(108f) Design of An Activated Sludge Simulation Plant for the Treatment of Waste Water Using Chemcad Simulation Software

This paper focuses on the simulated retrofit design of a municipal waste water treatment plant (MWWTP). The simulation model represents a typical existing activated sludge plant without any process step for nitrogen removal. It is designed to handle an average flow of 8 MGD. The information required is based on directly measured real-time data. A ChemCad simulation program is used as tool in the treatment plant for predicting the dynamic behavior and hence gets a better understanding of its performance. Since the parameters are tracked on-line during varying operating conditions, the emphasis has been on the quality and quantity of effluent. The designed simulation plant was found to actually reduce the effluent characteristics down to the limit set by Ministry of Environment, regulatory agencies and industry in Iraq and by the European Union Regulations.. The activated sludge model is applied in this study as it forms the most commonly used biological waste water treatment process. It is considered to be the most cost-effective way to remove the organic material from wastewater. Besides that it is very flexible, reliable and has the capability of producing high quality effluent. In this work a basic model is used to validate simulation results obtained from ChemCad simulation software for the design of an activated sludge wastewater plant. It is known as Lawrence and McCarty model. There was a good agreement between the two models, which indicates the applicability of the ChemCad simulation software in wastewater treatment plant design and operation.