Crispen Mutsvangwa: Water & Wastewater Treatment Engineering

Chapter 16

ACTIVATED SLUDGE TREATMENT

Contents
16.1  INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................................ 2 
16.2  ADVANTAGES OF ACTIVATED SLUDGE TREATMENT PROCESS ................................................................. 3 
16.3  DISADVANTAGES .................................................................................................................................................... 3 
16.4  COMPONENTS OF ACTIVATED SLUDGE PROCESS .......................................................................................... 4 
16.5  METHODS OF AERATION ....................................................................................................................................... 4 
16.5.1  AIR DIFFUSION ......................................................................................................................................................... 4 
16.5.2  SURFACE AERATORS .............................................................................................................................................. 4 
16.6  OXYGEN DEMAND AND SUPPLY ......................................................................................................................... 4 
16.6.1  COMPLETE MIX AERATION ................................................................................................................................... 5 
16.6.2  TAPPERED AERATION............................................................................................................................................. 5 
16.6.3  STEP AERATION TANK (INCREMENTAL FEEDING) ......................................................................................... 6 
16.7  PARAMETERS OF DESIGN AND OPERATION ..................................................................................................... 6 
16.7.1  MIXED LIQUOR SUSPENDED SOLIDS (MLSS) .................................................................................................... 6 
16.7.2  SLUDGE AGE (MEAN CELL RESIDENCE TIME) ................................................................................................. 6 
16.7.3  HYDRAULIC RETENTION TIME............................................................................................................................. 7 
16.8  CONTROL OF NUTRIENTS IN ACTIVATED SLUDGE TREATMENT................................................................ 8 
16.8.1  REMOVAL OF NITROGEN ....................................................................................................................................... 8 
16.8.2  NITRIFICATION ......................................................................................................................................................... 8 
16.8.3  DE-NITRIFICATION .................................................................................................................................................. 9 
16.9  BIOREACTOR CONFIGURATIONS FOR THE REMOVAL OF NITROGEN ..................................................... 10 
16.16.1  INTEGRATED APPROACH/CONVENTIONAL ............................................................................................ 10 
16.16.2  WURHRMANN-NITRIFICATION-DENITRIFICATION ACTIVATED SLUDGE PROCESS..................... 10 
16.17  REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................................... 11 

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Crispen Mutsvangwa: Water & Wastewater Treatment Engineering

Chapter 16

ACTIVATED SLUDGE TREATMENT

16.1 Introduction

During 1913/1914, Arden and Locket aerated settled wastewater over an extended
period to produce activated sludge, which when mixed with wastewater and aerated,
would bring about nearly complete stabilization in few hours. The activated sludge
consists of a mass of bacteria intimately mixed with the dead microorganisms.

 This technology has been applied in the treatment of wastewater and can be
described as dispersed suspended growth system.
 The mixture of wastewater and the bacteria/microorganisms is called the mixed
liquor suspended solids or MLSS and is contained in a reactor.
 The microorganisms are kept in intimate contact with the wastewater by mixing.
The mixing and the incoming wastewater constantly supply the organic matter
and oxygen for the microorganisms.
 The mixing apparatus is also responsible for keeping the suspension aerated.
The microorganisms (bacteria) convert organic matter and oxygen to
ammonium salts, water, CO2, new bacterial cells and energy.
 The microorganisms are constantly being washed out of the reactor by the
incoming wastewater and settle as sludge in the secondary sedimentation
tanks.
 A fraction of this settled sludge (activated) is recycled back to the reactor for
continuity, thereby providing enough biomass to achieve BOD removal and the
other fraction, which is not recycled (excess), is wasted (Fig.16. 1).

Sedimentation
k

Bioreactor
Inflow wastewater (Containing MLSS) Final
Effluent

Air
Qwaste
Return activated sludge (RAS)

Fig. 16.1 Schematic illustration of activated sludge process

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16.2 Advantages of Activated Sludge Treatment Process

The unique merit of this process is that:

 It produces an effluent, which complies for most of the times with final effluent
disposal guidelines
 High removal rates of BOD and nutrients (nitrates, phosphates etc)
 The process requires less land compared to other treatment processes.
 The process is associated with less odours and health risks.

16.3 Disadvantages

However the process has the following constrains:

 Employs more mechanical and electrical plant making it rather expensive.

 High operation and maintenance costs
 Requires more skilled manpower to design, construct, supervise and maintain.

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Crispen Mutsvangwa: Water & Wastewater Treatment Engineering

16.4 Components of Activated Sludge Process

 Reactor in which the wastewater to be treated is in contact with the activated
sludge.
 Means of transferring oxygen to the reactor
 Means of agitation to ensure sufficient contact between activated sludge,
wastewater and oxygen
 System to separate the activated sludge from the purified wastewater
 System to recycle the activated sludge to the reactor.

16.5 Methods of aeration

16.5.1 Air Diffusion

 Dust free air is passed through narrow pore diffusers at the bottom of the mixed
liquor tanks.
 The small bubbles produced have a high surface area to volume ratio, which
encourages oxygen transfer to the liquid phase as the oxygen bubbles.
 Common types of diffusers are dome shaped and made of ceramic material
and silica. There are about 178mm in diameter with pore sizes of 150m.
 The disadvantage of diffusers is that they get blocked from time to time and
hence need some form of cleaning. Since the diffusers are at the bottom, it
becomes difficult to identify quickly any blockages.

16.5.2 Surface aerators

They can either be vertical or horizontal and they are low head volume centrifugal
pumps, which create an outward radial torrential flow of MLSS across the tank surface
(Fig. 16.2). The turbulence produced increases the surface area of contact between
the MLSS and air enhancing the uptake of atmospheric oxygen.

16.6 Oxygen demand and supply

The oxygen demand of the mixed-liquor suspended solids (MLSS) decline along the
channel length as the process of stabilization progresses. In order to maintain
process efficiency and to achieve the required level of oxygen, it is necessary to match
the oxygen supply to the demand by:

 Complete mix aeration

 Tappered aeration
 Incremental feed

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Crispen Mutsvangwa: Water & Wastewater Treatment Engineering

Fig. 16.2: Vertical and Surface Aerators

16.6.1 Complete mix aeration

As the contents of a complete mix tank are homogeneous, there is no dissolved
oxygen variation along or across the tank and hence there is no need for either
tappered aeration or incremental feed.

16.6.2 Tappered aeration

 The aeration basins are long and narrow with air diffusers along the bottom for
oxygenation and mixing along
 The greatest aeration is at the head where the raw wastewater and return
activated sludge are introduced i.e. according to the respiratory requirement of
MLSS (Fig. 16.3).

Qi Aeration tank (reactor)

Humus Qe
tank

Air

Excess
sludge
RAS

Fig. 16.3: Tappered aeration

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Crispen Mutsvangwa: Water & Wastewater Treatment Engineering

16.6.3 Step aeration tank (incremental feeding)

 Air is provided uniformly and wastewater is introduced at intervals along the
basin (Fig. 16.4).
 The wastewater is introduced incrementally to even up the constant supply of
oxygen at several points along the length of tank.
 The influent wastewater entering tank at each stage can be varied accordingly
to changes in the organic or hydraulic loadings i.e., there is operational
flexibility.

Incremental feed of wastewater to even up the

constant supply of oxygen

Qi Aeration tank (reactor)

Humus Qe
Tank

Air
Excess
sludge
RAS

Fig. 16.4: Step aeration or incremental feed

16.7 Parameters of Design and operation

16.7.1 Mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS)

This constitute the reactor contents and comprises of mass of activated sludge solids
per unit volume of aeration channel and ranges from 1.5 to 5 kg/m3 depending on air
supply, settleability of sludge in final clarifies, return sludge pumping capacity and size
of tanks.

16.7.2 Sludge age (Mean cell residence time)

The fraction of the activated sludge solids which is wasted determine the average
amount of time which the microorganisms will spend in the bioreactor

Sludge age =total activated sludge solids in the reactor (kg) , days
activated sludge solids wastes (kg/days)

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The sludge age varies from 2 days in high rate plants to more than 30 days in
extended-aerated plants.

16.7.3 Hydraulic retention time

The time the wastewater spends in the reactor and it varies from 3 to 48 hours and
can be computed from:

 = Reactor volume (m3)

Flow (m3/day)

16.7.4 Food: Microorganisms ration (F/M)

The ration of the food substrate to the microorganisms in the reactor.

F/M = BOD of wastewater (kg/m3) x influent flow (m3/d) , days-1

Reactor volume (m3) x Reactor solids (kg/m3)

= BODxQ
V x MLSS

The F/M ratio is the only the form of loading over which the operator has control. It
gives a good indication of the state of the plant without reference to other more
variable parameters. An operator has some control by adjusting the proportions of
sludge wasted and returned. Increasing sludge wastage rate will cause an increase in
the F/M ratio. The F/M ratio varies from 0.05 to 1 day-1.

16.7.5 Sludge settleability

The degree of treatment achieved depends directly on settleability of the activated
sludge in the final sedimentation tank. A biological floc that settles leaves a clear
supernatant for discharge and poorly flocculated particles contribute to suspended
solids and BOD in the effluent. The excessive carryover of flocs due to poor
settleability is referred to as sludge bulking.

16.7.6 Sludge volume index (SVI)

A measure of the settleability of sludge and is the volume in ml occupied by 1 gram of
settled suspended solids. A method to determine the SVI is schematically illustrated
in Fig. 3. MLSS samples are drawn from reactor near the discharge end and filled into
a one-litre cylinder. The initial concentration of MLSS is noted. The sample is allowed
to settle for 30 minutes and the volume occupied by the settled solids is read. A low
SVI is indicative of a sludge that settles well and an SVI of 50 to 150 ml/g indicates a
good settling sludge. The SVI is calculated as:

V  1000
SVI  ml/g, (i.e. ml/g per one litre of graduated cylinder and the
MLSS
1000 is to convert mg to grams)

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Where V =Volume of settled solids, ml

MLSS =Suspended solids in mg/l

Qi Reactor (MLSS) Qi+Qr

Qe

Return activated sludge, Qr

Volume of
settled sludge

Fig. 3 Schematic illustration on how to determine the SVI

16.8 Control of Nutrients in activated sludge treatment

In recent years much attention has been directed towards the removal of nutrients by
biological means. Nitrogen and phosphorous are the principal growth limiting
nutrients. Their presence in wastewater leads to eutrophication and hence the need
for their removal prior to discharging treated effluent to the receiving water bodies.
This has seen the advent of the modified activated sludge process, more commonly
known as the Biological Nutrient Removal (BNR) technology. The process is similar to
the activated sludge process but the reactor has specific zones for carbonaceous
oxidation, nitrification-denitrification of ammonium compounds and the phosphorous
striping.

16.8.1 Removal of nitrogen

The removal of nitrogen is by bacteria through assimilation and nitrification-de-
nitrification and the process is summarized in Fig. 16.5.

16.8.2 Nitrification
Wastewater enters the treatment plant with a greater percentage of nitrogen present
as ammonia especially domestic. The nitrifying bacteria (autotrophic bacteria) oxidize
ammonia to nitrate. Nitrification is the oxidation of ammonium ions via nitrate by
bacteria. The reaction is in two stages and takes place under aerobic conditions i.e. in
the presence of oxygen

The terminal electron acceptor is oxygen which is reduced to water under aerobic
conditions.

2nd reaction by nitrobactor

NO2  H 2 O  0.5O2  NO3  H 2 O

Nitrate

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Organic nitrogen
(proteins, urea)

Bacterial decomposition
& Hydrolysis

Assimilation Organic
Ammonia nitrogen (NH3) nitrogen Organic nitrogen
(Bacterial cells (Net growth)
Nitrification

Cell-lysis
O2

Nitrite, N0-2

O2
Nitrification

De-nitrification
- Nitrogen gas
Nitrate (NO 3 (N2)

Organic carbon

Fig. 16.5 Nitrogen transformations in biological treatment processes

1st reaction by Nitrosomonas bacteria

NH 3  1.5O2  NO2  H   H 2 O  Energy

Nitrite

16.8.3 De-nitrification
If the nitrates are released in the water bodies, they will be assimilated by plants
resulting in eutrophication. The removal of these nitrates takes place during de-
nitrification. For total removal of nutrients, this reaction will be very essential on
wastewater treatment. And for the reaction to take place, a suitable carbon source
should be present.
NO3  organic carbon    A  H 2O  N 2 
demitrification

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The nitrate is converted to a nitrite and to gaseous nitrogen under very low dissolved
oxygen but in the presence of nitrate, a condition called anoxic. The influent
wastewater provides the carbon and the nitrate from the previous reactions
(nitrification) serves as the terminal electron acceptor and is reduced to nitrogen gas.

16.9 Bioreactor configurations for the removal of nitrogen

There are several reactor configurations for the removal of nitrates in wastewater
treatment processes and some of them are:

 Integrated approach or Conventional

 Bardenpho Process
 UCT
 and others

16.16.1 Integrated approach/Conventional

It is the conventional type of reactor (Fig. 16.6). The reactor is not separated
meaning there is no wall dividing the two but there are two distinct zones, which
are the anoxic and the aerobic zone. The anoxic zone is followed by an aerobic
zone. Denitrification occurs in the anoxic zone where the nitrates are coming
with the RAS from the aerobic zone and are converted to gaseous nitrogen.
The carbon source is coming from the fresh incoming wastewater rich in the
carbonaceous material. In the aerobic zone nitrification takes place
simultaneously with carbonaceous oxidation due to the availability of the
oxygen. The advantages of and integrated approach are:

 high removal efficiency

 high process stability and reliability
 control process easy
 low land requirements
 moderate costs

16.16.2 Wurhrmann-nitrification-denitrification activated sludge process

The carbonaceous oxidation and nitrification takes place in the aerobic zone.
The nitrates generated in the aerobic zone are transferred by the normal serial
flow to the second un-aerated reactor (anoxic zone) where de-nitrification
occurs (Fig. 7).

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Crispen Mutsvangwa: Water & Wastewater Treatment Engineering

 N2
Denitrifie
Q d effluent
Denitrification Nitrification
Clarifier
NO  N 2
I
3 NH 3  NO3

Air
Anoxic
zone Aerobic zone
Qw

RAS

Fig. 16.6: Reactor configuration for the integrated approach/conventional

Waste sludge

Inflow Aerobic Final effluent

Anoxic Humus
Tank

Return activated sludge

Fig. 16.7 Wurhrmann-nitrification-denitrification activated sludge process

16.17 References
1. Ellis K., (1995), Unpublished Lecture Notes in Wastewater Engineering, Loughborough
University, UK
2. Gray N., (1992), Biology of Wastewater, Oxford Science, UK
3. Metcalf and Eddy, (1991), Wastewater Engineering, Treatment, Disposal and Reuse,
McGraw Hill, US
4. Schroeder E.D., (1971), Water and wastewater treatment, McGraw Hill, New York, USA
5. Peavy H. S., Rowe D. R., and Tchobanoglous G., (1985), Environmental Engineering,
McGraw Hill, New York, USA

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