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Advanced physiochemical Treatment process
“Water Aeration”
By/ Ahmed Mohamed Hasham
Chemist/Ahmed Hasham 3/26/2017
Chemist / Ahmed Hasham (Hesham) ahmedhasham83@gmail.com
Advanced physiochemical Treatment process
“Water Aeration”
https://eg.linkedin.com/in/ahmed-hasham-mmba-01024b27 3/26/2017
3 About the presenter
Member of the Board scientists Egypt.
Member of Scientific Professions Syndicate.
Member of the Arab Society for experts and Safety Professionals.
Member of the International Association of Engineers.
Expert in water and waste water treatment technologies.
Certified trainer in water treatment field .
Certified trainer in Quality Management Systems field.
https://eg.linkedin.com/in/ahmed-hasham-mmba-01024b27
Chemist/Ahmed Hasham 3/26/2017
4 Contents
1. Types of Aeration Process
2. Mechanical Aeration.
3. Applications:
• Taste and Odor Removal .
• Iron and Manganese Oxidation
• Hydrogen Sulfide and Carbon Dioxide Removal
• Ammonia Removal
• Oxygenation of Water
• Dissolved Air Flotation for Flocculation/Flotation
• Trihalomethanes Removal
• Volatile Organics Removal
• Hazardous Waste Cleanup
• Radionuclides Removal
• Diffused Aeration
4. Chemist/Ahmed Hasham 3/26/2017
5 Introduction
Water aeration has been long used in water treatment for the removal of
odor and WW taste-causing compounds, the oxidation of iron and
manganese, as well as corrosion control and aesthetics.
Since the mid-1970s, however, the process has been used to remove
carcinogenic and hazardous chemicals from water.
These chemicals include volatile organics such as trihalomethanes, radon,
trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene , 1,1,1-trichloroethane, chloroform,
and toluene. As a result, water aeration may be the single most important
water treatment process used in the 21st century.
Chemist/Ahmed Hasham 3/26/2017
6 Types of Aeration Process
1. Falling Water Units (commonly used in water treatment)
Spray aerators—water sprayed into the air. Problems include evaporation and freezing.
Cascade aerators and hydraulic jumps—these operate using waterfalls over a structure.
Fountain aerators or spray—water cascaded or sprayed over rocks or other types of material.
Multiple tray aerators with and without coke (often used for iron and manganese removal) water
cascaded over manufactured tray constructed from slats and coke.
Packed column aeration—air flows up, water is sprayed down (these are efficient and the most
common type)
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11 2- Surface Aerators (commonly used in the wastewater industry)
a. Brush: a series of circular brushes partially submerged are rotated through the water
surface to cause turbulence. A support structure is required to suspend the brushes
over the water.
b. Floating: Floating aerator pumps the water from beneath it up through a draft tube
to the surface , which disperses water into the air.
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3- Submerged Aerators (commonly used in the wastewater and water industries)
a) Injection of air with blowers by static tube or diffuser (fine bubble and coarse bubble).
b) Jet aeration (the injection of air into pumped water).
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13 DIFFUSED AERATION
Another aeration method for the removal of VOCs is the diffused aeration
system.
This system utilizes a blower (centrifuge or positive displacement type) and
air diffusers, which bubbles air through the water in a contact chamber for
aeration.
The blowers supply air under pressure to the diffusers, which are located
near the bottom of the contact chamber.
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Most of the pressure requirements are to overcome the static pressure of
the water over the diffusers.
The diffusers are used to create fine bubbles that impart water–air mixing
turbulence as they rise through the chamber
Design Criteria
Design considerations for a diffused aeration system are
•Depth of contact tank: 1.5–3 m (5–10 ft)
• Air: water ratio: 5:1 to 15:1
• Detention time: 10–15 min
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16 Applications
Taste and Odor Removal
Some of common odor - and taste-causing compounds include hydrogen
sulfide(H2S), methane, algae, oils, phenols, cresols, and volatile compounds.
The process is suitable for H2S, methane, and volatiles, but not for algae and oils,
phenols, and cresols.
The compounds must be volatile for aeration to be effective.
Aeration is appropriate for many industrial compounds.
A classic installation is at Nitro, WV, which utilizes aeration and granular activated
carbon (GAC).
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Iron and Manganese Oxidation:
When the total concentration of iron in water is 0.3 mg/L or greater, the
iron will cause the water to have an unpleasant taste and redden in
color this may result in the staining of plumbing fixtures and clothes, and
accumulations of iron deposits in the water mains.
The aeration process oxides iron by changing the iron from the ferrous
state (fe2+) to the ferric state (feff3+), which converts the iron from a
soluble form(fe2+) to a non-soluble form (fe3+) that precipitates from the
water.
Manganese concentrations greater than 0.3 mg/L in water will result in
dark brown staining. Oxidation will convert the manganese from Mn2+ to
Mn4+when the pH is above 9. Below a pH of 9, the process is negligibly
slow.
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Air Injection into Groundwater for Iron Control
In order to lower the iron concentration in groundwater, air is injected into
the groundwater source.
The injected air oxides the iron in the groundwater.
This process involves the periodical injection of air into groundwater via a
series of wells that surrounds a production well.
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19 Hydrogen Sulfide and Carbon Dioxide Removal
Hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide (as carbonic acid and free carbon dioxide) are
commonly found in well water.
Even a low concentration of hydrogen sulfide can cause odor and taste problems.
Hydrogen sulfide is a colorless gas which has a foul odor similar to rotten eggs and is
slightly heavier than air (SG =1.192)
The H2S species are volatile; as a result, the aeration process effectively removes it from
the water.
Therefore, the removal efficiency of sulfide depends on pH.
As the pH increases, aeration becomes less effective because there are fewer sulfides in
the form of H2S, which is readily removed by aeration.
This process is utilized by both municipalities and chemical industries. In water treatment,
the process is called degasification , and is effectively used to remove both H2S and
carbon dioxide from well water and product water from the reverse osmosis process.
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20 Carbon Dioxide Removal
H2CO3 is a weak acid.
As the water CO2 concentration is increased, then both the H2CO3 concentration
and corrosion potential increase.
Aeration drives off CO2 and lowers the H2CO3 levels, which reduces the corrosion
potential of the water.
When both H2S and CO2 are present in water, aeration will remove both. As water
is aerated, both CO2 and H2S are removed, but as the pH of the water increases
due to the removal of CO2, the removal efficiency of H2S decreases .
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21 Ammonia Removal
This is a limited application in the water industry, but is more
commonly used in wastewater treatment.
One of the processes utilized in the wastewater industry is the
aerated suspended growth process, which utilizes nitrifying
bacteria and aeration to convert ammonia to nitrites and
nitrates.
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22 Oxygenation of Water
In small reservoirs and ponds that have trouble maintaining
dissolved oxygen levels in water near the bottom of the reservoir.
aeration can accomplish the following: it mixes the water, reduces
stratification, and increases the dissolved oxygen level in the
water.
This is accomplished by placing diffusers on the reservoir floor and
bubbling air into the water or by using floating aerators.
In some cases, this has proved Aeration restores oxygen to water,
making the water taste better but it also increases corrosiveness,
by increasing the CO2 in the water (resulting from the oxidation of
organic matter to CO2). Therefore, there is often a trade off bet
ween benefit and detriment.
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23 Dissolved Air Flotation for Flocculation/Flotation
DAF
Aeration has been used rarely for air flotation for flocculation.
The purpose of this application is to increase flocculation size by inducing particle-
to-particle contact.
However, air bubbles attached to the flocculation particles often cause them to
float rather than to settle.
A newer, promising approach is flotation, which injects oxygen- saturated water at
the bottom of shallow basins, resulting in flocculation forming A scum layer at the
water surface, which is then removed .
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24 Trihalomethanes Removal
The aeration process is rated as good to excellent for the removal of
trihalomethanes (THM) because they are fairly volatile.
This is an increasing application because THMs are not effectively removed
by other processes such as granular activated carbon (GAC), although
GAC is suitable for organic precursors that react with chlorine to form
trihalomethanes .
Aeration is a poor choice for THM precursors removal but suitable for
removing trihalomethanes.
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26 Volatile Organics Removal
The US EPA has identified many types of organic compounds in our water supplies.
Some of the organic compounds are volatile, and, as a result, aeration would be a
good process selection for removing them from water.
Some common volatiles include trihalomethanes, which have already been
discussed: chlorobenzene, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, tetrachloroethylene, and
trichloroethylene , Aeration can achieve up to 95% removal of these compounds.
For compounds that are non-volatile, adsorption would be a better process
selection than aeration for their removal from the water.
Adsorption is an excellent removal method for non-volatiles such as styrenes,
benzene, phthalates , and fluorine.
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27 Hazardous Waste Cleanup
An increasing amount of contamination results from landfills, leaking containers,
and accidental spills.
Many of the contaminants are volatile and amenable to aeration. A two fold
approach can be used : either clean the water supply or clean the
contamination source. When a highly concentrated contaminant is aerated
through a packed tower , then air pollution from the aeration process becomes
a concern.
Air discharge from the packed tower must be collected and treated.
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28 Radionuclides Removal
The inhalation of a radioactive gas such as radon gas (Rn-222) were linked to lung
carcinogenesis and also associated with development of acute myeloid, acute
lymphoblastic leukemia, and other cancers.
Regions with granite areas that have relatively high uranium content and are
fractured have been found to have a high radon emanation rate.
The unit Becquerel (Bq) is used to express radioactivity as disintegrations per second.
US EPA surveys of well drinking water sources showed that 74% of the sources had
radon concentrations below 100 Bq/L and only 5% had concentrations above 400
Bq/L.
The high levels were linked to deep wells.
A concentration of 400 Bq/L will increase the indoor air radon concentration by about
0.04 Bq/L.
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29 Other sources of radon are:
1. Soil around buildings.
2. Cracks in floors and walls.
3. Construction joints.
4.Gaps in suspended floors and around pipes.
5. Cavities inside walls.
When the above sources are available, then the radon level in air could reach the US EPA
action level of 150 Bq/m3 (0.15 Bq/L).
Because radon is highly volatile, the radon levels in groundwater may be lowered by using
an aeration process, such as a packed tower.
aeration can achieve a removal efficiency ranging from 20% to 96% for radon (Rn), but is
not used for radium (Ra) or uranium (U) removal.
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31 References
Advanced Physicochemical Treatment Processes Edited by Lawrence K.
Wang , Yung-Tse Hung,Nazih K. Shammas.
Chemist/Ahmed Hasham 3/26/2017
https://eg.linkedin.com/in/ahmed-hasham-mmba-01024b27
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ahmedhasham83@gmail.com
Isct.Egypt@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/isct.site/
00201159465989
00201146139692
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