Detailed off-gas measurements for improved modelling of the aeration performance at the WWTP of Eindhoven

2016 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 203-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Amerlinck ◽  
G. Bellandi ◽  
A. Amaral ◽  
S. Weijers ◽  
I. Nopens

At wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), the aerobic conversion processes in the bioreactor are driven by the presence of dissolved oxygen (DO). Within these conversion processes, the oxygen transfer is a rate limiting step as well as being the largest energy consumer. Despite this high importance, WWTP models often lack detail on the aeration part. An extensive measurement campaign with off-gas tests was performed at the WWTP of Eindhoven to provide more information on the performance and behaviour of the aeration system. A high spatial and temporal variability in the oxygen transfer efficiency was observed. Applying this gathered system knowledge in the aeration model resulted in an improved prediction of the DO concentrations. Moreover, an important consequence of this was that ammonium predictions could be improved by resetting the ammonium half-saturation index for autotrophs to its default value. This again proves the importance of balancing sub-models with respect to the need for model calibration as well as model predictive power.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Abdel Rahman Salem ◽  
Alaa Hasan ◽  
Ahmad Abdelhadi ◽  
Saif Al Hamad ◽  
Mohammad Qandil ◽  
...  

Abstract This study targets one of the major energy consumers in the U.S. It suggests a new mechanical system that can recover a portion of the energy in Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs). The proposed system entails a hydro-turbine installed above the air diffuser in the aeration tank to extract the water-bubble current's kinetic energy and converts it to electricity. Observing the optimum location of the turbine required multiple experiments where turbine height varies between 35% and 95% (water height percentages above the diffuser), while varying the airflow between 1.42 L/s (3 CFM) and 2.12 L/s (4.5 CFM) with a 0.24 L/s (0.5 CFM) increment. Additionally, three water heights of 38.1 cm (15”), 53.4 cm (21”), and 68.6 cm (27”) were considered to study the influence of the water height. It was noticed that the presence of the system has an adverse effect on the Standard Oxygen Transfer Efficiency (SOTE). Therefore, a small dual-blade propeller was installed right above the diffuser to directly mix the water in the bottom of the tank with the incoming air to enhance the SOTE. The results showed that the maximum reclaimed power was obtained where the hydro-turbine is installed at 65% - 80% above the diffuser. A reduction of up to 7.32% in SOTE was observed when the setup was placed inside the tank compared to the tank alone. The addition of the dual-blade propeller showed an increase in SOTE of 7.27% with a power loss of 6.21%, ensuring the aeration process was at its standards.


2004 ◽  
Vol 50 (7) ◽  
pp. 61-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Sahlmann ◽  
J.A. Libra ◽  
A. Schuchardt ◽  
U. Wiesmann ◽  
R. Gnirss

The efficiency of the aeration system in a full-scale activated sludge basin with 3 separately controlled aeration zones was improved for the low loading period in summer. The air flow rate to each aeration zone is currently regulated to hold a preset dissolved oxygen concentration (DO). Four different DO setpoint combinations were tested, each one for a one week period, using dynamic off-gas testing to measure the standardised oxygen transfer efficiency (αSOTE). As the DO setpoints were lowered, the total air flow rate to the basin decreased initially. A low DO in the first zones slowed biomass activity and pushed the load towards the end of the aeration basin. The relationship between αSOTE and the specific diffuser flow rate qD is different for each zone. In Zone 1 there was a strong decrease in αSOTE as qD increased, while Zones 2 and 3 were fairly independent of qD, Zone 2 at a higher level than Zone 3. Aeration costs were reduced by 15% for the most efficient combination. To achieve even more savings, a control strategy adjusting oxygen transfer rates over the aeration basin to the necessary oxygen transfer rates is suggested. It is based on changing the DO setpoints to reach the lowest total air flow rate while meeting the effluent requirements.


2015 ◽  
Vol 809-810 ◽  
pp. 1573-1578
Author(s):  
Casen Panaitescu ◽  
Monica Emanuela Stoica ◽  
Ciner Fehiman

Manufacture of wastewater treatment technologies is an important issue due to the complexity of design parameters and performance. Biological wastewater treatment is a process in which the intensity of oxygen transfer into water is an issue that has been extensively studied but yet insufficiently resolved. The present paper aims to describe an aeration system developed by the author in the laboratory by means of non-conventional technologies, and subsequently implemented in refinery wastewater treatment plants. The aeration system takes the form of modules, which are equipped with a new type of membrane. The analysis of the system performance revealed that oxygen transfer was 62%, specific adsorption of oxygen was 37 % and the specific oxygen transfer was 7%/m. The advantages of this new system are as follows: compared to existing technologies there is a higher rate of oxygen transfer into water; longer life; there are no dead zones in the basin as a result of their location; possibility of operating on separate sections.


2017 ◽  
Vol 76 (7) ◽  
pp. 1595-1602
Author(s):  
Victory O. Odize ◽  
John Novak ◽  
Haydee De Clippeleir ◽  
Ahmed Al-Omari ◽  
Joshua D. Smeraldi ◽  
...  

Achieving energy neutrality has shifted focus towards aeration system optimization, due to the high energy consumption of aeration processes in modern advanced wastewater treatment plants. A study on fine bubble diffuser fouling and mitigation, quantified by dynamic wet pressure (DWP), oxygen transfer efficiency and alpha was carried out in Blue Plains, Washington, DC. Four polyurethane fine bubble diffusers were installed in a pilot reactor column fed with high rate activated sludge from a full scale system. A mechanical cleaning method, reverse flexing (RF), was used to treat two diffusers (RF1, RF2), while two diffusers were kept as a control (i.e., no reverse flexing). There was a 45% increase in DWP of the control diffuser after 17 months of operation, an indication of fouling. RF treated diffusers (RF1 and RF2) did not show significant increase in DWP, and in comparison to the control diffuser prevented about 35% increase in DWP. Hence, reverse flexing potentially saves blower energy, by reducing the pressure burden on the air blower which increases blower energy requirement. However, no significant impact of the RF treatment in preventing a decrease in alpha-fouling (αF) of the fine pore diffusers, over time in operation was observed.


2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riccardo Gori ◽  
Alice Balducci ◽  
Cecilia Caretti ◽  
Claudio Lubello

This paper reports the results of a series of off-gas tests aimed at monitoring the evolution of the oxygen transfer efficiency in an urban wastewater treatment plant (3,500 population equivalent) located in Tuscany (Italy). The tests were conducted over a 2-year period starting with the testing of the aeration system. It was found that in the absence of membrane-panel cleaning operations, the oxygen transfer efficiency under standard conditions in process water (αSOTE) dropped from 18 to 9.5% in 2 years. This gives rise to a 40% increase in the wastewater treatment plant annual energy costs. The on-site chemical cleaning of the diffusers allowed for an almost total recovery of the transfer efficiency (αSOTE equal to 16%). The use of the off-gas method for monitoring the oxygen transfer efficiency over time is therefore essential for enabling correct planning of the cleaning operations of the diffusers and for cutting the energy consumption and operating costs of the aeration system.


2007 ◽  
Vol 55 (11) ◽  
pp. 183-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Zhu ◽  
T. Imai ◽  
K. Tani ◽  
M. Ukita ◽  
M. Sekine ◽  
...  

In aerated ponds, oxygen is generally supplied through either diffused or mechanical aeration means. Surface transfer and bubble transfer both contribute significantly to oxygen transfer in a diffused aeration system. In the present study, a liquid-film-forming apparatus (LFFA) is successfully developed on a laboratory scale to improve considerably the surface transfer via the unique liquid film transfer technique. The experimental results show that the volumetric mass transfer coefficient for LFFA alone is found to be as much as 5.3 times higher than that for water surface and that the total volumetric mass transfer coefficient for the liquid film aeration system increases by 37% in comparison with a conventional aeration system. Additionally, by tuning finely the structural parameters of the LFFA, it can also lead to high dissolved oxygen (DO) water with the DO percent saturation greater than 90%. More importantly, this result is accomplished by simply offering a single-pass aeration at a depth as shallow as 26 cm. As a result, the objective of economical energy consumption in aerated ponds can be realized by lowering the aeration depth without sacrificing the aeration efficiency. It is noteworthy that the data presented in this study are acquired either numerically or experimentally.


2003 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 527-539 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Emin Emiroglu ◽  
Ahmet Baylar

Abstract Dissolved oxygen is essential to healthy streams and lakes. The dissolved oxygen level is an indication of how polluted the water is and how well the water can support aquatic plant and animal life. A higher dissolved oxygen level indicates better water quality. There is a significant oxygen transfer associated with most hydraulic structures because the air entrained into the flow is split into small bubbles, which greatly increases the surface area for transfer. Stepped chutes are a particular instance of this, and the aeration efficiency of such structures has not been studied in the laboratory and field. In this paper, the aeration performance of the stepped chutes with and without end sill was investigated in a large laboratory stepped chute. An empirical correlation predicting the oxygen transfer efficiency was developed for stepped chutes. The results indicated that l/h and s/h had a significant effect on the aeration efficiency of stepped chutes.


2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (5) ◽  
pp. 97-102
Author(s):  
Ala Sokolova ◽  
Mindaugas Rimeika

The paper analyzes the impact of the way of mounting a tube diffuser, the design of an aeration tank and the presence of a fixed carrier on the operational parameters of aeration systems used in small wastewater treatment plants. It was found out that the vertically mounted tube diffuser decreased standard oxygen transfer rate (SOTR) of the aeration system by approximately 20% and standard oxygen transfer efficiency (SOTE) by 25% comparing to the horizontally mounted tube diffuser. It was also defined that the design of the aeration tank might have an impact on the operation parameters of the aeration system: when the centre shell used to protect a diffuser was dismantled from a test tank, SOTR and SOTE increased by approximately 20%. It was also established that the presence of the fixed carrier in the aeration tank did not have an impact on the performance of aeration systems. Finally, research was carried out to compare the operational parameters of two diffusers of different types offered on the market and used in small wastewater treatment plants. It was found out that the performance different type diffusers might vary considerably.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 1933
Author(s):  
Xuyang Liu ◽  
Xuejun Bi ◽  
Qing Huang ◽  
Xiaodong Wang ◽  
Ruihuan Gu ◽  
...  

The integrated fixed-film activated sludge (IFAS) process has been widely used in the upgrading of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The oxygen transfer efficiency (αOTE) is of great significance to the design and operation of the IFAS process. The carrier filling ratio (CFR) and aeration type are two critical factors affecting αOTE and standard oxygen transfer efficiency (αSOTE). However, the distribution and changing laws of αOTE and αSOTE in the full-scale IFAS process areunclear. To optimize the operation of a WWTP and to improve the αOTE of the aeration systems, several off-gas tests were conducted under different aeration types and different CFRs. The results show that for the aerobic tank investigated (the ratio of length and width was 8:1), the αOTE and the αSOTE of the middle of the aeration systems were higher than those of the other two sides. However, the reason for the low αOTE at the beginning and the end of the tank may be different. Coarse-bubble aeration systems had a lower αOTE and almost the same oxygenation capacity (αSOTE) as the fine-bubble aeration systems under constant CFR (43%). The average αSOTE (18.7–28.9%) of the hybrid aeration systems increased with increasing CFR (7.7–57.7%), and different locations exhibited different degrees of change. The results reveal the distribution and changing law of the αOTE of aeration systems in the IFAS process, and attention should be paid to the improvement of the OTE of the plug-flow IFAS process.


2001 ◽  
Vol 44 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 203-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ph. Duchène; ◽  
E. Cotteux ◽  
S. Capela

Because the aeration system in an activated sludge plant typically represents a large part of the total energy requirements, designers and operators need accurate oxygen transfer information to make the aeration system as energy efficient as possible. This paper presents clean water tests performed at 38 wastewater treatment plants. The Specific Aeration Efficiency results (SAE, kgO2/kWh) are reported for: (1) large open channels (volume higher than 1000 m3), (2) small open channels, (3) total floor coverage cylindrical tanks, and (4) cylindrical tanks with a grid arrangement. Some practical guidelines can be drawn, some of them being: (1) high SAE can be achieved at small aeration tanks (<1000m3), applying cylindrical tanks with a total floor coverage arrangement of diffusers, volumetric blowers, and moderate air flow rates per diffuser area; (2) the high investment cost of this configuration can be justified with respect to a grid layout characterized by spiral liquid circulation which affects the oxygen transfer; (3) small open channels can meet sufficient SAE values but fail to meet in this range of tank volumes those of total floor coverage cylindrical tanks.


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