CV3015 Environmental Engineering

Assignment 2
Students Name: Yandi Layadi Lay (U1120277F)

Q1. Explain the difference between pre-treatment, primary treatment, secondary treatment,
and tertiary treatment, and show how they are related.
Answer:
Pre-treatment, primary treatment, secondary treatment, and tertiary treatment differ in their
purpose.
Pretreatment aims to provide protection to the wastewater treatment plant equipment that
follows by installing several devices and structures in the upstream of the primary treatment
operation. Typically, the first device encountered is bar racks whose primary purpose is to
remove large objects that would damage/foul the pumps, valves, and other mechanical
equipment. Subsequently, grit facilities are provided for the purpose of removing grit (inert
dense material such as sand, pebble, broken glass, silt). Going on, FOG flotation will remove
fats, oils, greases (FOGs) using buoyancy. Eventually, a technique called flow equalization
can be used to improve the effectiveness of both primary and secondary treatment processes.
This technique helps to avoid shock loading, balance pH, and flow rates.
Having gone through the pre-treatment, the wastewater will flow to the primary treatment
tank. The main purpose of primary treatment is to remove settleable suspended solid by
physical means (sedimentation). In this process, soluble pollutants will not be removed.
Primary treatment can remove the BOD of the incoming wastewater by 25-40% and total
suspended solid by 50-70%.
In contrast with primary treatment, secondary treatment aims to remove the soluble BOD (by
more than 50%) that escapes primary treatment and to provide further removal of suspended
solid (by 20-30%). The most common approaches are activated sludge, trickling filters, and
oxidation ponds (or lagoon).
Lastly, tertiary treatment can be used to further treat the wastewater so that it can be claimed
or reused as effluent of almost drinking-water quality and as well as to meet stringent
discharge limits. Some of the processes are, for examples, granular filtration, membrane
filtration, membrane filtration, carbon adsorption, chemical & biological phosphorus removal,
and nitrogen control.

Q2. Explain the purpose of F/M ratio and define F and M in terms of BOD5 and mixed liquor
volatile suspended solid.
Answer:
F/M ratio is ratio of the food to micro-organisms.
F= food / organic loading can be expressed as:

Where Q = wastewater flow rate into the aeration tank, m3/d

So = soluble BOD5 in aeration tank, mg/L
M= the micro-organisms are expressed as kg of volatile suspended solids of the mixed liquor
in the tank.

Where Vr = the volume of aeration tank, m3

X = micro-organisms concentration in the aeration tank, mg/L
Hence, the F/M can be expressed as:

F/M ratio must be controlled by the amount of wasting of microbial mass. A high rate of
wasting will reduce MLVSS and leads to high F/M ratio. A high F/M ratio yields a condition
where organisms are saturated with food, resulting in poor efficiency of the treatment. A low
F/M ratio, on the other hand, will cause the organisms to be starved. Therefore, F/M ratio
must be controlled so that the treatment can be efficient.

Q3. What is the principle of photocatalytic reactions, and how can it be used for purification
of air?
Anwer:
Photocatalytic oxidation is an advanced process by which volatile organic compounds
(VOCs), bacteria, mold, and fungus are destroyed by incorporating photon and ultraviolet
(UV) energy to activate the catalyst. Photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) is achieved when UV
light (the photo) rays is combined with a Titanium Oxide (TiO2) coated filter as the
catalyst. This process creates hydroxyl radicals and super-oxide ions, which are highly
reactive electrons.
These highly reactive electrons interact with water molecules (H2O) in the air, breaking them
up into hydroxyl radicals (OH), which are highly reactive, short-lived, uncharged forms of
hydroxide ions (OH). These small, agile hydroxyl radicals then attack bigger organic
(carbon-based) pollutant molecules (e.g. Volatile Organic Compounds), breaking apart their
chemical bonds and turning them into harmless substances such as carbon dioxide and water.
That is why the photocatalytic principles are very useful to the process of air purification.

Q4. Explain how solids are generated in an aeration tank, and the consequences to the
operation if excess solids are not removed (wasted).
Answer:
From the primary treatment, wastewater will flow into an aeration tank where it will be
mixed with the recycled liquid (activated sludge) containing a high proportion of organisms
taken from a secondary clarifier tank, and it becomes a product called mixed liquor. This
mixture is injected with large quantities of air to provide oxygen needed for the organisms to
break down the organic compounds. In other words, the organisms are fed with the influent
BOD (organic compounds) and the aeration tank is conditioned in such a way that it can
stimulate the growth and reproduction of the organisms.
As the microorganisms populations multiply, excess solids must be removed (wasted). If
excess solids are not removed, the MLVSS will increase and results on lower F/M ratio, a
condition where the food (organic compounds) is not enough due to excessive amount of
organisms. This will reduce the efficiency of the treatment. Besides that, if excess solids do
not get wasted, they can overflow the clarifier weirs and into the receiving water.

Q5. Explain the term of acid rain and explain how it occurs and its impact on environment.
Answer:
Acid rain is a broad term referring to a mixture of wet and dry deposition (deposited material)
from the atmosphere containing higher than normal amounts of nitric and sulfuric acids. In
short, it is rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic. The most important
gas which leads to the acidification is sulfur dioxide. Combustion of fuels produces sulfur
dioxide and nitric oxides, which are then converted into sulfuric acid and nitric acid.
SO2 + H2O + O2 2H2SO4

Damage to man-made environment:

Acid rain can cause damage to buildings, historic monuments, and statues, especially those
made of limestone and marble, that contain large amount of calcium carbonate. Acids in rain
react with the calcium compounds in the stones to create gypsum, which is partially water
soluble, and can be washed away.
Damage to natural environment:

Lower pH as a result of the acid rain can cause damage to fish & other aquatic animals.
For example, at pH lower than 5, most fish eggs will not hatch and lower pH can kill adult
fish.
It can injure the vegetation, for instances, high altitude forests are vulnerable as they are
often surrounded by clouds and fog which are more acidic than rain.
It can adversely affect soil biology and chemistry, for instances, some microbes could not
tolerate pH change and are killed. The enzymes of these microbes can no longer function.
Even worse, hydronium ions of acid rain can also mobilize toxins such as aluminium.