Abstract
The supply of oxygen for aeration is the largest energy consumer at activated sludge wastewater treatment plants. Replacement of less efficient aeration systems with fine pore aeration devices can save up to 50 percent of aeration energy costs. The purpose of this study was the diagnosis and evaluation of a domestic wastewater aeration system by the off-gas method which had been studied by US EPA and ASCE. For this study, an off-gas analyzer and its hood were made to collect off-gas. Also, a vacuum pump was connected to the analyzer to make suction of off-gas. Experiments were conducted at a domestic activated sludge wastewater treatment plant which had a single spiral roll aeration system installed with P.E tube diffuser. Data on OTE(f), SOTE(pw), OUR, and air flow rate were obtained from these experiments. In case of replacing an aeration system, it is recommended that it should be replaced with perforated membrane disc or ceramic disc fine bubble diffusers installed in a full floor coverage or grid pattern.