ChE 302 WASTEWATER TREATMENT

SEMESTER 2, 2009

DESIGN PROJECT

GROUP MEMBERS:
Melissa Rosdiana Dewi (7D6B4040 / 13786801)
Chew Khai Liong (7D7A4397/13757768)
Faizah Othman (7D7A4585 / 13785138)
Fung Dar Kiong (7D7A4675 / 13785028)

Name of Lecturer: Michelle Fam

Due Date: 8th November 2009

ChE 302 Wastewater Treatment 2009

1.0

INTRODUCTION
Wastewater treatment is a process used to remove contaminants in wastewater. It
involves number of stages which include physical, chemical and biological processes
with an objective of producing treated effluent which is suitable for discharge or reuse.
Below is the flow diagram of a common wastewater treatment plant:

Bar rack / Screens

Grit Chamber
Primary Sedimentation
Basin
Biological Treatment
Secondary
Sedimentation Basin
Advanced Wastewater
Treatment
In this project, a new Complete Mix Activated Sludge (CMAS) is to be designed to
upgrade the existing CMAS in one of the cities in Victoria, Australia. The design must be
able to handle population of 700,000 with a 2.048% population growth per year through
the year of 2028.

2.0

OBJECTIVES
The objective of this project is to design a wastewater treatment plant which can handle a
population of 700,000 with a 2.048% population growth each year.

ChE 302 Wastewater Treatment 2009

3.0

DESCRIPTION OF DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

In this section, the stages involved in wastewater treatment plant are briefly discussed.
Below are the brief explanations:
3.1

Bar Rack or Screens

Bar racks or screens are the first facility used in treating wastewater in which its
function is to remove coarse or large objects. Bar rack has an opening of about 15
mm or larger while screens opening is approximately 15 mm or smaller. Thus,
when untreated water is passed through bar rack, the larger objects are removed.
The slightly smaller objects which passed through the bar rack can be removed by
screen.

3.2

Grit Chamber
Located after the bar racks and before primary sedimentation basins, grit chamber
is utilized to remove grit or inert inorganic materials such as glass pieces, sand
and road grit. Grit chamber is also used to prevent abrasion in moving mechanical
equipment as well as to lessen heavy deposits formation in pipelines. Excessive
accumulations of grit which leads to high frequency of digester can also be
reduced by grit chamber.

3.3

Primary Sedimentation Basin

Besides containing coarse objects and grits, untreated water also contains
suspended solids and organic matter which need to be removed in order to obtain
clean and safe treated water. In order to do so, primary sedimentation basin is
needed. Primary sedimentation basin applies the principle of specific gravity and
density. When wastewater enters the primary sedimentation basin, solids present
in the wastewater that have a higher density than the liquid will settle at the
bottom of the tank. On the other hand, solids with smaller density than the liquid
will rise. The settleable solids and the floating materials are then removed from
the wastewater and hence reducing the organic suspended solids content.

ChE 302 Wastewater Treatment 2009

3.4

Biological Treatment
Biological treatment involves biological processes in which dissolved organic
solids are converted into flocculants and biological slimes. These flocculants are
then removed in sedimentation basins. Biological treatment utilizes different types
of microorganisms such as bacteria and protozoans to reduce Biological Oxygen
Demand (BOD), remove nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus as well as to
remove dissolved and colloidal organic matter.

3.5

Secondary Sedimentation Basin

Secondary sedimentation basin uses the same principle as primary sedimentation
basin. The only difference between the secondary and primary sedimentation
basins is that in secondary sedimentation basins, biological slimes from the
biological treatment are the settleable solids which will then be removed.

3.6

Advanced Wastewater Treatment

This treatment is an additional treatment applied to remove suspended and
dissolved substances that remained after the secondary treatment. The substances
may include inorganic ions such as potassium and nitrate or they may be organic
suspended solids. There are a number of technologies or facilities that can be
applied in this treatment such as Granular-Medium Filtration and Microscreening
to remove residual suspended solids.

In this design project, the facilities involved in the wastewater treatment plant are to be
designed. The design should include Grit Chamber, Primary Sedimentation Basin,
Activated Sludge System for biological treatment and Secondary Sedimentation Basin.
The detailed calculations of the design are shown in the next section.

4.0

FACILITIES DESIGN AND CALCULATIONS

5.0

SUMMARY

6.0

APPENDICES
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