Environmental Biology (Tka3104) Lecture Notes - 5 Bod

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 20

TKA 3104

Environmental Biology

Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD),


Theoretical Oxygen Demand (ThOD)
and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)
Biochemical Oxygen Demand
(BOD)
• Introduction
• Nature of BOD reaction
• Methodology
• Rate of biochemical oxidations
• Examples on calculation
Introduction
 BOD → amount of oxygen required by
bacteria while stabilizing decomposable
organic matter under aerobic conditions.
 Decomposable → organic matter that can
serve as food for bacteria, and energy is
derived from its oxidation
 BOD → measure pollution strength of
wastewater or polluted water
 BOD → the most important analysis for
stream-pollution-control activities
 BOD → important in regulatory work
 BOD test → bioassay procedure involving
the measurement of oxygen consumed by
living organisms while utilizing organic
matter present in a waste, under
conditions as similar as possible to nature
Concept for BOD test
• Wet oxidation procedure in which living
organisms serve as the medium for
oxidation of the organic matter to CO2
and water.
• Generalized equation:

 a b 3  a 3 
Cn H AOB N C +  n + − − c O2 → nCO2 +  − c  H 2O + cNH 3
 4 2 4  2 2 

Organic matters
Time for BOD test
• Theoretically an infinite time is required for
complete biological oxidation of organic matter,
but for practical purposes, the reaction may be
considered complete in 20 days.
• But for practical reasons, 5 days was used since
large percentage of the total BOD is exerted in 5
days.
• 5 days BOD values only represent a portion of
the total BOD values.
• For most industrial and municipal wastewater,
the 5-day BOD value is about 70 to 80 percent of
the total BOD.
Temperature for BOD test

• Temperature effects for microbial


dynamics are constant at 20°C.
• Predominant organisms responsible for
the stabilization of organic matter in
natural waters are forms native to the soil.
Nature of the BOD
Reaction…
 First order kinetics
 The rate of the reaction is proportional to the
amount of oxidizable organic matter remaining at
any time, as modified by the population of active
organisms
 Once the population of organisms has reached a
level at which only minor variations occur, the
reaction rate is controlled by the amount of food
available to the organisms:
− dC
∝C
dt C = concentration of oxidizable organics
− dC at the start of the time interval, t
= k'C k’ = rate constant for the reaction
dt
…Nature of the BOD
Reaction
L is normally to replace C in BOD terms
L represents the ultimate demand:
− dLt
= kLt
dt
-dL/dt = the rate at which organic polluting
matter is destroyed
Oxygen is used in stabilizing organic
matter in direct ratio to the amount of
organics oxidized, it is possible to
interpret L in terms of organic matter, or in
terms of oxygen used.
…Nature of the BOD
Reaction
Environmental engineers are more
interested on BOD exerted
Test – using dissolved-oxygen
measurements
Use 5-day result to total or ultimate BOD
(yu) or BOD at some other times:
yt = L0 (1 − e − kt )
 y = BOD at any time t
 L = total or ultimate BOD
 k = determine by experiment
Biochemical oxygen demand curves: (A) typical carbonaceous-demand curve
showing the oxidation of organic matter, and (B) typical carbonaceous- plus
nitrogenous-demand curve showing the oxidation of ammonia and nitrite.
(Modified from Sawyer and McCarty, 1978.)
Reaction constant
• Value of k (in some books, µ) determines
the speed of the BOD reaction without
influencing the magnitude of the ultimate
BOD.
• k = 0.1 to 0.5 per day depending on the
nature of the organic molecules.
• Simple sugars have high values of k rate,
vice versa.
Reaction constant
Water type k, per day yu, mg/l
(base e)
Tap water <0.1 0–1

Surface water 0.1 – 0.23 1 – 30

Weak municipal 0.35 150


wastewater
Strong municipal 0.40 250
wastewater
Treated effluent 0.12 – 0.23 10 – 30
Reaction constant
• k is temperature-dependent, because
microorganisms are more active at high
temperature, where k values are higher.
Nitrification-Denitrification
Nitrogenous BOD

Nitrite − forming − +
2 NH 3 + 3O2 → 2 NO + 2 H + 2 H 2O
2
bacteria

− + Nitrite − forming
2 NO + O2 + 2 H
2 → 2 NO3− + 2 H +
bacteria
Nitrification-Denitrification
Nitrogenous BOD

• The interference cause by nitrifying bacteria


makes the actual measurement of total
carbonaceous BOD impossible unless provision
is made to eliminate them.
• Nitrifying bacteria was the major reason for
selecting 5-day for BOD test.
• For samples with high concentration of nitrifying
bacteria use the following inhibiting agent:
2-chloro-6-(trichloro methyl) pyridine (TCMP)
Method for Measuring BOD

 Basis: determinations of dissolved oxygen


 Methods:
a) Direct method for 5-day BOD < 7 mg/l
b) Dilution method for samples >> 7 mg/l
BOD test again!
Dilution method

• Polluted water is mixed with clean aerated water


• The mixture is poured into a bottle which is
sealed so that there is no air above the liquid.
• The microorganisms in the polluted water
consume oxygen, and it is necessary to ensure
that the oxygen is present for the process within
the 5-day.
• If the oxygen is depleted, or if its concentration
becomes low, the measuring result cannot be
used.
• Therefore requires more dilution!!
BOD test again!
Calculated values

• Based on 5-day oxygen demand and the


volume of polluted water in the laboratory
flask, the BOD can be calculated:
DOI − DOF
BOD =
P
DOI, DOF = initial and final dissolved
oxygen, mg/l
P = decimal fraction of sample in the 300-ml
bottle

You might also like