The course describes how to optimise and design biological wastewater treatment processes in order to maximise treatment efficiency while minimising the capital and operating costs. The course starts from the fundamental of biological wastewater treatment and shows step-by-step how to develop and solve the design equations. The course includes tutorials where the students will be able to work hands-on solving design problems.

The course will run over a three day period and will include a range of lectures and tutorials encompassing the following topics:

DAY1
-Introduction to biological wastewater treatment: relevance, microorganisms, process schemes;
-COD and BOD: the COD balance;
-Stoichiometry and kinetics of biological reactions;
-Measurement of COD, TSS, VSS, measurement of kinetic parameters for microorganisms’ growth;
-The activated sludge process: theory and design; effect and choice of the design parameters, hydraulic residence time, solids residence time, recycle ratio;
-Mass transfer in biological processes: theory and measurement;
-Settling in biological processes: theory and measurement;
-The activated sludge process: aeration and sludge production;
-Tutorials: Problems on the COD balance; Design of an activated sludge process

DAY 2
-The activated sludge process for nitrogen removal: theory and design, effect and choice of the design parameters;
-The anaerobic digestion process: theory and design, effect and choice of the design parameters.
-Tutorials: Design of an activated sludge process for nitrogen removal; Design of an anaerobic digestion process

DAY 3
-The Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR): theory and design, calculation of the periodic steady state, effect and choice of the design parameters;
-Attached growth processes (aerobic and anaerobic): fixed bed reactors, rotating biological contactors;
-Heat balances in biological wastewater treatment processes
-pH calculation in biological processes;
-Fate of xenobiotics (chemicals and pharmaceuticals) in biological wastewater treatment: biodegradation, adsorption, stripping, mass balances;
-Innovative/alternative biological processes for wastewater treatment: membrane bioreactors, granular sludge, innovation in nitrogen removal.
-Tutorials: Design of attached growth processes, examples of pH calculations