nadvert ent l y
recycled t o t he anaer obi c react or, any deni t ri fi cat i on
occurri ng in t he anaer obi c r eact or shoul d al so be i ncl uded
in mass bal ance cal cul at i ons. For a UCT syst em wi t h one
anaer obi c r eact or (assumi ng no ni t rat e in t he influent), this
is given by:
M@ni ....... = rQNN . . . . . -- (1 + r ) QN N ...... (A2)
The t ot al mass of ni t rat e deni t ri fi ed per day in t he
syst em is t her ef or e t he sum of t he mass deni t ri fi ed in t he
anaer obi c react or, and t he mass deni t ri fi ed in t he anoxi c
react or, i.e.:
Mdenit.T = Mdeni ....... 4- Mdeni ....... (A3)
(I11) C OD bal ance cah: ul at i ons
To per f or m a COD bal ance on a system, it is necessary
to est i mat e t he mass of COD in t he effluent, t he COD o f t he
wast e sludge, and t he amount of COD oxidized. I f t he
effluent COD is known, t he mass o f COD in t he effluent is
simply:
McoD.et a = QSTe (A4)
Similarly, if t he volatile suspended solids concent r at i on
o f t he wast e sludge (Xv) is known, t hen by assumi ng a
value 2 of 1.48 mg COD/ mg VSS f o r f c v , t he mass of COD
wast ed is given by:
MCOD..a s = q X v f c v (A5)
Ideally, t he COD/ VSS rat i o f c v shoul d be det er mi ned
experi ment al l y for a par t i cul ar sludge; however, the value o f
1. 48mg COD/ mg VSS has been shown to be a good
appr oxi mat i on over a range o f sl udge ages and wast ewat er
charact eri st i cs (Schroet er e t al., 1982).
In a purel y aer obi c syst em, t he amount o f COD oxi di zed
is det er mi ned f r om t he oxygen utilization rate, af t er deduct -
ing t he oxygen requi red for nitrification. Thi s can be done
by assumi ng t he s omewhat simplified rel at i onshi p:
NH~- + 202--* NO 3 + 2H + + H2 0 (A6)
Equat i on (A6) implies t hat 1 mol o f ammoni a requi res 2 mol
of oxygen to f or m 1 mol o f ni t rat e. Taki ng mol ecul ar
wei ght s i nt o account , t hi s implies t hat 14 mg NH4-N require
64 mg oxygen, or equi val ent l y, i f x mg 1 o f NO~-N are
formed, t hen 4. 57. x mg O/1 are consumed. In a purel y
aerobi c system, t he mass of ni t rat e f or med is given by t he
pr oduct o f t he influent fl owrat e and t he effluent ni t rat e
concent r at i on (NNe). For syst ems i ncor por at i ng denitrifica-
t i on, t he mass o f ni t rat e f or med is given by:
mass ni t rat e f or med = Mae. , . v + QNNe
Thus t he mass o f oxygen cons umed due to ni t ri fi cat i on
( MO N) is given by:
MON = (Md~.u.T + QNNe)4.57 (A7)
Ther ef or e t he t ot al mass o f COD oxi di zed per day under
aerobi c condi t i ons (McoD...r), is given by:
McOD.ae r = O T I4~er 24 -- MO N
= O T Vaer 24 - (Mdenit. r + QNNe)4.57 (A8)
Al t hough equat i on (A6) represent s a si mpl i fi cat i on o f
t he act ual react i ons medi at ed by t he ni t ri fyi ng or gani sms
Ni t r os omonas and Ni t r obac t e r , t he er r or i nt r oduced by
t hi s si mpl i fi cat i on shoul d be mi ni mal ( Gr ady and Lim,
1980).
In syst ems i ncor por at i ng unaer at ed zones, such as t he
UCT desi gn, t he mass o f COD oxi di zed t hr ough denitrifica-
t i on must al so be t aken i nt o account in t he COD bal ance.
This is done by using t he equi val ence fact or of 2.86 out l i ned
earlier.
Thus if Mdeni t . T is t he t ot al mass of ni t rat e denitrified per
day, t hen t he t ot al COD cons umed t hr ough deni t ri fi cat i on
is given by:
McoD,deni t = 2.86Mdenit, r (A9)
Ther ef or e t he t ot al amount o f COD oxi di zed in a syst em
i ncor por at i ng bot h ni t ri fi cat i on and deni t ri fi cat i on, is given
by:
mcoo.oxid = McoD.a~.i, + MCOD ....
= 2.86Macit. + + O+ Vde,24 -- (Mde.it.r + QNN~)4-57 (A 10)
The t ot al amount of "' out put " COD can t her ef or e be
det er mi ned f r om t he sum o f McoD.et n McoD..~ and MCOD.o~,d
using equat i ons (A4), (A5) and (AI0), as well as t he est i mat e
for Md.~.T obt ai ned f r om mass bal ances on ni t rat e ar ound
t he unaer at ed react ors (as descri bed earlier for t he UCT
system), i.e.:
out put COD = Mc o D, e t ~ + Mc o D. wa s - - M(, oO. ox~ d (A 11 )
r . Q a . Q
T . . o I
Fig. AI . UCT syst em 6a confi gurat i on [from Went zel et al. (1990)].
642 P. S. BARKER a nd P. L. DOLD
Table A1. Steady-state data for the four-reactor UCT System 6a [data from Wentzel et aL (1990)]
Reactor volumes (litres) Anaerobic 2.0 lnfluent flowrate (l/d) 25
Anoxic 2.0 r recycle ratio 1
Aerobic 2.0 s recycle ratio I
Aerobic 2.0 a recycle ratio I
Wastage rate (I/d) 1.174
Parameter lnfluent Anaerobic Anoxic Aerobic Aerobic Effluent
COD (mg/l) 510 . . . . 40
TKN (mg N/l) 42 . . . . 4
NO 3 (mg N/I) 0.0 0.5 1.5 9.4 10.6 10.5
OUR (mg/l/h) - - - - 78 43 - -
VSS (mg/I) . . . . 2100
The t ot al ma s s per day of " i n p u t " COD is gi ven by
t he pr oduct o f t he i nf l uent fl owrat e and t he i nf l uent COD,
i.e.:
i nput COD = QST, (A 12)
Th u s t he % COD bal ance is gi ven as:
% COD bal ance = ( o u t p u t COD "~ 100
\ i nput COD /
(IV) Nitrogen balance calculations
To pe r f or m a ni t r ogen bal ance on a s ys t em, it is necessar y
to es t i mat e t he ma s s o f ni t r at e i n t he effluent, t he ma s s o f
effl uent T KN (unfi l t ered), t he ma s s o f T KN in t he wast e
sl udge a nd t he ni t r ogen l oss t hr ough deni t ri fi cat i on.
I n t er ms o f t he var i abl es def i ned earl i er, t he ma s s of
ni t r at e in t he effl uent (MN.NE) is gi ven by:
MN,Ne = QNN~ (A 13)
Si mi l arl y, t he ma s s of T KN in t he effl uent (MN.T,) is gi ven
by:
MN.T~ = QN w (A14)
To es t i mat e t he ma s s of N in t he wast e sl udge, a val ue for
fN, t he ni t r ogen f r act i on of t he sl udge, mu s t be a s s ume d.
Exper i ment al evi dence s ugges t s a val ue o f 0.1 mg N/ mg VSS
is r eas onabl e over a r ange o f sl udge ages ( WRC, 1984);
however , i deal l y fN s houl d be det er mi ned exper i ment al l y
for a par t i cul ar s ys t em a nd set o f oper at i ng par amet er s .
Gi ven a val ue for fN, t he ma s s of N in t he wast e sl udge
(MN,was) is cal cul at ed f r om:
MN . . . . = qXv.fN ( A 15)
I n Sect i on II t he me t h o d was out l i ned for es t i mat i ng
t he ma s s of NOa- N whi ch is deni t ri fi ed in t he una e r a t e d
react ors. For a UCT syst em, Md,n,.T is cal cul at ed us i ng
e qua t i ons (A1), (A2) a nd (A3).
The t ot al out put N is t her ef or e t he s u m o f MN.Ne, MN,T,
M N . . . . a n d Md.it, T, whi ch can be cal cul at ed us i ng e qua t i ons
( Al 3) , (A14) a nd ( Al 5) , as well as t he es t i mat e for Md~mt.r
obt ai ned f r om a ma s s bal ance on ni t r at e, i.e.:
out put N = M N . N e + M N , T e -{- M N . w a s + Md e n i t . T ( AI 6)
The t ot al ma s s per day o f i nput N is gi ven by t he pr oduct
of t he i nf l uent f l owr at e and t he i nf l uent T KN ( a s s umi ng
zero ni t r at e in t he i nfl uent ), i.e.:
i nput N = QNTi (A 17)
Ther ef or e t he % N bal ance is gi ven as:
( o u t p u t N )
% N bal ance = i nput N 100
Us i ng Sys t em 6a f r om Went zel et al. (1990) as an
exampl e, t he fol l owi ng sect i on out l i nes t he ma s s bal ance
pr ocedur e.
(V) COD and N balances--example calculations
The d a t a necessar y for pe r f or mi ng N and COD bal ances
for Sys t em 6a ar e listed in Tabl e A1. Sys t em 6a is a UCT
conf i gur at i on wi t h t wo aer obi c react ors, one anoxi c a nd one
anaer obi c r eact or as s hown.
Denitrification calculations. The ma s s o f NO3- N deni -
trifled in t he anoxi c r eact or is gi ven by e qua t i on ( AI ) :
M d e n i t . . . . . = 402.5 mg N/ d
The ma s s o f NO3- N deni t ri fi ed in t he anaer obi c r eact or is
obt ai ned f r om e qua t i on (A2):
M d e n i t . . . . . . = 12.5 mg N/ d
The t ot al ma s s o f NO3- N deni t ri fl ed in t he s ys t em is t he s um
o f Md~nit . . . . . a nd Md~ni , . . . . . . e qua t i on (A3):
MdeniLT = 415 mg N/ d
COD balance calculations. Fr o m e qua t i on (A4), t he ma s s
o f COD in t he effl uent is:
McoD.em = 1000 mg COD/ d
The ma s s of COD in t he wast e sl udge is cal cul at ed us i ng
e qua t i on (A5):
McoD.w~ = 3649 mg COD/ d
Us i ng equat i on ( AI 0) , a nd t he val ue for Md~n,,T cal cul at ed
above, t he ma s s of COD oxi di zed is:
McoD.oxid = 3899 mg COD/ d
The t ot al out put COD is t he s um of t he above t hr ee t er ms
[or e qua t i on (11)]:
out put COD = 8548 mg COD/ d
Appl yi ng equat i on (12) gives:
i nput COD = 12,750 mg COD/ d
Ther ef or e, t he % COD bal ance is gi ven by:
% COD bal ance = ( out put COD/ i n p u t COD) ' 1 0 0
= ( 8548/ 12, 750) ' 100
= 67. 0%
The r esul t s of t he COD bal ance for Syst em 6a are s hown in
Tabl e A2.
Nitrogen balance calculations. Ref er r i ng t o equat i on
(A13), t he ma s s o f NO3- N in t he effl uent is:
MN,N = 263 mg N/ d
Fr o m equat i on (A14), t he ma s s of T KN in t he effl uent is:
MN.Te = 100 mg N/ d
Table A2. COD balance calculations for
System 6a [data from Wentzel et al. (1990)]
Input COD Output COD
(mg COD/d) (rag COD/d)
QSTi 12, 750 MCOD.~ 1000
Moo D .... 3649
Mcom,~i a 3899
Total 12,750 Total 8548
% COD balance = 67.0%
COD and ni t r ogen ma s s bal ances 643
Table A3. Nitrogen balance calculations for
System 6a [data from Wentzel e t al . (1990)]
Input N Output N
(mg N/d) (mg N/d)
0 H,
1050 Mrqn~ 263
MN.zc 100
MN .... 247
Mde.i,. T 415
Total 1050 Total 1024
% N balance = 97.5%
The ma s s o f N l eavi ng wi t h t he wast e sl udge is gi ven by
e qua t i on (AI 5):
M N . . . . = 247 mg N/ d
The t ot al out put N is t he n cal cul at ed by s u mmi n g t he above
val ues, t oget her wi t h Mde.it, T cal cul at ed earl i er [i.e. equat i on
( Al 6) ] , gi vi ng:
out put N = 1024mg N/ d
Equa t i on ( Al 7) is used to cal cul at e t he t ot al i nput N:
i nput N = 1050 mg N/ d
Ther ef or e t he % N bal ance is gi ven by:
% N bal ance = ( out put N/ i nput N) *I 00
= (1024/1050)*100
= 97. 5%
The r esul t s of t he ni t r ogen bal ance for Syst em 6a ar e s hown
in Tabl e A3.
WR 29/2~Q