Physical Unit Operations

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Grit chambers

➢ Pretreatment may include a sand or grit channel or chamber,

where the velocity of the incoming sewage is adjusted to allow
the settlement of sand, grit, stones, and broken glass. These
particles are removed because they may damage pumps and
other equipment. For small sanitary sewer systems, the grit
chambers may not be necessary, but grit removal is desirable
at larger plants.
➢ Grit chambers come in 3 types:
➢ horizontal grit chambers,
➢ aerated grit chambers and
➢ vortex grit chambers.
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 Clarifiers

➢ They are settling tanks built with mechanical

means for continuous removal of solids being
deposited by sedimentation

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➢A trickling filter is a fixed-bed, biological
reactor that operates under (mostly) aerobic
conditions. Pre-settled wastewater is
continuously 'trickled' or sprayed over the
filter. As the water migrates through the pores
of the filter, organics are degraded by the
biofilm covering the filter material.

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Introduction
➢ Physical unit operations: operations used for the treatment of
wastewater in which change is brought about by means of the application
of physical forces.

➢ Physical unit operations are a major part of treatment systems.

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Screening
➢ First unit operation encountered is wastewater treatment plants.
➢ A screen is a device with generally uniform openings that is used to
retain coarse solids.
➢ Screens may be divided into coarse (0.25-6”) and fine (<0.25”) screens.
Microscreens (<50m) are also available can be used to remove fine
solids from treated effluents.
➢ The material that is retained by the screens is know as screenings.
Screenings are typically hauled to a landfill or may be buried on site or
incinerated depending upon the plant.

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 Screenings

Traveling Screen
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Screening
➢ Coarse Screens (Bar Racks):
• Coarse Screens (Bar Racks): Composed or parallel bars or rods with
openings of 0.25-6” and are used to protect pumps, valves from
clogging by large objects and rags.
• Bar racks may be hand cleaned or mechanically cleaned The bars
are mounted at some angle to the horizontal and the allowable head
loss is 6” or less.
• Design of Bar Racks: Considerations should include: location (
upstream of grit chamber), approach velocity (1.25-3fps); clear
openings between bars or mesh size, headloss through the screens
(<6”), screenings and controls.
• Head-loss across bar screens can be represented by the following eq.
1  V 2 − v2  C = discharge coefficient (0.6 - 0.7)
hL =   V = velocity through openings
C  2g  v = approach velocity
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Screening
➢ Fine Screens
• Fine Screens. Composed of wires, wire mesh, or perforated plates
with openings.
• The application range from primary treatment to the removal of
residual SS solids from biological treatment processes. Fine screens
may static, rotary drum or step type.
• Design of Fine Screens: Fine screens would be preceded by coarse
screens. Use at least 2 sized to handle peak flow.
• Head-loss across fine screens can be obtained from manufacturer’s
rating tables or calculated using following equation

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1  Q  C = discharge coefficient (typical value = 0.6)
hL =   Q = discharge through screens
2 g  CA  A = effective open area

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Screening
➢ Microscreens
• Composed of filter fabrics with openings of 10 – 35 m and are
fitted on a drum periphery.
• The principle applications for microscreens are to remove suspended
solids from secondary effluent and from stabilization-pond effluent.
• Typical suspended solids removal range from 10 to 80 percent with
an average of 55 percent.
• Problems encountered with microscreens include incomplete solids
removal and inability to handle solids fluctuations.

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Screening
➢ Screenings:
• Screenings are the material retained on bar racks and screens.
• The quantity of screenings collected depends on the screen openings.
• Screenings retained on coarse screens: consists of debris such as
rocks, branches, leaves, paper, plastics, etc.
• Screenings retained on fine screens: include , plastic material of
various types, razor blades, grit, food waste, feces, etc. Fine
screenings must be handled and disposed of properly because it
contains substantial grease .

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Flow Equalization(Uniform
condition) Steady & Uniform??
➢ It is the process of controlling hydraulic velocity, or flow rate,
through a wastewater treatment system. The equalization of
flow prevents short term, high volumes of incoming flow,
called surges, from forcing solids and organic material out of
the treatment process. Flow equalization also controls the flow
through each stage of the treatment system, allowing adequate
time for the physical, biological and chemical processes to
take place.

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Flow Equalization
➢ Flow equalization
• Flow equalization is the damping of flow variations to achieve a
consistent flowrate. It a method used to:
− overcome the operational problems caused by flow rate variations
− improve performance of downstream processes
− reduce the size and cost of downstream treatment facilities
• Advantages (benefits):
− enhancement of biological treat
− improved effluent quality → better sedimentation due to constant
loading
− improved filter performance
− Attractive option for upgrading performance of overloaded plants.

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Flow Equalization
➢ Flow equalization
• Types:
− On-line: achieves both flow and organic damping
− Off-line: achieves mainly flow damping

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Grit Removal
• The function of the grit chambers include:
− Protect moving mechanical equipment from abrasion and wear.
− reduce formation of heavy deposits in pipelines.
− reduce the frequency of digester cleaning caused by excessive
accumulation of grit.
• Types of grit chambers: horizontal flow, aerated or vortex.

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Primary Sedimentation
➢ Objective: to remove readily settleable solids and floating material.
➢ Can be used as the principal treatment to provide for the removal of:
− settleable solids
− free oil and grease and other floating material
− a portion of the organic load
➢ When used ahead of biological treatment, their function is to reduce the
load on biological units.
➢ Primary sedimentation removes 50 – 70% ss and 25 – 40% BOD.

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Primary Sedimentation
➢ Design consideration:
• Detention time: Important since wastewater solids are
heterogeneous in nature and susceptible to flocculation.
− Normally detention time vary from 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 hours.
− Temperature effect is limited, however, at lower temp settling is retarded
• Surface-Loading rates:
− Sedimentation tanks are normally designed on the basis of surface-loading
(overflow rate) expressed as gal/ft2(Q/Asurface)
− overflow rate must be set low enough to ensure satisfactory performance
at peak rates

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Primary Sedimentation
➢ Design consideration:
• Scour velocity:
− In sedimentation basins, horizontal velocities should be kept low so that
settling particles are not scoured from the bottom of the basin.
− Critical velocity is given by:
1/ 2
 8k ( s − 1) gd 
VH =  
 f 
where;
VH = critical scour velocity
k = cohesion constant (typical values 0.04 - 0.06)
s = specific gravity of particles
g = gravity
d = diameter of particles
f = friction factor (typical values 0.02 - 0.03)
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Primary Sedimentation
➢ Sedimentation tank performance:
• BOD and TSS removal: Typical performance data for the removal
of BOD and TSS are presented The figure is derived using the
following relationship:
t
R= Eq. (5 - 45)
a + bt
where;
R = expected removal efficiency
t = detention time
a, b = empirical constants

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