Advanced wastewater treatment

Gyeongsang National University

Department of Biological and chemical Engineering
Environmental Engineering Lab

Ngoc Thuan Le
 Need for advanced wastewater treatment

1. Remove organic matter and TSS to meet more stringent

discharge and reuse requirements.

2. Remove TSS for more effective disinfection.

3. Remove nutrients contained to limit eutrophication of sensitive

water bodies.

4. Remove specific inorganic (e.g., heavy metals) and organic

constituents (e.g., MTBE) to meet more stringent discharge and
reuse requirements both surface water and land-based effluent
dispersal and for indirect potable reuse application.

5. Remove specific inorganic and inorganic constituents for

industrial reuse (e.g., cooling water, process water…).

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Technologies used for advanced treatment

1. Removal of organic and inorganic colloidal and suspended solids

(suspended solids, organic matters…), using filtration
• Depth filtration
• Surface filtration
• Membrane filtratration

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Depth filtration Surface filtration

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1. Removal of dissolved organic constituents (total organic carbon,
refractory organic, volatile organic compounds)
• Carbon adsorption
• Reverse osmosis
• Chemical precipitation
• Chemical oxidation
• Advanced chemical oxidation
• Electrodialysis
• Distillation
3. Removal of dissolved inorganic constituents (ammonia, nitrate,
nitrite, phosphorus, total dissolved solids)
• Chemical precipitation
• Ion exchange
• Ultrafiltration
• Reverse osmosis
• Electrodialysis
• Distillation
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4. Removal of biological constituents (bacteria, protozoan cysts
and oocysts, viruses)
• Depth filtration
• Micro and ultrafiltration
• Reverse osmosis
• Electrodialysis
• Distillation

Because the effectiveness of the unit operations and processes listed

is
variable, disinfection of the treated effluent is required for most
application

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 Introduction to depth filtration

• Grain size is the principal filter

medium characteristic that affects
the filtration operation

a. Flow during filtration cycle

b. Flow during backwash cycle

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 Particle removal
mechanisms

a. By straining a. By adhesion

b. By sedimentation or inertial impaction b. By flocculation

c. By interception

Other phenomena: chemical/physical adsorption or biological growth

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Selection and design considerations for depth filters

1. Selection and design filter technologies must be based on:

• Knowledge of the types of filters that are available
• A general understanding of their performance
characteristics
• An appreciation of the process variables controlling depth
filtration

2. Design for effluent filtration systems include:

• Influent wastewater characteristics
• Design and operation of the biological treatment process
• Type of filtration technology to be used
• Available flow-control options
• Type of filter backwashing system
• Filter control systems and intrumentation

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 Available filtration technologies

a. Conventional mono- b. Conventional dual-

medium downflow filter medium downflow filter c. Conventional mono-medium d. Continuous backwash deep-
deep-bed downflow filter bed upflow filter

e. Pulse-bed filter f. Traveling-bridge filter

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Synthetic-medium filter High pressure filter

Slow sand filter

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Two-stage filtration

A large size sand diameter is used in the first filter to increase the contact time and to
minimize clogging
A smaller sand size is used in the second filter to remove residual particles from the
first stage filter

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Effluent filtration with chemical addition

• To achieve specific treatment objectives including removal of

specific contaminants
• Phosphorus
• Metal ions
• Humic substances

• Chemicals commonly used in effluent filtration

• Organic polymers (cationic, anionic, or nonionic (no
charge)
• Alum and ferric compounds (chloride)

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Surface filtration

Materials: woven metal fabrics, cloth fabrics of different weaves, and variety of synthetic
materials
Surface filters have openings in size range from 10 to 30µm. In membrane filters the pore
size can vary from 0.0001 to 1.0µm

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Membrane filtration
Membrance Membrane Typical Operating Typical Permeate Typical constituents
process driving force separation structure operating description removed
mechanism (pore size) range, µm
Microfiltration Hydrostatic sieve Macropore 0.08-2.0 Water+dissolved TSS, turbidity, protozoan,
pressure difference s (>50nm) solutes some bacteria and viruses

Ultrafiltration Hydrostatic sieve Mesopores 0.005-0.2 Water+small Macromolecules, colloids,

pressure difference (2-50nm) molecules most bacteria, some
viruses, protein
Nanofiltration Hydrostatic sieve+solution/diff Micropores 0.001-0.01 Water+very small Small molecules, some
pressure difference usion+exclusion (<2nm) molecules, ionic harness, viruses
solutes
Reverse Hydrostatic solution/diffusion Dense 0.0001- Water+very small very small molecules, color
osmosis pressure difference +exclusion (<2nm) 0.001 molecules, ionic hardness, sulfates, nitrate,
solutes sodium, other ions

Dialysis Concentration Diffusion Mesopores _ Water+very small Macromolecules, colloids,

difference (2-50nm) molecules, most bacteria, some
viruses, protein
Electrodialysis Electromotive force ion exchange with Micropores _ Water, ionic solutes ionized salt ions
selective (<2nm)
membranes

Materials: different organic or inorganic materials: polypropylene, cellulose acetate, aromatic

polyamides, and thin film composite (TFC).

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Reverse osmosis (RO)
• When two solutions having different solute concentrations are separated by
a semi permeable membrane, a difference in chemical potential will exist
across the membrane
• RO is used for the removal of dissolved constituents from the wastewater
remaining after advanced treatment with depth filtration of microfiltration.

a. Osmotic flow
b. Osmotic equilibrium
c. Reverse osmosis

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Electrodialysis (ED)
• In the electrodialysis process, ionic components of a solution are separated
through the use of semipereable ion-selective membrane
• The current required for electrodialysis can be estimated by Faraday’s Laws of
electrolysis

FQNŋ
I=
nEc
Where:
I = current, amp
F = Faraday’s constant
= 96,485amp.s/gram equivalent = 96,485
A.s/eq
n = number of cell in the stack
Ec = current efficiency expressed as a
fraction

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Adsorption

• Adsorption is the process of accumulation substances that are in solution on a suitable

interface
• Types of adsorbents: activated carbon, synthetic polymeric, and silica-based adsorbents
• Activated carbon: (1) powdered activated carbon (PAC), a diameter of less than
0.074mm (200 sieve), and (2) granular activated carbon (GAC), a diameter greater than
0.1mm (140 sieve)
Type of activated carbon
Parameter Unit
GAC PAC
Total surface area m2/g 700-1300 800-1800
Bulk density kg/m3 400-500 360-740
Particle density, wetted in water kg/l 1.0-1.5 1.3-1.4
Particle size range mm (µm) 0.1-2.36 (5-50)
Effective size mm 0.6-0.9 na
Uniformity coefficient UC ≤1.9 na

Mean pore radius  16-30 20-40

Iodine number 600-1100 800-1200

Abrasion number minimum 75-85 70-80

Ash % ≤8 ≤6
Moisture as packed % 2-8 3-10

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Fundamentals of adsorption
• Absorbent phase concentration data

(C 0 −C e )V
qe =
m

Where:
qe= absorbent (solids) phase concentration
after equilibrium, mg adsorbate/g
adsorbent
Co = initial concentration of adsorbate, mg/L

Ce = final equilibrium concentration of

adsorbate after absorption has
occurred, mg/L
V = volume of liquid in the reactor, L
m = mass of absorbent, g

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Types of activated carbon contactors

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Gas stripping

• Gas stripping involves the mass transfer of a gas from the liquid phase to the gas phase.
• Considerable attention: remove ammonia, odorous gases and volatile organic
compounds (VOCs)

Typical water and airflow patterns for gas stripping towers

Cross flow
Countercurrent flow Current flow

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Typical stripping towers for the removal of volatile gases from water

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ION EXCHANGE

• Ion exchange is a unit process in which ions of a given species are displaced
from an insoluble exchange material by ions of a different species in
solution.
• Domestic water softening: where sodium ions from a cationic-exchange resin
replace the calcium and magnesium ions in the treated water.
• Ion exchange has been used in wastewater application for removal of
nitrogen, heavy metals, and total dissolved solids

• Ion-exchange materials:
• Naturally, zeolites (complex of aluminosilicates with sodium)
• Synthetic ion-exchange material: resins or phenolic polymers
1. Strong-acid cation
2. Weak-acid cation
3. Strong-base anion
4. Weak-base anion
5. Heavy-metal selective chelating resins

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Typical ion-exchange reaction
• For natural zeolite (Z)

Ca2+ Ca2+
ZNa+ + Mg2+ Z Mg2+ + 2Na+
Fe2+ Fe2+
• For synthetic resin (R)
Strong acid cation exchange:
RSO3H + Na+ RSO3Na + H+
2RSO3Na + Ca+2 (RSO3)2Ca + 2Na+
Weak acid cation exchange:
RCOOH + Na+ RCOONa + H+
2RCOONa + Ca+2 (RCOO)2Ca + 2Na+
Strong-base anion exchange:
RR’3NOH + Cl- RR’3NCl + OH-
Weak-base anion exchange:
RNH3OH + Cl- RNH3Cl + OH-
2RNH3Cl + SO42- (RNH3)2SO4 + 2Cl-
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Application of ion-exchange

• Typical flow diagram for the removal of ammonia by zeolite exchange

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Application of ion-exchange

• Typical flow diagram for the removal of hardness and for the complete
demineralization of water

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Chemical oxidation

• Oxidizing agents:
 ozone (O3),

 hydrogen peroxide (H2O2),

 permanganate (MnO4),

 chloride dioxide (ClO2),

 chlorine (Cl2) or (HClO) and

 oxygen (O2)

• For reduction of:

 BOD,

 COD,

 ammonia,

 nonbiodegradable organic compounds.

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• Phosphate precipitation with aluminum and iron
Al3+ + HnPO43-n AlPO4 + nH

Fe3+ + HnPO43-n FePO4 + nH

• There are many competing reactions because of the effects of alkalinity, pH,
trace elements, and ligands in wastewater
• Dosages are established of bench scale test and occasionally by full scale tests.

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Ozone/Hydrogen peroxide

H2O2 + 2O3 HO* + HO* +3O2

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DISTILLATION

• Distillation is a unit operation in which the components of a liquid solution are separated
by vaporization and condensation.

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Thank you for your
attention!

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