Sharjh Waste Water Treatment plant

Contents
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... 4
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 4
Project Requirements ................................................................................................................................... 4
Proposed Wastewater Treatment Systems .................................................................................................. 5
Pretreatment ................................................................................................................................................ 6
Bar racks .................................................................................................................................................... 6
Aerated Grit Chamber ............................................................................................................................... 6
Flow equalization basin............................................................................................................................. 7
Primary Treatment ........................................................................................................................................ 9
Primary clarifier....................................................................................................................................... 10
Secondary Treatment ................................................................................................................................. 11
Activated Sludge ..................................................................................................................................... 11
Aeration Tank .......................................................................................................................................... 11
Secondary clarifier .................................................................................................................................. 14
Disinfection ............................................................................................................................................. 15
Tertiary Treatment ...................................................................................................................................... 15
Phosphorus removal ............................................................................................................................... 16
Treatment of Nitrogen ............................................................................................................................ 16
Removal of fecal coliform ....................................................................................................................... 17
Table 1: Influent wastewater characteristics ................................................................................................ 4
Table 2: Effluent wastewater characteristics ................................................................................................ 5
Table 3:Design parameters of aerated grit chambers .................................................................................. 6
Table 4: Cyclic flow pattern........................................................................................................................... 8
Table 5:design calculations of equalization basin......................................................................................... 9
Table 6: Design parameters of primary clarifiers........................................................................................ 10
Table 7: Design parameters of aeration tank ............................................................................................. 12
Table 8: Recommended side water depth for different tank diameters .................................................... 14

Figure 1: Conventional Activated Sludge Plant ........................................................................................... 11

Abstract
This report addresses the design of activated sludge plant of Al Aweer. It investigates all the

wastewater treatment processes needed to improve the characteristics of the input water, listed in

table 1. The wastewater treatment processes have been carefully selected in order to match the desired

characteristics of the typical effluent qualities, listed in table 2.

Introduction
Historically, waste water has been considered as an undesirable disposable, which is to be

discarded in a cost efficient manner. However, over the past few decades, environmentalists have

realized that disposing raw waste water into the environment without any further treatment results in

an undesirable influence on the environment as a whole. To mitigate this influence, many different

wastewater treatment standards have been published. To match those standards, many different

treatment processes are required, varying based on the conditions and concentrations of different

parameters, such as the BOD, total suspended solids, E. coli bacteria, fecal coliform bacteria, among

many others.

Project Requirements
Normally, a sample of the raw water to be treated is collected, in order to investigate the

concentrations of certain parameters. However, in this report, the characteristics of the input

wastewater are given and they are listed as follows:

Table 1: Influent wastewater characteristics

Flow pH SS (mg/L) BOD5 NH3N NO3 Phosphate Alkalinity

(m3/d) (mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L)
494000 7.3 244 244 29.1 7 8 200
Also, the characteristics of the effluent water after getting treated are summarized in table 2.

Table 2: Effluent wastewater characteristics

Proposed Wastewater Treatment Systems

In this report, four different treatment stages will be utilized to obtain the desired

characteristics of the effluent wastewater:

1- Pretreatment
2- Primary treatment
3- Secondary treatment
4- Tertiary treatment
Pretreatment
The ultimate goal of pretreatment is to remove all the huge size pollutants that may break any

of the wastewater treatment plant’s equipment. It may also contribute to a minimal reduction in the

BOD and suspended solids. The three major devices and structures used in this stage are bar racks, grit

chambers, and flow equalization basins.

Bar racks
Bar racks are the first devices that raw influent water get in clash with. The importance of bar

racks stems from their ability to filter huge size objects such as rags, logs, along with many other debris.

The removal of these objects ensures no damage to the mechanical equipment of the treatment plant

such as valves, pumps, etc. For Al Aweer Wastewater Treatment Plant, we will utilize two channels, with

trash racks, having a 40-150 mm opening size, to remove large debris. Also, those trash racks will be

followed by rack screens with smaller opening sizes in order to remove smaller objects as well.

Aerated Grit Chamber

Clearly, rack screens cannot filter out grits. Grits are inert materials like sand, pebbles, glass, and

silt. Grits should be removed, or else they will settle in the channels of the WWTP and result in clogging

or even completely blocking the water pipes and channels. Also, grits may cause potential abrasion and

undue wear in some mechanical devices like downstream pumps, valves, etc. For Al Aweer WWTP, it has

been found that 16 aerated tanks with the following dimensions 12.5x5.2 m are satisfactory to the

required flow rate of 494000 m3/day. The design criteria of the aerated grit chamber is summarized in

the following table:

Table 3:Design parameters of aerated grit chambers

Design Nominal Air Liquid Length to Depth of Sewer system Grit

parameters Flow is 0.1 to detention time width ratio aerated tank is (combined/separate) accumulation
0.75 (m3/min. (mins) is 2.5: 1 to 2-5 depending
m) 5:1 on the length to
width ratio
Assumed Value 0.75 3 2.5:1 2 Combined 90m3/million
cubic meters
Wastewater flow rate=494000 m3/day= 5.7 m3/second

Consider a peak factor of 2.

Peak flow rate= 11.4 m3/sec

We will provide 10 grit chambers, for cleaning and maintenance purposes.

Detention time= 3mins

Aerated tank volume= (11.4m3/sec)x(3x60 sec)/16= 128 m3

Since length to width ration is equal to 2.5:1, the depth is equal to 2m.

Area of tank= 128/2= 64

2.5width2=64 >>> width= 5 m & length=12.5 m

Nominal air flow is assumed to be 0.75 (m3/min x meter length)

Air requirement= 0.75 x12.5= 9.4 m3/min

Grit accumulation= (90m3x494000m3)/1000000m3= 44.5m3/day

Flow equalization basin

Since wastewater does not flow into the WWTP at a constant rate, as this rate varies from time

to time during the day, as per the living patterns of the people in the area that is being served.

Midmorning is the peak value of the flow rate, as most people may need to shower or use the toilet

around this time of the day. If we were to design our WWTP to run at the maximum flow rate at all time,

then we may need an oversized WWTP. However, with the use of flow equalization basins, we are able

to harmonize the variations in the flow of wastewater down to almost a constant rate. The basic

concept behind an equalization basin is to store the wastewater for a certain amount of time, until it is

finally pumped from the basin to the WWTP. The storage of wastewater in the equalization basin will
reduce the flow of wastewater into the WWTP, and thus create a constant rate of flow that is

compatible with the running capacity of the WWTP. The cyclic flow pattern is for Al Aweer WWTP is

summarized in the table below:

Table 4: Cyclic flow pattern

 The design calculations are arranged in a computer spreadsheet due to the repetitive nature of
the flow equalization design calculations. for the above cyclic flow pattern, provided 25 excess capacity
for unexpected flow variations, the spreadsheet solution is summarized in the following table 5.

Average flow= 5.5176 m3/s

Rearrange the table rows starting with the time and flow that exceeds the average flow rate,
5.5176 m3/s. In our case, it is 6.6052 m3/s.
Table 5:design calculations of equalization basin

The required volume is the maximum cumulative storage with 25 excess for unexpected flow variations.

Storage volume= 76248.36 *1.25= 80060.78 m3

Primary Treatment
Now that all the large debris has been screened, and the grits have been removed, the influent

wastewater still has suspended solids of about 244 mg/L. A great portion of the suspended solids may
be removed through the utilization of a sedimentation tank. The solids that settle down the bottom of

the sedimentation tank is then collected through the use of mechanical scrappers.

Primary clarifier
The design criteria for a rectangular primary sedimentation tanks is summarized in the table below:

Table 6: Design parameters of primary clarifiers

Design Length (30- Width(3-24m) Length to depth (3-5m) Typical Hydraulic Weir
parameter 100m) width ratio overflow rate detention time loading
(3:1 and 5:1) (25-60 m/d) (1.5-2.5 hrs.) (m3/d*m)
Value taken 35 11.7 3:1 3 40 1.5 375

Design calculations:

Assume a total of 30 clarifiers

Total Flow rate=5.7 m3/sec
Flow rate per clarifier= 0.19 m3/sec
Influent SS= 244 mg/L
Efficiency= 60%
V=Qxt= (0.19 m3/sec)x(1.5x60x60)=1026 m3
Assume water depth=2.5m
Surface area= 410 m2
Overflow rate= flow rate/surface area= 0.19/410= 4.63x 10-4 m/s= 40 m/d ok!
Length-to-width ratio= 3:1 >>>>>> 3width2= 410 >>>> width =11.7 m >> Length=35 m ok!
Assume weir length is equal to 80m
Weir loading= flow rate/weir length= 0.19/80= 0.002375 m2/sec= 205 m3/d*m ok!
The SS and BOD5 concentrations in the primary sedimentation effluent flow
Assume removal efficiency of SS= 60%
Assume removal efficiency of BOD5= 30%
SS primary effluent= (1-0.6)x 244 mg/L= 90 mg/L >>> OK! Check table 2
BOD5 primary effluent= (1-0.3)x244 mg/L=171 mg/L >>> OK! Check table 2
Secondary Treatment

The goal of secondary treatment is to eliminate the remaining BOD5 and SS, which have broken

free from the primary treatment stage. There are three basic approaches to remove the remaining SS

and BOD5:

1- Activated sludge
2- Trickling filter
3- Oxidation ponds or lagoons

Activated Sludge
The activated sludge treatment is a biological technique in which the organic material in the

wastewater and the microorganisms are activated through aeration. In this process, air is injected

constantly into the wastewater. The injection of air will stimulate growth of the microorganisms. Once

mixed with the organic compounds, these organisms will bind together and form heavier particles, flocs.

Figure 1: Conventional Activated Sludge Plant

Those flocs are called microbes and they constitute the activated sludge.

Aeration Tank
Oxygen is required by the microorganisms in order to facilitate the breakdown of organic

compounds. The design parameters of the aeration tank are listed in the following table:
Table 7: Design parameters of aeration tank

Biomass in influent +Net biomass growth= biomass in effluent +biomass wasted

𝜇𝑚 𝑆𝑋
𝑄𝑋𝑜 + 𝑉 ( − 𝑘𝑑 𝑋) = (𝑄 − 𝑄𝑤 )𝑋𝑒 + 𝑄𝑤 𝑋𝑟
𝐾𝑠 + 𝑆

Assume SS secondary effluent= 30 mg/L >> ok! Check table 2

Assume BOD5 secondary effluent= 30mg/L >> ok! Check table 2
Flow rate= 0.19 m3/sec
Influent BOD5= 171 mg/L
Assume the following values for the growth constants, from table 5:
Ks=100 mg/L
µm= 1.5 d-1
kd= 0.05 d-1
Y=0.5 mg VSS/mg BOD5 removed

According to table 2, the secondary clarifier should be able to produce effluent water with 30 mg/L SS.
Assume BOD5 is equal to 60% of the SS concentration
Allowable soluble BOD5=S= BOD5 allowed- BOD5 in suspended solids =30 -0.6x30= 12 mg/L
The mean cell residence can be estimated from the following equation:

𝐾𝑠 (1+𝑘𝑑 𝜃𝑐 )
𝑆= >> 𝜃𝑐 = 5 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 ≫ 𝑜𝑘! 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 5!
𝜃𝑐 (𝜇𝑚 −𝑘𝑑 )−1

Assuming MLVSS to be 2000 mg/L, we can determine the detention time from the following equation:

𝜃𝑐 𝑌(𝑆𝑜 − 𝑆) 5(0.5)(171 − 12)

𝑀𝐿𝑉𝑆𝑆 = ≫ 2000 = ≫ 𝑡𝑜 = 0.159𝑑 = 3.8 ℎ ≫ 𝑜𝑘! 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 5
𝑡𝑜 (1 + 𝑘𝑑 𝜃𝑐 ) 𝑡𝑜 (1 + 0.05𝑥5)

V=Qxto= (0.19 m3/sec ) x (3.8 x 60x60)= 2600 m3

Assume an effective liquid depth of 4 m

Area= 650 m2 >> assume 4:1 length-to-width ratio>> 4width 2=650 m2 >> width= 13 m>> length= 52 m

𝑄𝑆 0.19𝑥86400𝑥171
F/M= 𝑉𝑋𝑜 = 2600𝑥2000
= 0.6 ≫ 𝑜𝑘! 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 5 (completely mixed)

171−30
Treatment efficiency= 𝜑 = 171
𝑥100 = 83 %

𝑄𝑆𝑜 16416𝑥171𝑥10−3
Now check the volumetric loading= 𝑉
= 2600
= 1.1 𝑘𝑔 𝐵𝑂𝐷/𝑚3. 𝑑 (𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛 0.8 𝑡𝑜 1.9) >>

ok! Check table 5!

0.5 0.4𝑚𝑔
Quantity of sludge waste= Y obs = Y/(1 + kd . θc) = (1+0.05𝑥5) =
𝑚𝑔

𝑉𝑆𝑆
𝑃𝑥 = 𝑌𝑜𝑏𝑠 𝑄(𝑆𝑜 − 𝑆)𝑥10−3 = 0.4𝑥16416𝑥(171 − 30)𝑥10−3 = 926 𝑘𝑔
𝑑𝑎𝑦

To prevent anaerobic conditions, the DO must be maintained within the range of 0.5 to 2 mg/L

𝑄(𝑆 − 𝑆𝑜 )𝑥10−3 16416(171 − 30)𝑥10−3 𝑘𝑔

𝑀𝑂2 = − 1.42𝑃𝑥 = − 1.42(926) = 2246 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑥𝑦𝑔𝑒𝑛
𝑓 0.65 𝑑𝑎𝑦
Secondary clarifier
It is noteworthy that a secondary clarifier is a very significant constituent of an activated sludge

treatment plant, due to the high loading of the activated sludge exiting the aeration tank, along with its

fluffy nature. For Al Aweer WWTP, we will design a circular secondary clarifier with a tank diameter

equal to 32 m. Since the tank diameter is between 20 to 30 m, the recommended side water depth from

table 6 is 4 m.

Table 8: Recommended side water depth for different tank diameters

0.19𝑥86400
Overflow rate= =36 m/d>> ok! Check table 4!
𝜋𝑥122

SVI= Settled volume of sludge/MLSS

Assume MLSS=1.4 MLVSS= 1.4 x 2000=2800 mg/L and an SV=250 mg/L

SVI= (250x1000)/2800=90 mg/L >> ok! Range from lecture notes is 80-150mL/g.

Sludge age= 0.159 d

2600
Qw= 5
=520 m3/day=0.006 m3/sec
 106 106 𝑚𝑔
Solids concentration in return sludge=𝑋𝑟 = 𝑆𝑉𝐼 = 90
= 11111 𝐿

𝑄𝑥𝑀𝐿𝑆𝑆 − 𝑄𝑤 𝑥𝑋𝑟 0.159𝑥2800 − 0.006𝑥11111

𝑄𝑟 = = = 0.046𝑚3/𝑠𝑒𝑐
𝑋𝑟 − 𝑀𝐿𝑆𝑆 11111 − 2800

Now we continue our calculations for the solids loading:

r=Qr/Q= 0.046/0.159= 0.29

(1+𝑟)(𝑄)(𝑀𝐿𝑆𝑆) (1+0.29)0.159𝑥2800𝑥86400 𝑘𝑔
SL= = = 62 .𝑑 not ok!
𝐴𝑠 804𝑥1000 𝑚2

Acceptable range of SL is between 100 to 150 kg>> decrease the diameter of the tank!

Assume the diameter is equal to 22 m>> water depth is equal to 4 m

(1+𝑟)(𝑄)(𝑀𝐿𝑆𝑆) (1+0.29)0.159𝑥2800𝑥86400 𝑘𝑔
SL= = 𝜋 = 130.5 𝑚2 /𝑑𝑎𝑦 ok!
𝐴𝑠 𝑥222 𝑥1000
4

0.159𝑥86400 𝑚3
WL= 22𝜋
= 199 𝑑∗𝑚

Disinfection
Disinfection is the last process in the secondary treatment stage. Commonly, chlorine gas is

injected in the treated wastewater. The wastewater afterwards is kept for 15 minutes in a disinfection

basin to allow for the chlorine to react with the pathogenic organisms.

Tertiary Treatment
There are many different tertiary treatments listed as follows:

1- Granular, and membrane filtration

2- Chemical and biological phosphorus removal
3- Carbon adsorption
4- Nitrogen Control

In this report, we will only utilize the chemical phosphorus removal and nitrogen control tertiary
treatments.
Phosphorus removal
Removing phosphorus is usually accomplished by chemical precipitation of three compounds:

1- Ferric acid

2- Alum

3- Lime

In this report, we will utilize the first compound to remove phosphorus, ferric acid. The precipitation

reaction using this compound is illustrated as follows:

FeCl3+ HPO𝑂42− >< 𝐹𝑒𝑃𝑂4 + 𝐻 + + 3𝐶𝑙 −

It’s noteworthy that the selection of any of the above-mentioned compounds depends on the pH of the

wastewater and the desired level of pH after treatment, as ferric acid and alum reduces pH whereas

lime increases it. Referring to table1, the soluble orthophosphate concentration as P is 8mg/L. To

remove it completely, the amount of ferric acid that needs to be added is calculated as follows:

Molecular weight of FeCl3= 162.2 g

Molecular weight of P=30.97 g

162.2 𝑚𝑔
Amount of ferric acid to be added= 8 mg/L x = 41.9
30.97 𝐿

Treatment of Nitrogen
 Nitrification – Aerobic condition:

 Denitrification – Anoxic condition:

The denitrification requires a source of carbon, and methanol (CH3OH) is often used for this purpose.

[𝑁𝑂3− ] [𝑁𝐻4+ ] 2∗[CH3OH]

= = [CH3OH] =10 mg/L
1 1 1
Removal of fecal coliform
The radio frequency plasma system is used to remove fecal coliform. The death rate of
microorganisms is calculated using the following formula:

Where,

N: is the number of microorganisms (MPN/100mL)

N(t)=Ne-kt

Where,

k= 2.73h-1 for frequency equal to 3.7MHz

t is taken between 1 to 2 hrs

use t=1.5 hr

N (1.5) =10000e-(1.5) (2.73) =166 microorganism

Removal efficiency 98%