Biological Wastewater Treatment I - Activated Sludge
This online engineering course provides an overview of biological wastewater treatment, a general description of the activated sludge process, information about several variations of the activated sludge process, discussion of design calculations for an activated sludge aeration tank, and discussion of activated sludge operational calculations. Example calculations and examples using the course spreadsheet for making the calculations are also included.
This course is Part I of a three-part series. The other two courses in this Biological Wastewater Treatment series are about Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) processes and Membrane Biofilm Reactor (MBR) processes.
The activated sludge process is very widely used for biological wastewater treatment. In a sewage (or industrial wastewater) treatment plant, the activated sludge process is a biological process that can be used for one or several of the following purposes: oxidizing carbonaceous biological matter, oxidizing nitrogenous matter (mainly ammonium and nitrogen in biological matter), and removing nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus).
This 2 PDH online course is intended primarily for civil engineers, environmental engineers, and chemical engineers. After completing this course you will be familiar with the common variations of the activated sludge process used for biological wastewater treatment and be able to make typical aeration tank design and operational calculations.
This PE continuing education course is intended to provide you with the following specific knowledge and skills:
- Knowing the equation for biological oxidation and how it fits into the organic carbon cycle
- Knowing the equation for photosynthesis and how it fits into the organic carbon cycle
- Learning about the major components of an activated sludge wastewater treatment system
- Understanding the differences between an extended aeration and conventional activated sludge system
- Understanding the differences between a contact stabilization and conventional activated sludge system
- Calculating the required aeration tank volume (in U.S. units) for a specified volumetric loading, hydraulic residence time, or aeration tank F:M ratio, if given suitable aeration tank influent and aeration tank parameter information.
- Calculating the required aeration tank volume (in S.I. units) for a specified volumetric loading, hydraulic residence time, or aeration tank F:M ratio, if given suitable aeration tank influent and aeration tank parameter information.
Aeration Tank Blower Calcns Package_US units (346 KB)
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