Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
5.3 Materials and Experimental Method
The BioMax C10 ATUs at the Environmental Technology Centre of Murdoch
University in Perth, Western Australia, were used for this investigation. The Bio-
Max ATU was chosen for this investigation due to its effective operation and good
quality of the treated effluent. The experiment was conducted in two stages, with
the first stage comprising intensive sampling and testing to collect the background
data required for comparing performance of treatment units before and after modi-
fication to the aeration regime. Initially, the power of the aerator device and its
operational time was recorded to be able to quantify the electrical energy con-
sumption for that aeration period. The aerator was allowed to operate for 24 hours
each day and sampling between 9.00 and 10.00 a.m. for a period of four weeks
was carried out. The second stage involved the implementation of the proposed
modification to the aeration unit. This involved connecting an aeration controller
and timing device to the existing aeration unit to provide intermittent aeration in
every other hour so that within a 24 hour period, there were only 12 hours of aera-
tion. Intensive sampling and testing of effluent sample to collect data required for
comparison of performance before and after modification of the aeration period
followed this operation.
5.4 Results
The performance of the BioMax ATUs were determined for each of the experi-
mental set-ups by determining the mean values for both influent and effluent
qualities of the measured parameters, and calculating for the actual percentage re-
moval efficiency using the formula below:
⎡
⎤
⎛
⎞
Effluent
100
−
⎜
⎜
⎝
x
100
⎟
⎟
⎠
(5.1)
⎢
⎣
⎥
⎦
Influent
5.4.1 The BioMax ATUs Performance Characteristics
before Modification
The typical operational parameters prior to the modification trial are given in the
table below. These were generated by four weeks of sampling and laboratory
analysis using the analytical method described in APHA (1998).
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