• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.273-280
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• 2006

The sludge settleability is a key factor for operating activated sludge process as well as BNR (biological nutrient removal) process, because the poor sludge settling causes an increase of suspended solid in the effluent. In order to improving the sludge settleability, a settling agent such as iron dust can be applied. In this study, the effect of sludge settleability on the performance of DNR (Daewoo nutrient removal) process was investigated with GPS-X, which is the popular wastewater treatment process model program, and the result of modeling was verified with operating lab-scale DNR process. As a result, if the sludge blanket keeps stable in the secondary settling tank, the effluent quality is similar in spite of different SVI values. And in case of the good sludge settleability, short HRT or long SRT increased the biomass concentration in the bioreactor, and improved the pollutant removal efficiency. In spite of daily influent changing, the good sludge settleability also guaranteed the stable effluent quality. And the results of the lab-scale DNR process experiment could support the simulated results.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.295-302
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• 2006

Over the past decades, a flocculation and/or sedimentation process have been adopted to remove pollutants from CSOs. It has been learned that major factors affecting settlement of pollutants are the particle size distribution, their settling velocities and their specific gravity. It is, therefore, a good idea to analyze the particle size distribution and settleability of CSOs pollutants in order to develop details in designing a process. Discussed in this study are pollutant characteristics of CSOs such as particle size distribution and settleability of pollutants. The power law function is applied and is found to be an effective and reliable index for expressing the particle size distribution of pollutants in CSOs. Based on the regression analysis it is observed that the derived constants of curves representing settling velocity profile are proportional to the initial concentration of particles and to the ${\beta}$-values of power law distributions.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.479-489
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• 2014

Membrane backwashing waste shows seasonally different characteristics and it has bad settleability differently from general backwashing waste in water treatment plant. When chemicals was injected to membrane backwashing waste, the settleability was better than chemicals was not injected. However, when settled lower sludge was not discharged, flowing sludge continuously was concentrated over a certain surface and floatation penomena occurred according to flowing velocity. When the lower sludge was discharged continuously in the thickener to prevent floatation penomena of turbidity materials, the depth of sludge surface was the least and the settleability increased.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.230-235
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• 2005

The main purpose of the flocculation process is to make flocs bigger to be removed easily in the following processes. The flow pattern and mixing intensity have a great influence on flocculation. In this study, the flow pattern was examined by a hydraulic tracer-test, where 3 water treatment plants having $800,000m^3/d$, $44,000m^3/d$ and $40,000m^3/d$ were employed. Also, the settling test was conducted to find out the relationship between the mixing intensity and the settling ability of flocs. The hydraulic tracer-test was conducted for the various flocculation processes that have different structures of flocculation basins. In the result, the retention time distribution (RTD) curves for the flocculation processes were quite different. In case of the inappropriate structure of the flocculation basin, the flow is not even so that the floc does not grow enough. To find out the relationship between mixing intensity and settleability of flocs, G-values were calculated and the settling test was conducted for two flocculation basins which have the same conditions except the G-value. For the flocculation basin with uneven G-value, the floc settleability was revealed poor. On the other hand, the flocculation basin with even G-value, the settleability was better than the previous one. From these experimental results, it is confirmed that the flow pattern is closely related to the structure of the flocculation basin and the settleability is affected by mixing intensity. Therefore the flow pattern and the strength of the mixing intensity should be examined sufficiently to design and operate flocculation basin.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 1994

Laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of digestion temperature on the settleability and dewaterability of anaerobically digested sludge. The digesters were operated at a hydraulic retention time of 20 days with a loading rate of 0.63~0.66kg volatile solids per cubic meter per day at the temperature of $35^{\circ}C$ and $55^{\circ}C$. A mixed primary and secondary municipal sludge was used as a feed. The interface height of the sludge during settling test was recorded to identify settleability. As a measure of dewaterability of the sludge, specific resistance and capillary suction time were also measured with and without chemical conditioning. Higher digestion efficiency was obtained at $55^{\circ}C$ than $35^{\circ}C$. However, the settleability and dewaterability of the sludge at $35^{\circ}C$ were quite higher than those of the sludge digested at $55^{\circ}C$. The optimum dosages of ferric chloride for sludge conditioning were 0.4% and 0.6% at $35^{\circ}C$ and $55^{\circ}C$, respectively. The filtrate COD of the sludge digested at $55^{\circ}C$ was higher than at $35^{\circ}C$, which means that poor dewaterability of the sludge result in high filtrate COD.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.89-96
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• 2018

This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of improving dewaterability and settleability of sewage sludge using coagulation sludge. When mixed with sewage sludge and coagulation sludge at 1:1 ratio, capillary suction time(CST) and specific resistance to filtration(SRF) decreased by about 56% and 68%, respectively. It is found that total solids(TS) and volatile solids(VS) of mixing sludge are increased by about 59% and 53%, respectively. Also, the turbidity of the mixing sludge supernatant was reduced from 99 to 16 NTU. It is observed that the mixing of sewage sludge and coagulation sludge at 1:1 showed better effect than using poly-aluminum chloride(PAC) coagulant at 25 mg/L.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.551-559
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• 2008

An experimental study was carried out to evaluate the potential of flotation process for the secondary clarifier of an activated sludge process. Flotation techniques, applied in this study, include electrofloation (EF) which generated fine bubbles smaller than $35{\mu}m$ in average and diffuser flotation (DF) which generated fine bubbles smaller than $55{\mu}m$ in average. The batch experiments were done with activated sludge displaying various characteristics. It was shown that the efficiency of solids/liquid separation was reduced as the diluted sludge volume index ($DSVI_{30}$) of activated sludge increased. The dependency, however, gradually decreased as the gas to solids (G/S) ratio increased. Thickening efficiency of EF was more than 2~10 times and DF process was more than 1.5~5 times as compared with gravity sedimentation (GS). Stable sludge blanket was maintained regardless of sludge settleability when the G/S ratio was 0.019 in the EF. On the other hand, Serious deterioration in the sludge blanket was observed in the DF depends on G/S ratio and sludge settleability. And For EF and DF, the suspended solids concentration of effluent was not nearly influenced on settleability of activated sludge and more clear than GS. A biological nutrient removal (BNR) process, combined with EF as a secondary clarifier was operated for three months. The mean MLSS (mixed liquid suspended solids) concentration in the reactor and mean solids concentration of return sludge were estimated to be 5,340 mg/L and 16,770 mg/L, respectively. The water quality of effluent was considerably stable and low value was accomplished, that was, standard suspended solids concentration $0.07{\pm}0.51mg/L$ and standard turbidity $1.44{\pm}0.56NTU$. The EF could be applicable for enhancement of efficiency of activated sludge system as well as improvement of the water quality of effluent.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.277-284
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• 2021

The ballasted flocculation effects of the mill scale and magnetite on activated sludge were investigated. Both ballasted flocculants (BF) could remarkably improve the sludge settleability in terms of zone settling velocity (ZSV) and sludge volume index (SVI). With the BF dosage of 0.2 to 2.0 g-BF/g-SS, the magnetite particles showed better efficiency on improving settling behavior of activated sludge than the mill scale due to higher surface area and hydrophobic property. The efficiency of SVI₃₀ with magnetite injection was 2.5 to 11.3% higher than mill scale injection and that of the ZSV appreciated from 23.7% to 44.4% for magnetite injection. Averaged floc size of the BF sludge with magnetite dosage (0.5 g-BF/g-SS) was 2.3 times higher than that of the control sludge. Dewaterability of the sludge was also greatly improved by addition of the BF. The specific resistance to filtration (SRF) was reduced exponentially with increasing the dosage of BF. However, the BF's particle size effect on the SRF looks to be marginal. Consequently, for improving the dewaterability, the BF played a physical role to remove the pore water of the biological flocs by intrusive attachment and a chemical role to induce aggregation of the flocs by charge neutralization.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.165-175
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• 2024

The dissolved air at the bottom layer of the deep aeration tank transforms into fine gas bubbles within the MLSS (Mixed Liquor Suspended Solid) floc when exposed to the atmosphere. MLSS floc flotation occurs when MLSS from the deep aeration tank enters the secondary clarifier for solid-liquid separation, as dissolved air becomes fine air within the MLSS floc. The floated MLSS floc causes a high SS (Suspended Solid) concentration in the secondary effluent. The fine air bubbles within the MLSS floc must be removed to achieve stable sedimentation in the secondary clarifier. Fine bubbles within the MLSS floc can be removed by air sparging. The settleability of MLSS was measured by sludge volume indexes (SVIs) after air sparging MLSS taken at the end of the deep aeration tank. MLSS settling tests were performed at MLSS heights of 200, 300, 400, and 500 mm, and compressed air was fed at the bottom of the settling column with air flow rates of 100, 300, and 500 ml/min at each MLSS height, respectively. Also, at each height and air flow rate, air was sparged for 3, 5, and 7 minutes, respectively. SVI was determined for each height, air flow rate, and sparging time, respectively. Experimental results showed that a 300 mm MLSS height, 300 ml/min air flow rate, and 3 minutes of sparging time were the least conditions to achieve less than 120 ml/g of SVI, which was the criterion for good MLSS settling in the secondary clarifier.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.139-144
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• 2012

In this study, the effects of starvation on floc characteristics when treating saline wastewater using a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) were investigated. The effectiveness over 5 days of starvation for aerobic and non-aerobic strategies for maintaining the physical characteristics of floc-forming sludge and the recovery period needed to regain the initial pollutant removal efficiency were investigated. Experiment results revealed that the sludge volume index (SVI) increased and the floc size and fractal dimension decreased after starvation under both aerobic and non-aerobic conditions. Sludge settleability deteriorated faster under aerobic conditions compared to non-aerobic conditions. Under non-aerobic conditions, the SBR required less time to return to its initial pollutant removal efficiency and settleability. Floc size, fractal dimension, and SVI were observed to be fairly correlated with each other. The results demonstrated that it was better to maintain the sludge under non-aerobic rather than aerobic starvation, because it adapted to, resisted starvation and had a quicker re-start afterward.