WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT DESIGN

Aakash Langeh Y9004

Term Project CHE362,
Abhijeet Kumar Y9013
Biochemical Engineering
Ankesh Kumar Singh Y9090
Mitul Mundra Y9338
Instructor: Dr. Sri Sivakumar
Shashank Y9539

Design Parameters Sand-bed Bioreactor

The overall design of the wastewater treatment plant con- A bioreactor packed with sand of effective particle size 0.3-
sists of 4 stages: i)Primary treatment which consists of 0.5 mm. The uniformity coefficient (a measure of similarity
screening, grit removal and sedimentation ii)Secondary of shape and size in sand particles) of sand is 4. Assuming
treatment consists of a bioreactor iii)Tertiary treatment 30% BOD is removed by sedimentation, about 92% BOD re-
consists of nitrogen removal, adsorption and pH con- moval takes place in this reactor. 12 dosages of wastewater
trol. For plant design, the following parameters are as- is given to the reactor per day, which prevents clogging, as
sumed/experimentally determined for the wastewater. well as provides sufficient aeration for the micro-organisms.
Type Flow BOD Solids pH aromatic Since the reactor under consideration is not very deep, aera-
L/h mg/L wt% ppm tion may be carried out using with air daft. However, when
Effluent 1000 500 5 varies 400 the reactor is scaled up for larger flow rates, blowers may be
Discharge '1000 4-5 traces 6.5 30 needed.

Further, the total flow rate and the concentrations keep
varying at different times of the day, as well as are sub-
ject to seasonal variations. For example, in morning hours
the flow rate and BOD value is high. Similarly, during rainy
season solid contents like silt are more due to surface run-off.
Screening
Screens typically consist of wedge wire. It is carried out in
two phases. In the 1st phase also called coarse screening, the
size of the opening is 20-30 mm. It captures the large ob-
jects. In the second phase called fine screening the openings
vary between 1.5 to 6.4 mm. Cross section area of the screens
is typically 1 m2 . For a 1000 kg/h feed of wastewater the
impurities removed in this stage are nearly 10 kg/h. When
the head loss across the tank exceeds 0.6 m, the screens need
to be cleaned. The waste water is pumped into the screen-
ing tank using a centrifugal pump, with h = 0.15m on an
average.
Primary Sedimentation
Sedimentation is the process of removing solid particles
heavier than water by gravity settling. In wastewater treat-
ment, sedimentation is used to remove both inorganic and
organic materials which are settleable in continuous-flow
conditions. The sedimentation tank consists of a tank with
2 settling funnels where solid waste settles down. Baffles
are provided to enhance the settling process. The wastes
removed in this stage 20 kg/h for a 1000 kg/h feed.
Grease and oil based impurities that float on the surface
of water during sedimentation can be recovered by saponi-
fication. Skimmers are used for collecting and removing
these impurities.
The recirculation is carried out in cycles using control
valves. Initially, the entire volume in the recirculation
tank is distributed onto the sand bed as a single dosage,
the treated water is collected back into the recirculation
tank, and 1/5th of it is discharged when the tank is full,
making room for fresh wastewater. This constitutes one
cycle for the reactor.
Sand and media bioreactors respond well to gradual in-
creases in wastewater loading. Therefore, they are very ap-
propriate for new developments with a gradual build-out
rate. These bioreactors also tolerate fluctuations in flow,
especially changes from a negligible flow to very high flows.
Further, the installation cost of such reactors is very low.
However, these reactors cause problems of foul smell and
insects and hence need to be installed at sufficient distances
from residential establishments.
Nitrogen and Phosphorus removal
For nitrogen removal, a Step Feed Anoxic Aerobic Process
is used. In this process, wastewater is introduced at sev-
eral feed points. Phosphate release and denitrification takes
place in the anoxic zone. In the aerobic zone, nitrification
and BOD removal takes place. The effluent of the aerobic
stage goes to the anoxic stage for denitrification. Phosphate
removal in the form of polyphosphate also takes place in the
aerobic zone. Phosphate is removed in the form of sludge,
nitrogen is released in the form of N2 , and BOD is converted
to CO2 and water.
Flow rate = 1000 kg/h (solute free basis)
The step feed aeration tank is divided into four equal passes
with equal volumes used for the anoxic and aerobic zones.
The flow split to each pass is 0.1,0.4,0.3 and 0.2 of the influ-

1
 S1: inlet wastewater from sewer 1m3 /hr S2: froth removal S3: saponification S4: air daft S5: discharge to stream
V1: Sump tank V = 25m3 V2: Screening system with coarse and fine screens L = 10m, A = 1m2
V3: Primary sedimentation tank L = 5m V4: Recirculation tank V = 10m3 V5: Secondary sedimentation tank V = 2m3
V6: Recycle tank V = 1.6m3 V7: Adsorbent storage V8: Adsorbent recovery unit (filter)
V9: pH regulation unit V = 5m3 V10: Gas storage tank V = 0.05m3 V11: Storage of slaked lime
R1: Sand-bed bioreactor A = 130m2 , h = 4.15m R2: Combined nitrogen phosphorus removal system A:anoxic B:aerobic
R3: Continuous adsorber unit with adsorbent recovery V = 1.38m3 R4: Anaerobic digestion of solid residue
C1: Controller for recirculation cycle C2: Controller for adsorbent recovery C3: Controller for pH regulation

Figure 1: Process flowsheet

ent flow, for passes 1 to 4 respectively. Recycle ratio used Solute in outlet = 30ppm (within permissible limits)
is 0.6. Anoxic volume is 20% of the total reactor volume. A controller is used that takes concentration of adsorbate
Total volume of aeration tank is 10.5m3 (2.1m3 for anoxic in wastewater as input (measured by a sensor), and regu-
zone and 8.4m3 for the aerobic zone). lates the flow rate of adsorbent accordingly, thus reducing
Inlet Outlet adsorbent requirements if the concentration of laboratory
NH4-N-P (mg/l) 35 0.5 chemicals is negligible at some point in time.
BOD (mg/l) 30 10
pH Control Unit
Sludge Digestion The water discharged to the streams should neither be
The solids sedimented out at various units may be dried highly acidic nor alkaline. The acceptable discharge pH
and disposed off. Or, they can be mixed with other agri- 6.5. The pH of water in the tank is measured, which serves
cultural wastes and added to an anaerobic sludge digestion as an input to a controller. If pH is not close to 6.5, the
unit. Sludge digestion involves the treatment of highly con- exit stream is shut off. If it is acidic, lime water from the
centrated organic wastes in the absence of oxygen by anaer- slaked lime storage tank is mixed into it, and if alkaline, the
obic bacteria. The dried sludge is fed to a cylindrical RCC biogas (containing CO2 ) is bubbled into the tank. When pH
tank of 6m diameter and the height of sludge in the tank is restored, the discharge resumes.
is 6m. The pH is maintained slightly greater than 6.0 and The treated water is discharged into natural water bodies,
digestion period is 30 days. The amount of gas produced water harvesting tanks (to replenish ground water), or used
varies from 0.014 to 0.028 m3 per cycle consisting of 65% for irrigation and recreational purposes.
methane and 30% CO2 and 5% of nitrogen.
The gases produced are stored in a tank, and the solid
References
residue is disposed or used as fertilizer.
1. C.C. Lee, S.D. Lin, Handbook of Environmental Engineering
Calculations, 2nd ed, McGraw Hill, 2007, Pages 1.418-1.510
Adsorber 2. K. Mancl, J. Tao, Sand and Media Bioreactors for Wastewater
Treatment, OSU bulletin 876, 2011
To remove laboratory wastes such as heavy metals, aromat- 3. Metcalf and Eddy, Wastewater Engineering: Treatment and
ics, etc., a continuous adsorber is used. Activated carbon is Reuse, 4th ed., McGraw Hill
used as the adsorbent. 4. J.D.Seader, Ernest J.Henley, Separation Process Principles,
Solute in inlet = 400ppm 2nd ed., Wiley & Sons
Adsorbent surface area = 5m2 /kg 5. http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/Webcourse-contents/IIT-
Adsorbent flow rate = 10g/l KANPUR/wasteWater/index.htm