INDUSTRIAL
WASTEWATER
TREATMENT &
DISPOSAL
Biological Treatment
1 Aerobic Biological Treatment
1.1 Activated-Sludge Process
1.1.1 Conventional Activated Sludge
● The conventional activated sludge system contains a tank for
wastewater aeration followed by a settler and a solids recycle line.
● The wastewater flows through under constant aeration in the
presence of activated sludge and exits at the end of the tank after
4-8 hours of residence time. The oxygen concentration in the
reactor should be 0.5-2 mg/l throughout, where values over 2 mg/l
are considered lost energy.
Conventional Activated Sludge
1.1.2 Extended Aeration
● This is the modified form of a conventional activated sludge
process in which the production of excess sludge is minimized by
oxidation and an increase in residence time, i.e. through the larger
size of the aeration tank.
● The retention time is extended to 1-2 days, which results in a
very low net yield of sludge due to its consumption of endogenous
respiration.
● The main advantage of the extended aeration system is in having
the minimum of sludge handling facilities as compared with other
conventional activated sludge processes.
● The sludge in extended aeration effluents is very light, of non-
degradable nature, and settles with difficulty. Therefore, settling
tanks are provided with a longer retention time of approximately 4
hours versus 2 hours for the conventional treatment process.
1.2 Sequential Batch Reactor “SBR”
● The unit processes involved in the SBR and conventional activated-
sludge systems are identical. Aeration and
sedimentation/clarification are carried out in both systems.
However, there is one important difference. In conventional plants,
the processes are carried out simultaneously in separate tanks,
whereas in SBR operation the processes are carried out sequentially
in the same tank.
● As currently used, all SBR systems have five steps are
commonly carried out in sequence as follows:
1- fill.
2- react (aeration).
3- settle (sedimentation/clarification).
4-draw (decant).
5- idle.
● A unique feature of the SBR system is that there is no need for a
return activated-sludge (RAS) system. Because both aeration and
settling occur in the same chamber, no sludge is lost in the react
step, and none has to be returned from the clarifier to maintain the
sludge content in the aeration chamber.
Sequential Batch Reactor
1.3 Trickling Filter “ Biological Air Filters”
● The trickling filter consists of a bed of a highly permeable medium
to which microorganisms are attached and through which wastewater
is percolated or trickled.
● The filter media usually consist of either rock (slag is also used)
or a variety of plastic packing materials.
● Rock filter beds are usually circular and the liquid wastewater is
distributed over the top of the bed by a rotary distributor, and the
wastewater was allowed to contact the media for a short time.
● The collected liquid is passed to a settling tank where the solids
are separated from the treated wastewater. In practice, portion of
the liquid collected in the under-drain system or the settled
effluent is recycled, usually to dilute the strength of the incoming
wastewater and to maintain the biological slime layer in a moist
condition.
● The limitations of the trickling filter included a relatively high
incidence of clogging, the long rest period required, and the
relatively low loading that could be used.
Trickling Filter
2 Anaerobic Biological Treatment
● The anaerobic process has been developed for the treatment of
sludge and high strength organic load.
● The disadvantage of the anaerobic treatment as compared to
aerobic treatment is that the slow growth rates require a relatively
long detention time in the digester for adequate waste stabilization
to occur.
● On the other hand, most of the organic waste is converted to
methane gas, which is combustible and therefore a useful end
product.
● The high temperature necessary to achieve adequate treatment are
often listed as disadvantages of the anaerobic treatment process;
however, high temperatures are necessary only when sufficiently
long mean cell-residence time cannot be obtained at nominal
temperatures.
● In the anaerobic process, untreated wastes are mixed with
recycled sludge and then digested in a reactor sealed off from the
entry of air.
● After digestion, the mixture is separated in a clarifier or vacuum
flotation unit, and the supernatant is discharged as effluent, usually
for further treatment.
● Settled anaerobic sludge is then recycled to seed the incoming
wastewater.
Anaerobic Biological Treatment
Auxiliary Operations
1 Disinfection
● Disinfection refers to the selective destruction of disease-causing
organisms. All the organisms are not destroyed during the process.
This differentiates disinfection from sterilization, which is the
destruction of all organisms.
● Disinfection is most commonly accomplished by the use of the
following agents:
1- Chemical Agents.
2- Physical Agents.
3- Radiation.
2 Reuse of Treated Effluent
● Reuse of treated wastewater in various industries is becoming very
popular being a cheaper source of water supply where the industrial
plant can reuse its own wastewater through recycling or after
treatment or it can be used for irrigation.
● There are many possibilities that some of hazardous and toxic
chemicals may pass to the treated effluents. In order to eliminate
health hazards several advanced methods of tertiary treatment for
industrial effluents with disinfection are available world wide to
meet the standards for effluent reuse for several purposes
2.1Advanced Treatment Techniques “Tertiary
Treatment”
2.1.1 Filtration
[Link] Granular Media Filters
● Granular media filters are widely used in wastewater treatment
for the removal of both organic and inorganic suspended solids.
● Granular media filters can operate either by gravity flow (gravity
filters) or by pressure (pressure filters).
● The most common types of filters are two and three media
filters. A common design for a two media filter would have a bed of
0.5 mm sand layer below a 0.9 mm anthracite layer. A common
design for a three media filter would have a 30 to 40 mesh garnet
layer below the sand layer. Specialty filters could use different
media with different effective sizes.
● Solids are captured by the bed and eventually have to be removed
by scouring and backwashing.
Granular Media Filter
[Link] Carbon Adsorption
● Carbon adsorption is used to remove
certain types of organic contaminants
that are resistant to primary and
secondary treatment when such
removal is required.
● There are some cases where an
organic stream contains contaminants
that are valuable enough to recover
with carbon adsorption.
● Another use of carbon columns is to
remove Volatile Organic Compounds
(VOCs) from wastewater. All VOCs
can be adsorbed onto activated
carbon to a greater or lesser extent. Fix-bed Carbon Adsorption system.
2.1.2 Membrane Separation
● Membrane separation techniques are used to remove very fine
particles from water, to desalinate water, and recently, membranes
have been developed to remove organics from water, such as oil and
other organics that have clogged and degraded membranes in the
past.
● Membranes are made of various materials but all have a consistent
pore size that will permit particles or molecules of a given size to
pass through the membrane and will prevent molecules or particles
of a size larger then the pore size from passing through.
● Membrane Separation include ultrafiltration (UF) and reverse
osmosis (RO).
Ultrafiltration (UF)
Reverse Osmosis (RO)
Sludge
treatment
and
disposal
● The sludge resulting from wastewater treatment operations and
processes is usually in the form of a liquid or semisolid liquid that
typically contains from 0.25 to 12 percent solids by weight,
depending on the operations and processes used.
● Sludge is by farther largest in volume, and its processing and
disposal is perhaps the most complex problem facing the engineer in
the filed of wastewater treatment.
● The problems of dealing with sludge are complex because it is
composed largely of the substances responsible for the offensive
character of untreated wastewater. The portion of sludge produced
from biological treatment requiring disposal is composed of the
organic matter contained in the wastewater but in another form
which can also decompose and become offensive; and only a small
part of the sludge is solid matter.
Preliminary Operations
● Preliminary Operations are used to provide a relatively constant,
homogenous feed to sludge-processing facilities.
1 Sludge Grinding
● Sludge grinding is a process in which large and string material
contained in sludge is cut or sheared into small particles to prevent
the clogging of or wrapping around rotating equipment.
2 Sludge Degritting
● In some plants where separate grit removal facilities are not used
ahead of the primary sedimentation tanks or where the grit removal
facilities are not adequate to handle peak flows and peak grit loads,
it maybe necessary to remove the grit before further processing of
the sludge.
3 Sludge Blending
● Sludge from primary, secondary, and advanced processes are
blended to produce a uniform mixture to enhance plant operability
and performance.
● Blending tanks are usually equipped with mechanical mixers and
baffles to ensure good mixing.
4 Sludge Storage
● Sludge storage is particularly important in providing a uniform feed
rate ahead of the following processes: lime stabilization, heat
treatment, mechanical dewatering, drying, and thermal reduction.
● If sludge is stored longer than two or three days, it will
deteriorate and will be more difficult to dewater.
Sludge Thickening
● Thickening is a procedure used to increase the solids content of
sludge by removing a portion of the liquid fraction.
1 Gravity Thickening
● Gravity thickening is accomplished in a tank similar in design to
conventional sedimentation tank. Normally, a circular tank is used.
● The supernatant flow that results is returned to the primary
settling tank or to the head works of the treatment plant.
● The thickened sludge that collection the bottom of the tank is
pumped to the digesters or dewatering equipment as required.
Sludge Stabilization
● Sludge is stabilized to
(1) reduce pathogens (2) eliminate offensive odors
(3) inhibit, reduce, or eliminate the potential for putrefaction.
● The technologies for sludge stabilization are
(1) lime stabilization. (2) heat treatment.
(3) anaerobic digestion. (4) aerobic digestion.
1 lime stabilization
● In the lime stabilization process, lime is added to untreated sludge
insufficient quantity to raise the pH to 12 or higher.
● Two methods for lime stabilization used are addition of lime to
sludge prior to dewatering, termed “lime pre-treatment” and the
addition of lime to sludge after dewatering, or “lime post-
treatment”.
● Either hydrated lime, Ca (OH)2, or quicklime, CaO, may be used
for lime stabilization.
Sludge Dewatering
● Dewatering is a physical (mechanical) unit operation used to reduce
the moisture content of sludge.
1 Chemical Conditioning
● The use of chemicals to condition sludge for dewatering is
economical because of the increased yields and greater flexibility
obtained. Chemical conditioning can reduce the 90 to 99 percent
incoming sludge moisture content to 65 to 85 percent, depending on
the nature of the solids to be treated.
● Chemicals used include ferric chloride, lime, alum, and organic
polymers.
2 Mechanical Dewatering
2.1 Belt Press
● Belt filter presses are continuous-feed sludge-dewatering devices
that involve the application of chemical conditioning, gravity
drainage, and mechanically applied pressure to dewater sludge.
Belt Press
2.3 Filter Press
● In a filter press, dewatering is achieved by forcing the water
from the sludge under high pressure.
● filter press consists of a series of rectangular plates, recessed on
both sides, that are supported face to face in a vertical position on
a frame with a fixed and movable head. A filter cloth is hung or
fitted over each plate.
● In operation, chemically conditioned sludge is pumped into the
space between the plates, and pressure of 100 to 225 1bf/in2 (690
to 150kN/m2) is applied and maintained for 1 to 3 hrs, forcing the
liquid through the filter cloth and plate outlet ports.
● The plates are then separated and the sludge is removed. The
filtrate is normally returned to the head works of the treatment
plant.
Filter Press
2 Sludge Drying Beds
2.1 Conventional sand Drying Beds
● In a typical sand drying bed, sludge is placed on the bed in a 8 to
12in (200 to 300 mm) layer and allowed to dry. Sludge is dewatered
by drainage through the sludge mass and supporting sand and by
evaporation from the surface exposed to the air. Most of the water
leaves the sludge by drainage.
● The moisture content is approximately 60 percent after 10 to 15
days under favorable conditions. Sludge removal is accomplished by
manual shoveling into wheelbarrows or trucks or by a scraper or
front-end loader.
Conventional sand Drying Beds
Sludge Disposal and Utilization
1 Beneficial Uses of Sludge
● The fertilizer value of biological sludge, which should be evaluated
where the sludge is to be used as a soil conditioner, is based
primary on the content of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
2 Sludge Disposal
2.1 Landfilling
● There are two types of landfills for industrial sludge: those which
accept non-hazardous wastes and those that accept hazardous
wastes.
● Landfills are designed to prevent the contamination of ground
water and to prevent the migration of the wastes from the landfill.
● For this reason, landfills usually have thick, 3 to 10 feet covers
of clean impermeable clay or dirt on top.
● Landfill bottom and sides are also made of impermeable clays or
dirt. The sump collects leachate from the landfill and is pumped to a
wastewater treatment plant.
● Hazardous landfills must meet very stringent requirements. The
bottoms and sides must be double contained, which is usually
accomplished by installing two liquid barriers, usually plastic.
● The top of a hazardous waste landfill must be impermeable, which is
usually accomplished by installing a plastic water barrier in the dirt
cover.
● Liquid is collected from the space between the barriers in a
leachate collection system and is properly disposed of.
Model
For
Industrial
Wastewater
Treatment
Plant
Sewage Disposal
Disposal of wastewater and storm-water should preferably
be considered only when reuse options are not feasible.
Ultimate disposal of wastewater is either onto land or water
river, lake, ocean).
The general problem areas that are of concern in final
disposal are pathogenic microorganisms (viruses, etc.),
heavy metals and the presence of biologically resistant
organic compounds, such as pesticides or insecticides
which can find their way into water supplies.
There are three methods by which final disposal of
wastewater - Surface Disposal, Subsurface Disposal,
Disposal by Dilution
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Surface Disposal
Generally this is disposal by irrigation. This involves •
spreading the wastewater over the surface of the ground,
generally by irrigation ditches.
This method is largely restricted to small volumes of •
wastewater from a relatively small population where land area
is available and where nuisance problems will not be created.
It has its best use in arid or semi-arid areas where the •
moisture added to the soil is of special value.
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Subsurface Disposal
By this method wastewater is introduced into the ground •
below its surface through pits or tile fields.
It is commonly used for disposal of settled wastewater from •
residences or institutions where there is only a limited volume
of wastewater.
Little application for large scale use in municipalities. •
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Disposal by Dilution
Disposal by dilution is the simple method of discharging •
wastewater into a surface water such as a river, lake, ocean,
estuaries or wetlands.
The degree of pollution depends on the dilution, volume and •
composition of the wastewater as compared to the volume
and quality of the water with which it is mixed.
However, in spite of the continued aerobic status of the •
receiving water, microbial pollution remains a health menace
and floating solids in the wastewater, if not previously
removed, are visible evidence of the pollution.
The presence of excessive amounts of nutrients can stimulate •
plant and algae growth in the receiving waters. This is of
special concern in inland, enclosed waters such as lakes and
ponds
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