PHYSICAL TREATMENT METHODS

PRINCIPLE AND WORKING

A Report

Submitted by

K Sreethan Reddy, G Rakesh, Rajeshwari

Definition of physical treatment: - Physical treatment usually refers to the treatment of

waste water in industries by different methods depending on the contamination of water
and the usage of water

Types of physical treatment methods:

Screening

Sedimentation

Flotation

Filtration

Flocculation

SCREENING

Principle: Separation of larger particles present in water by using screens

Types of screening and working: -

1. Coarse screening

2. Fine screening

3. Micro screening
Coarse screening: - Coarse screens have clear openings ranging from 6 to 150 mm (0.25
t0 6 in). Coarse screens consist of parallel bars, rods or wires, wire mesh or perforated
plates with openings generally of circular or rectangular shapes. It is also called a bar
rack and used to remove coarse solids such as rags and large objects that may clog or
cause damage to other appurtenances.

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Micro screening: - The smallest type of screening in wastewater treatment is micro
screening. These screens are typically low-speed drum screens. The drums are lined with
filtering fabrics with openings of 10 to 35µm. Wastewater enters the drum, and the
retained solid waste is collected and disposed of.

Fine screening: - The screening process in water treatment plants employs screens that
have clear openings less than 6mm called fine screens. They are made of wire cloth,
wedge wire or perforated plates. Like micro screens, they are tools for screening in
wastewater treatment that are used to remove fine solids.

FINE SCREENS

COARSE SCREENS

MICRO SCREENS

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SEDIMENTATION

Principle: - Sedimentation is the tendency for particles in suspension to settle out due to
gravitational force

Working: -The whole sedimentation process is done in a sedimentation tank. This

sedimentation tank allows suspended particles to settle out of water or wastewater as it
flows slowly through the tank, thereby providing some degree of purification. A layer of
accumulated solids, called sludge, forms at the bottom of the tank and is periodically
removed.

Working Principle of sedimentation tank: -

The main principle of sedimentation tank is to decrease the velocity of water so that the
particles in the water settle down. The velocity with which the particle is settling is
known settling velocity.

Where Vs = settling velocity of particle

g = acceleration due to gravity

density of water= Mass density of water and particle

d = diameter of particle

Cd = drag coefficient and it is obtained by knowing the Reynoldss number (R)

For laminar flow, Cd = 24/R

For transitional flow

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For turbulent flow, Cd = 0.4

Sedimentation Tank Design Parameters: -

The following are the parameters for the design of the tank

Over flow velocity

Detention period

Flow through velocity

Dimensions of the tank

Sludge zone depth

Efficiency

Overflow Velocity (Vo)

The volume of water applied per unit time per unit horizontal surface area is called over
flow velocity. It is also called as surface loading rate or surface over flow rate. Over flow
velocity must be less than settling velocity of particle otherwise the particle or sediment
will escape without settling.

The over flow velocity is calculated from the formula

Vo = Discharge / surface area = Q / (B*L)

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Flow Through Velocity (V)

The velocity of water with which it travels from inlet to outlet of sedimentation tank is
called flow through velocity (V). The allowable flow through velocity of water in
sedimentation tank is 0.005m/s.

Flow through velocity, V = discharge / area = Q /(B*H)

Detention Period (T)

The time taken by water to travel from inlet to outlet is termed as detention period or
detention time. The allowable detention period in the sedimentation tank is 4 to 8 hours.

Detention Time = volume of tank / discharge = V/Q

Dimensions of Sedimentation Tank

The basin dimensions length, breadth and depth of tank are derived from the volume of the
tank and over flow velocity. First we have to compute the area of tank,

Area (A) = Volume of water/ over flow velocity

The breadth of sedimentation tank should be provided is 10 to 12 meters while the length
of sedimentation tank should be at least 4 times the breadth of sedimentation tank. The
depth of tank should be 3 to 4.5 meters

SEDIMENTATION TANK

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Sludge Zone Depth

Sludge zone depth is used to collect the sludge which is nothing but settled particles. It is
provided only when removal of the sludge takes place manually. Generally, it is limited
to0.8 to 1.2 meters.

Efficiency

Efficiency is nothing but the performance of sedimentation tank. It is maximum when the
maximum number of suspended particles in the raw water are separated. In sedimentation
tanks, efficiency purely depends upon the settling velocity and over flow velocity.

Efficiency of Sedimentation Tank ( ) = (Vs/Vo) x 100

FLOATATION

Principle: -

1. Gas transfer across the air-water interface in a saturator tank.

2. Gas precipitation. Air in the dissolved state precipitates to form gas bubbles

3. Flotation of the bubble-particle agglomerate in a flotation chamber

Working:-Dissolved air flotation is one of the most effective methods whose specific
gravity is close to 1.0 from water. Dissolved Air Flotation is liquid/solid or liquid/liquid
separation process to remove tiny suspended solids that density close to the water,
colloid, oil and grease etc. Benin dissolved air flotation is an innovation combined with
traditional dissolved air flotation concept and modern technology.

DAF consists of flotation tank, dissolved air system, reflux pipe, dissolved air released
system, skimmer, electric cabinet and so on.

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Air flotation separation technology dissolves air into water at certain working pressure. In
the process, pressurized water is saturated with dissolved air and is discharged into a
flotation vessel. The microscopic air bubbles produced by released air attach to
suspended solids and float them to the surface, forming a sludge blanket. A scoop
removes the thickened sludge. Finally, it complete purifies the water.

Air flotation technology plays an important in solid-liquid separation (Simultaneously

reduce COD, BOD, chroma, etc). Firstly, mix flocculating agent into raw water and stir
thoroughly. After the effective retention time (lab determines the time, dosage and
flocculation effect), the raw water enters into the contact zone where microscopic air
bubbles adhere to the floc and then flows into the separation zone. Under the buoyancy
effects, the tiny bubbles float the flocs to the surface, forming a sludge blanket. A
skimming device removes the sludge into the sludge hopper. Then the lower clarified
water flows into the clean-water reservoir through the collecting pipe. Some of water are
recycled to the flotation tank for the air dissolving system, while others will be
discharged.

DAF UNIT
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FILTRATION

Principle: -Filtration is the process of separating suspended solid matter from a liquid, by
causing the latter to pass through the pores of some substance, called a filter.

Working: -The filter chamber is usually made out of reinforced concrete, filled with sand
and gravel to the height of 1.5-2 metres. The water is supplied to the top of the sand-bed
and filtered as it flows through the layers of graded sand and gravel. A system of
perforated pipes on the bottom drains the chamber. The filter chamber can be constructed
as open tanks (rapid gravity filters) or closed tanks (pressure filters).

Water treatment plant

Procedure: - First the manjeera water is chlorinated by using sodium hypo chloride. This
chlorinated water is stored in the overhead tank. From this overhead tank the water is
supplied to water treatment plant. The water from the overhead tank reaches sand
pressure filter where the sand pressure filter consists of pebbles, stones and sand arranged
is a specific order to purify the water and it is sent to the softener. The softener removes
the chlorides and sulphides of calcium and magnesium which causes hardness. Then
water flows through filters which has 40microns, 8 microns and 0.2microns to remove
micro-organisms present in the water. The water is pumped to RO(0.002µ) purifier
through pressured pump. Then this water is reaches EDI, where the ions are removed
completely. Then the water is stored in the storage tank. The stored water is passed to
ultrafilters where the water is completely filtered by using less than 0.0002 microns.
During further distribution to ensure there are no microorganisms present, this water is
passed through UV purifier in which uv lamps are used for purification. Then these are
stored in storage tanks

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FLOCCULATION

Principle: -Flocculation is physio-chemical process that facilitates the agglomeration of

fine particles (colloids) contained in water to form a floc that can be easily filtered from
water.

Working: -Flocculation, in the field of chemistry, is a process wherein colloids come out
of suspension in the form of floc or flake, either spontaneously or due to the addition of a
clarifying agent. The action differs from precipitation in that, prior to flocculation,
colloids are merely suspended in a liquid and not actually dissolved in a solution. In the
flocculated system, there is no formation of a cake, since all the flocs are in the
suspension.

Water can be treated via flocculation to remove microscopic dust particles, dirt, and other
airborne substances that produce the cloudiness seen in some water. These microscopic
particles are small but they may affect water’s taste, appearance, and texture and can also
cause illness. In the food industry, flocculation determines how long cheese must sit or
how long yeast must brew

Flocculation method

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