FUNDAMENTALS ABOUT AERATION TREATMENT

Aeration is a process to provide dissolved oxygen to microorganisms (aerobes) in the aerated

liquid to degrade (or convert) organic wastes to carbon dioxide and water. For example, C6H12O6
6CO2 + 6 H2O. The advantages of aeration treatment of liquid wastes include 1) minimum
odor when properly loaded and maintained; 2) large BOD removals providing a good quality
effluent; 3) high rate treatment allowing smaller scale systems, e.g., less land required (for
mechanical aeration only); 4) the final discharge contains dissolved oxygen which reduces the
immediate oxygen demand on a receiving water; and 5) the aerobic environment eliminates
many pathogens present in agricultural wastes. The main disadvantage of aerobic treatment is the
energy cost of aeration at an adequate rate to maintain the dissolved oxygen levels needed for
aerobic bacterial growth and functions.

1. Effect of aeration on BOD and sludge concentration in the liquid

BOD and sludge concentration

The changes in BOD and sludge accumulation (biomass) can be divided into four phases after
aeration starts (see Figure 1) in a batch process.

Time of aeration

Figure 1. Changes in BOD and biomass concentration over the course of aeration
In phase A, microorganisms are adapting themselves to the aeration environment and store
necessary nutrients for growth, during which little biomass production and BOD reduction are
observed. In the following phase, rapid growth of aerobic bacteria and accelerating removal of
BOD are taking place, accompanied by high demand of oxygen. Phase C indicates the end of
growth period with moderate oxygen demand and the onset of cell autolysis, followed by phase
D when cell destruction increases with low oxygen demand. Years of research have ascertained
that BOD is a reliable indicator of odor offensiveness from organic wastes including animal
manure so reducing BOD in wastewater under aeration treatment becomes critical to controlling
odor emission. Also, the efficiency and effectiveness of aeration systems in mitigating malodor
production can be evaluated by examining the extent and rate at which BOD is removed.

2. Type of aeration systems

1). Natural aeration systems

In naturally aerated systems (aerobic lagoons and ponds), oxygen from the atmosphere enters the
liquid naturally by diffusion and/or by algae using waste nutrients and sun energy to produce
oxygen by photosynthesis. A schematic of the process is presented in Figure 2. Typical
applications of natural aeration systems can be found in treating relatively diluted effluents such
as discharges from anaerobic lagoons. Therefore, in most cases, the systems is used in
conjunction with an anaerobic lagoon for treating dairy or piggery wastewaters prior to discharge
or land application.

Organics & nutrients

wind

Bacterial degradation

O2

algae

CO2O2
Effluent

Bacteria

CO2, CH4, NH3

Sludge
Anaerobic action
Figure 2. A typical example of the natural aeration system
However, natural aeration systems are NOT suitable for treating strong livestock wastes because
the required surface area for adequate oxygen intake is usually much too large to be economical.
Besides, the high solids levels in the influent is not good for naturally aerated systems as they
reduce light penetration and cause excessive sludge accumulation in shallow liquid storage
structures. A number of factors need to be considered in designing a natural aerated pond or
lagoon. First, the depth should not exceed 5 feet but no less than 3.2 feet. The natural, thermal,
and wind currents cannot satisfactorily mix dissolved oxygen down to 5 feet. The sunlight
penetration for algae growth is negligible at depths beyond 3.2 feet. If it is too shallow, the
growing aquatic weeds will reduce the lagoon treatment capacity. Second, the structure needs to
be sized based on BOD loading per unit surface area per unit time. A common loading rate is
0.0017 lb/ft2/day, which equals 74 lbs BOD/acre/day. A properly sized aerobic lagoon should be
able to remove 80% or more of incoming BOD. The effluent after treatment may contain all the
phosphorus but low total nitrogen (40 - 60% gone). Third, aerobic lagoons are not as effective in
self-sealing as anaerobic lagoons so it is common in some areas to find aerobic lagoons losing all
effluent by seepage rather than by surface discharge. Therefore, when selecting sites for an

aerobic lagoon, groundwater quality must be taken into account. Lining may be necessary as a
result. Here is a simple design example.
Given: A 1000-head finishing operation (BOD produced per pig per day = 0.3 lbs), BOD loading
rate = 74 lbs/acre/day,
The total acreage for the aerobic lagoon is: 1000 x 0.3 / 74 = 4.05 acres, at a depth of 3 feet.
2) Mechanical aeration systems
In mechanically aerated systems, oxygen from the atmosphere enters the liquid by mechanical
means such as various powered aerators. As such, the cost for mechanical aeration will include
operating expenses in addition to the capital investment for equipment and construction. Typical
processes include batch, semi-batch, and continuous operations. Batch operation is simplest and
cheapest with good pathogen control, but suffers from an unsteady microbial population an
unsteady oxygen demand, potentially leading to an inconsistent treatment effluent. Semicontinuous process has slurry added and removed at a regular rate during the treatment and
maintains a steady oxygen demand and a steady microbial population, but may need a longer
retention time than batch treatment. A continuous operation produces a controlled steady-state
process that leads to a uniform treatment on all slurry in the treatment vessel. Specific conditions
such as those required for nitrification can be maintained but pathogen control may not be as
good as batch treatment.
a. Aeration efficiency and its determination
Mechanical aerators are rated based on the amount of oxygen (kg or lb) they can transfer into
liquid per kWh (or horsepower) consumed, which is called aeration efficiency, of course the
higher the better. The performance of a particular aerator should be determined under the
conditions where the aerator is to be used. However, due to the complications introduced by the
microorganisms present in the wastewater, aerators are normally evaluated in clean water with
other operating conditions similar to real conditions, such as temperature, volume of water to be
aerated, and dimensions of aeration vessels. A wide range of aeration efficiencies for different
aerators was reported (from 0.13 to 15 kgO2/kWh) by past researchers according to clean water
tests following the standard method published by the American Society of Civil Engineers
(ASCE). However, the best estimate of aeration efficiency of a particular aerator can only be
obtained by running your own tests rather than relying on the data from past reports. The
procedure for running the water test is briefly presented below.
Prior to water test, the water needs to deoxygenated by adding sodium sulfite (150 mg/L) and
cobalt chloride (1 mg/L). Once the dissolved oxygen (DO) level in water reaches zero, aeration
starts and the DO level in the water is recorded at 1-minute intervals until it approaches
saturation. The test will normally be repeated for three times and the mean values for all
measurements are obtained. In addition to DO measurements, water temperatures are also
recorded for each individual run using a thermometer located in the center of the water vessel.

Non-steady state methods adopted by ASCE are employed for determining the oxygen transfer
coefficient, kLa. The variation of oxygen concentration in the water, as a function of time, is
given as follows.

dC
= kL a(C C )
dt

(1)

Where C is the oxygen concentration in water (mg/L); C is the determination point value of
steady DO concentration as time approaches infinity (mg/L); t is time (h); kLa is the overall mass
transfer coefficient (h-1).
Integrating the equation between the limits C=C0 at time t=0 and C=Ct at t=tt, kLa can be
determined from the slope of a semi-logarithmic plot of the concentration deficit (C C) versus
aeration time. The relationship can thus be given as:

(kL a)T =

ln(C C0 ) ln(C Ct )
t

(2)

Where ln represents natural logarithm of the given variables and the concentration C, C0, and Ct
are expressed in mg/L.
The mass transfer coefficient, kLa, is a function of temperature. In order to compare the
coefficients for results obtained under different temperatures, the following equation can be used
to adjust the obtained coefficients to the standard condition (T=20 C).

(kL a) 20 =

(kL a)T
1.024(T 20)

(3)

Where (kLa)20 is the overall mass transfer coefficient at T=20C (h-1); (kLa)T is the overall mass
transfer coefficient at the test water temperature (h-1); T is the water temperature (C).
Nonlinear regression is adopted to estimate kLa and C. These estimates are adjusted to standard
conditions (20C water temperature, zero DO concentration and one atmosphere).The standard
oxygen transfer rate (SOTR) is obtained as the average of the products of the adjusted kLa values,
corresponding to the adjusted C value and the tank volume. And then the SOTR value is
divided by the power consumed to obtain the standard aeration efficiency (SAE).
SOTR = k L a(C 20 )V

(4)

Where kLa is kLa corrected to 20C; C20 is the steady-state DO concentration corrected to 20C
and a standard barometric pressure of 1 atmosphere; V is the volume of water in the test tank.
Therefore, SAE = SOTR/power consumption. The following is an example showing how to
calculate these parameters.

Example: The collected water test data is shown in Table 1. The DO readings were taken at 1
minute interval and the volume of aerated water in the test tank was 6 m3 and pump size was 0.5
hp, assuming that the test was conducted under standard conditions (1 atm and 20oC).
Table 1. DO data from a water test
Time DO
Time DO
Time DO
(min) (mg/L) (min) (mg/L) (min) (mg/L)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

0
0.17
0.6525
1.2375
1.8575
2.345
2.955
3.44
3.89
4.345
4.78
5.185

12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23

5.54
5.8525
6.1775
6.4625
6.78
7.0075
7.215
7.4225
7.68
7.8425
8.0025
8.2225

24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35

8.335
8.51
8.6225
8.725
8.85
8.985
9.0925
9.1775
9.2625
9.3475
9.4075
9.515

Using the data in Table 1, a graph showing the DO changes over the aeration period can be
constructed (Figure 3) and an estimate of the saturation concentration of O2 can be obtained
which is around 10 mg/L. By using 10 mg/L, the DO deficit at each sampling point can be
calculated so the semi-log graph can be constructed (Figure 4), from which the corresponding
kLa can be determined (the slope of a semi-log graph between DO deficit and aeration time
where C = 12.096 mg/L and kLa = 0.087/minute).

DOconcentration(mg/L)

12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Time(min)

Figure 3. DO concentrations vs. aeration time in test water for six aerators

100

DO deficit, log(Cs-Ct)

y = 12.096e-0.087x
R = 0.9914
10

1
0

10

20

30

40

Time (minute)
0

Figure 4. The oxygen transfer coefficient determination for six aerators in water test
The SOTR can be calculated using Eqn. 4, which is 0.087/min x 12.096 mg/L x 6000 L x 60
min/hour = 378846.72 mg/h = 0.379 kgO2/h and SOE (aeration efficiency) is then 0.379 kg/h
0.375 kW = 1.01 kgO2/kWh.
b. Process water conditions
Obviously, the results from the clean water tests recommended by ASCE may not be suitable for
wastewaters with high solids content such as TDS, TSS, etc. To address this issue, ASAE
provides a set of coefficients that are used to correct for the wastewater characteristics to develop
oxygen transfer coefficients for process waters. The first coefficient is the alpha () value that
corrects for the type of aeration device, tank geometry, intensity of mixing. And the second
coefficient is the beta () value to accommodate soluble salts and particulates. The last
coefficient is theta () value to account for temperature effect on oxygen solubility. Therefore,
the final (real) aeration efficiency has to be adjusted using the above three values in field
conditions.
c. Effect of solids content on aeration efficiency
Animal manure differs itself from clean water in that it contains a considerable amount of solids.
A study by researchers in the University of Minnesota - Waseca with liquid swine manure has
shown that when the amount of manure solids increased from 0.5% to 4%, it led to a reduction in
oxygen transfer coefficient (kLa) from 0.59/minute to 0.15/minute. This means that kLa in
manure at 4% solids is reduced to about 1/4 the level of efficiency of what it would be in manure
at 0.5% total solids level (0.59/minute divided by 0.15/minute). This translates to the fact that the
energy consumption for manure with 4% total solids would be nearly four times that for manure
with 0.5% solids content, in order to achieve the same treatment results. These results bear out
that high solids content in wastewaters will interfere with the efficiency of the oxygen transfer

process and using a solids-liquid manure separator before aeration appears to be necessary for
better aeration efficiency.
3). Size of aerator determination
A rule of thumb of selecting the size of an aerator is to satisfy the BOD requirement for odor
control, which means that the aerator should be able to provide O2 manure BOD content. If for
complete stabilization, O2 provided by the aerator should be 2 times the manure BOD content.
The following formula is used to determine the size of pump based on its power consumption.
(5)
P
OR
BOD
NA
MTR
24

= power requirement, horsepower

= oxygen requirements (lbs O2/lbs BOD)
= manure biochemical oxygen demand (lbs)
= number of animals
= mechanical transfer rate (lbs O2/hp-h)
= 24 hrs/day

Design example:
Determine the power requirements for a mechanically aerated lagoon on a 4,000 head swine
finishing operation, assuming the average body weight being 150 lbs and 0.3 lbs BOD produced
per pig per day. The required oxygen supply is 1.5 lbs per lb BOD and the aeration efficiency is
2.0 lbs O2 per hp-hr.
Assuming BOD production at 0.3 lb BOD per day per pig, the size of pump needed according to
Eqn. 5 is:
1.5

2.0

0.3

4000

24

37.5

If the cost per kWh = $0.07, the cost per pig produced for running this system will be 28 kW x
24 h/day x 365 days x $0.07 (4000 pigs x 2.5) = $1.72 per pig (at 2.5 production cycle, please
note 1 hp = 0.75 kW).