1

Bi tp 4
You know that Nitrogen and Phosphorus are needed to grow biomass. Usually for domestic
wastewater there is enough N and P.
But for industrial wastewater we have to check. Very often a ratio of 100/5/1 is recommended
for BOD/N/P. But in fact this ratio depends on the F/M ratio (or the sludge age).

Y
obs

gX/gCOD
b

Mole of S
needed
O
2
needs
g O2/g COD
b

Ratio C/N
g COD
b
/5 g N
Ratio C/P
g COD
b
/g P
1 22.455 0.548 128 134
2 24.011 144
4 27.454 0.318
6 31.391 0.214
10 0,174
15
20
50
With glucose (C
6
H
12
O
6
) as substrate, and the biomle for the biomass taken as C
60
H
87
O
23
N
12
(P),
Sherrard and Shroeder found experimentally the following equation.
Y
obs
= 0.341 *(exp - 0.067*c)
With Y in g X/g biodegradable COD, and c is the sludge age (in days).
C
60
H
87
O
23
N
12
(P) means that you dont take the modification of P into account when you
calculate the COD, thus P is not oxidize into H
3
PO
4
during the COD measurement process. (In
fact P is already on the form PO
4
in the bacterial cells and will remains as this, thus we dont
need to take oxidation of P into account).
To estimate the nutrients needs depending of the sludge age, he following table is proposed.
With Y obs expressed in g biomass X/g biodegradable COD (glucose is 100 biodegradable).
Moles of S needed is the number of moles of substrate needed to produce 1 mle of biomass
O2 needs is the number g of oxygen needed per g of substrate.
Ratio C/N is expressed as the number of g of substrate (expressed as COD) for 5 g of N included
in the biomass.
Ratio C/P is expressed as the number of g of substrate (expressed as COD) for 1 g of P included
in the biomass.

2
Can you check and complete this table?
Make a comment on the value you get for = 50 days.
The external N source will be taken as NH3.
It is recommended to use an excel sheet to make the calculation.