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Water Research 39 (2005) 47254734 www.elsevier.com/locate/watres

Effect of heat recovery from raw wastewater on nitrication and nitrogen removal in activated sludge plants
Oskar Wannera,, Vassileios Panagiotidisa, Peter Clavadetscherb, Hansruedi Siegrista
a

Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology (Eawag), CH-8600 Duebendorf, Switzerland b ERZ Entsorgung+Recycling Zurich, CH-8010 Zurich, Switzerland Received 25 June 2004; received in revised form 15 June 2005; accepted 16 September 2005

Abstract By recovery of heat from the raw wastewater in the sewer system, the inuent temperature of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is reduced. This can have a negative effect on nitrication in the WWTP, since this process strongly depends on temperature. The analysis of the temperature regime in the WWTP of Zurich, Switzerland, revealed that in the cold season, the efuent temperature is about 0.7 1C higher than the inuent temperature and that nitrication is not affected by a decrease of the inuent wastewater temperature lasting for a couple of hours only, but is signicantly affected by a longer lasting temperature decrease. Three diagrams were developed with a steady-state model, from which the consequences of a permanent temperature decrease on the nitrication safety factor, aerobic sludge retention time and total nitrogen removal can be evaluated. Using simulations with a dynamic model, calibrated for the Zurich WWTP, a quantitative relationship between the wastewater temperature and the ammonium efuent concentration was established. This relationship can, in combination with measured efuent concentrations of an existing WWTP, be used to predict the increase of the ammonium efuent concentration in this plant resulting from a permanent decrease of the wastewater inuent temperature. r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Heat recovery; Wastewater; Temperature; Nitrication; Nitrogen removal; Activated sludge; Modeling

1. Introduction Wastewater contains a signicant amount of heat energy. This energy can be recovered by a heat exchanger combined with a heat pump. The heat exchanger can be installed in the sewer system or in the efuent of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The latter approach has the advantage that with treated wastewater, there is less biolm growth on the heat
Corresponding author. Tel.: +41 1 823 5090; fax: +41 1 823 5398. E-mail address: wanner@eawag.ch (O. Wanner).

exchanger than with nutrient-rich raw wastewater in the sewer. On the other hand, the wastewater temperature usually is maximal in the upper part of the sewer system and then, due to the exchange of heat with the environment, gradually decreases as the wastewater ows to the WWTP. Therefore, generally more heat can be recovered from the wastewater in the sewer than from the WWTP efuent. Furthermore, in the sewer, the heat usually is recovered at a location which is close to the consumers. By heat recovery, the wastewater temperature is decreased. In the cold season and if the heat exchanger is installed in the sewer, this decrease can affect the

0043-1354/$ - see front matter r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.watres.2005.09.026

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Wastewater temperature [C]

biological processes in a downstream WWTP. Especially nitrication can be affected because nitriers grow very slowly and their growth rate strongly depends on temperature. Nitrication normally is the rate-limiting process in biological wastewater treatment and an important factor for the design of WWTPs. The decrease of the wastewater temperature reduces the nitrication capacity of the WWTP (Head and Oleszkiewicz, 2004) and leads to higher ammonium efuent concentrations during ammonium peak loads. Thus, it is important that the effect of heat recovery in the sewer on nitrication in the WWTP be quantied. In the rst section of this paper, the temperature regime in the WWTP of Zurich, Switzerland, is analyzed and the relationship between heat recovery in the sewer and decrease of the inuent wastewater temperature of a WWTP is established. In the second section, the effect of a temperature decrease on nitrication and nitrogen removal and the relationship between temperature and ammonium efuent concentration are investigated using the activated sludge model No. 3 (ASM3) developed by Gujer et al. (1999). In the last section, a procedure to estimate the effect of heat recovery in the sewer on the ammonium efuent concentration of a WWTP is proposed and exemplied by data obtained from the Zurich WWTP.

Wastewater temperature [C]

19 17 15 13 11
Influent Effluent

9 25-Jan-03

26-Jan-03 27-Jan-03 Time [d]

28-Jan-03

Fig. 1. Dry weather inuent and efuent wastewater temperature measured in the Zurich WWTP from 25 to 28 January 2003.

19 17 15 13 11 9 1-Mar-03
Influent Effluent

2. Temperature regime in the WWTP of Zurich, Switzerland The Zurich WWTP treats the wastewater of about 600,000 person equivalents (p.e.). The activated sludge system has two lanes operated in parallel. Each lane consists of six parallel activated sludge tanks (6 5000 m3) and secondary clariers (6 6000 m3). The activated sludge tanks include an aerobic and two anoxic compartments. The anoxic volume fraction is about 28% of the total tank volume. The total sludge retention time (SRTtot) of the tanks is about 12 d, including the sludge mass in the secondary clariers, and the aerobic sludge retention time (SRTaer) is 8 d. The average water ow in the WWTP is 2.3 m3 s1 and the maximum storm water ow is 6 m3 s1 (Koch et al., 2000; Siegrist et al., 2000). 2.1. Temperature variation in the WWTP during dry weather In the winter of 20022003, the inuent and efuent wastewater temperatures of the Zurich WWTP were measured. In Fig. 1, temperature proles are presented which are typical for dry weather. The inuent temperature shows a regular diurnal variation of about 3 1C. This temperature and its variation depend on the length of the sewer system and on the dilution of the

3-Mar-03 5-Mar-03 Time [d]

7-Mar-03

Fig. 2. Wet weather inuent and efuent wastewater temperature measured in the Zurich WWTP from 1 to 7 March 2003.

wastewater with cold water from outside. The variation of the efuent temperature is only about 0.5 1C. It is almost completely equalized due to the long hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 18 h of the wastewater in the activated sludge tanks and in the secondary clariers. It can be assumed that the efuent temperature is about the same as the temperature in the activated sludge tanks. Thus, it can be concluded that inuent wastewater temperatures, which are reduced for a couple of hours only, do not reduce the nitrication capacity of the WWTP. 2.2. Temperature variation in the WWTP during wet weather As can been seen from Fig. 2, a storm event which occurred during the early hours of 2 March 2003 led to a rapid decrease of the inuent temperature of the WWTP. The daily maximum of the temperature dropped from 14.6 on 1 March 2003 to 13.0 1C the following day. The daily minimum of the temperature dropped from 11.9 to 9.5 1C. By another smaller storm event on 3 March 2003, the inuent temperature was

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kept at low level and only during subsequent days returned to dry weather values. As a result of the storm events, the efuent temperature dropped from 15.0 to 12.0 1C, remained between 11.7 and 13.0 1C for one and a half days and only then gradually increased again to values around 15 1C. Thus, storm events can have a strong effect on the temperature in the activated sludge system and consequently on the nitrication capacity of the WWTP. 2.3. Temperature increase in the WWTP due to internal processes It was observed that the efuent wastewater temperature was higher than the inuent temperature. Based on a calculation of the areas under the temperature curves, the difference between the averages of the efuent and inuent temperature in the cold season was found to be between 0.7 and 1.1 1C. This difference can be attributed to various internal processes, by which the wastewater temperature in the WWTP is affected. These processes include aeration, evaporation, production of bioenergy and addition of digester supernatant. The theoretical net change of the wastewater temperature, DTnet, was estimated to be 0.7 1C (Table 1). In the warm season, when the radiation of the sun is strong, the efuent wastewater temperature is up to 2 1C higher than the average inuent temperature (data not shown). 2.4. Temperature decrease due to heat recovery in the sewer system The decrease of the wastewater temperature, DT, due to heat recovery by a heat exchanger in the sewer, is

described by _ 1 Q , (1) _ cr V _ where Q is the amount of heat recovered per unit time, _ the water ow in the sewer, c 4:19 kWs kg1 1C1 ) V the specic heat capacity and r 1 kg L1 ) the density of water. The parameters c and r depend on temperature, but change only little between 0 and 20 1C. Thus, _ _ DT primarily is a function of Q and V . For an amount _ of Q 200 kW of heat recovered and a water ow of _ V 200 L s1 , the decrease of the wastewater temperature at the location of the heat exchanger is calculated by Eq. (1) to be DT 0:5 1C. As the wastewater ows through the sewer system to the WWTP, the wastewater temperature decreases further, due to the exchange of heat between the wastewater and the environment. The signicance of this exchange depends on the wastewater temperature, the ambient conditions and the values of the hydraulic and geometric parameters of the sewer (Wanner et al., 2004). DT 3. Effect of a temperature decrease on nitrication and nitrogen removal 3.1. Growth of nitriers and safety factor for nitrication There are various mathematical expressions for the growth rate of the nitriers and its dependence on temperature T (Head and Oleszkiewicz, 2004). Here, the _ maximum net specic growth rate of the nitriers, mnet , is described by the expression
_

mnet T mnet 10e0:11T10 ,

(2)

Table 1 Estimate of the effect of internal processes on the wastewater temperature in the Zurich WWTP Process Aeration Evaporation Production of bioenergy Addition of digester supernatant Estimated net change of wastewater temperature, DTnet (1C) Specic air consumption rA 6 m3 air m3 water Compressed air temperature TA 60 1C Wastewater temperature TW 15 1C Specic heat capacity of air cA 0.0013 MJ m3 air 1C1 Specic heat capacity of water cW 4.2 MJ m3 water 1C1 Proportion of evaporation loss rE 0.15 kg water vapor m3 water Evaporation energy eE 2.4 MJ kg1 water vapor Combustion energy eB 14 MJ kg1 COD (chemical oxygen demand) Net specic carbon oxidation rB 0.14 kg COD m3 water Proportion of supernatant added rS 0.01 m3 supernatant m3 water Supernatant temperature T S 35 1C Estimate rA (TATW) cA/cW rE eE/cW rB eB/cW rS (TSTW) DT (1C) 0.1 0.1 0.5 0.2 0.7

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which is used in the ASM3 developed by Gujer et al. (1999). Based on the kinetic parameters suggested in this _ model, mnet at 10 1C is estimated to be 0.21 d1. Based on the German regulation (Abwassertechnische Vereini_ gung ATV, 2000), mnet 10 is derived to be 0.18 d1. By a _ t to data from the Zurich WWTP, a value of mnet 10 1 0:20 d was obtained and was used in this work. To prevent washout of the nitriers and ammonium overload, the aerobic dilution rate Daer of the sludge should be signicantly smaller than the maximum net specic growth rate of the nitriers at the wastewater temperature T in the WWTP. Based on this requirement, a nitrication safety factor can be dened by
_

SF

mnet T . Daer

(3)

The aerobic dilution rate Daer is reciprocal to the SRTaer . Therefore, Eq. (3) can also be written as SF mnet TSRTaer .
_

(4)

The sludge retention time of the nitriers equals the SRTtot of the WWTP, but since the nitriers only grow aerobically, the aerobic dilution rate and sludge retention time may be used to dene the nitrication SF in Eqs. (3) and (4). 3.2. Model prediction of the effect of a temperature decrease on nitrication and nitrogen removal Eq. (4) was used to calculate Diagram 1 in Fig. 3. Diagrams 2 and 3 were calculated with ASM3 (Gujer et al., 1999). This model is based on chemical oxygen demand (COD) mass conservation and is therefore well suited to describe the biochemical processes in activated sludge systems. By the model, kinetic expressions are provided for biochemical processes such as nitrication, denitrication, oxygen consumption, heterotrophic growth, hydrolysis and sludge production. The application of the model requires that ASM3 is implemented in a computer program, together with the conguration of the WWTP considered. Furthermore, the parameters of the plant have to be calibrated for the operating conditions and the characteristics of the inuent of the WWTP. Diagrams 2 and 3 were calculated with a steady-state version of ASM3, which had been calibrated and validated with data from long-term full-scale and pilotplant experiments for Swiss municipal wastewater (Koch et al., 2000, 2001a, b). This version of the model was programmed as an EXCEL spreadsheet and was used to predict total nitrogen removal for various values of the parameters to which nitrogen removal is most sensitive. These parameters include the SRTtot and the ratios of anoxic to total sludge retention time, SRTano/SRTtot,

and of total COD to total nitrogen concentration in the WWTP inuent, CCOD,tot,in/CN,tot,in. Total nitrogen removal includes denitrication and incorporation of nitrogen into the biomass. Denitrication is calculated based on an easily degradable soluble COD fraction of 8%, an inert soluble fraction of 6% and an inert particulate fraction of 20% of the total COD. Diagram 1 describes the relationship between the temperature in the activated sludge tank, T, the SF for washout of the nitriers, and SRTaer. For T 11 1C and SF 2, the diagram predicts that SRTaer must be at least 9 d. If, as a result of heat recovery from the sewer, T drops to 10 1C and if SRTaer remains at 9 d, the diagram predicts a reduced nitrication SF 1.8. This leads to higher ammonium efuent concentrations, as will be discussed below. If T 10 1C and SF is maintained at 2, SRTaer has to be increased to 10 d. This can be achieved in various ways: a larger aerated activated sludge tank can be built or the concentrations of suspended solids in the tank can be increased by lowering excess sludge withdrawal, but the latter can lead to an overload of the secondary clariers during storm events. For WWTPs with denitrication, SRTaer can be increased at the expense of SRTano, as is illustrated in Diagram 2 of Fig. 3. Diagram 2 only applies to WWTPs which at the same time nitrify and denitrify. It describes the relationship between SRTaer, SRTtot and the ratio SRTano/SRTtot. For SRTaer 9 d and a given SRTtot 14 d, the ratio SRTano/SRTtot is 0.36. To operate the WWTP with an increased SRTaer 10 d but the same SRTtot 14 d, a higher fraction of the activated sludge tank has to be switched from anoxic to aerobic conditions. The diagram predicts that SRTano/SRTtot has to be lowered to 0.28. If SRTaer is increased together with SRTtot, i.e., if a larger activated sludge tank is built, the value of SRTano/SRTtot can be maintained. The consequences of the lower SRTano for nitrogen removal are shown in Diagram 3. Diagram 3 describes the relationship between the ratio SRTano/SRTtot, the ratio CCOD,tot,in/CN,tot,in, and the efciency of total nitrogen removal, Ztot . For SRTano/ SRTtot 0.36 and a ratio CCOD,tot,in/CN,tot,in 8, the diagram predicts Ztot to be 0.77. For a lower SRTano/ SRTtot 0.28 d and the same CCOD,tot,in/CN,tot,in, the diagram predicts Ztot to be 0.69. Fig. 3 includes the parameters which are most relevant for nitrication and nitrogen removal in a WWTP. If the values of these parameters are known, the effect of a decrease of the inuent wastewater temperature on these processes can be estimated. For nitrication, a temperature decrease means either that the nitrication SF is reduced or that a higher SRTaer is required. For nitrogen removal, a temperature decrease does not have a signicant direct effect, but the process is affected if the aerobic fraction of the activated sludge tank is

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Fig. 3. Effect of a decrease of the wastewater temperature on the aerobic and anoxic sludge retention time, SRTaer and SRTano, respectively, and on the efciency of total nitrogen removal, Ztot , calculated for various nitrication safety factors SF, various total sludge retention times SRTtot, various ratios of anoxic to total sludge retention time, SRTano/SRTtot, and various ratios of total COD to total nitrogen concentration in the WWTP inuent, CCOD,tot,in/CN,tot,in.

increased at the expense of the anoxic fraction. Because of the uncertainty with regard to the prediction of sludge retention times, nitrier growth rate, load variation and denitrication capacity, Fig. 3 should not be used for WWTP design. 3.3. Model prediction of the effect of a temperature decrease on the ammonium efuent concentration The ammonium concentration in the efuent depends on the nitrication capacity of the WWTP and on the ammonium load in the inuent. Here, it is analyzed how the ammonium efuent concentration is affected by a temperature decrease which originates from heat recov-

ery in the sewer. The analysis was performed with ASM3, which had already been used to calculate Fig. 3. To consider the diurnal variation of the ammonium load, a dynamic version of the model was needed and simulations were performed with the activated sludge simulation program ASIM (Gujer and Larsen, 1995). Since the model was already calibrated for Swiss municipal wastewater (Koch et al., 2000, 2001a, b), the biological model was applied without any adjustment, except for the maximum net specic growth rate of the nitriers, which was calculated according to Eq. (2). In the rst step, the model was tested and veried with measured data and simulations for the Zurich WWTP. The simulations were performed for one of the 12

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Ammonium concentration [mgN/L]

Influent

Secondary clarifier Effluent

R4 R5 R6 R7

50 40 30

0.25 0.19 0.13

R1 R2

R3

Flocculation filtration Sludge recycle flow

Fig. 4. Flow scheme of one of the 12 activated sludge tanks of the Zurich WWTP. The scheme includes the sludge blanket R1 (230 m3), two anoxic compartments R2 and R3 (715 m3 each), an aerobic compartment, modeled by a series of three reactors R4, R5 and R6 (1430, 710 and 1430 m3, respectively), the inuent zone R7 and clear water zone of the secondary clarier (700 and 2500 m3, respectively), and the occulation ltration, which was not modeled.

20 10 0 0:00 3
Effluent ammonium modeled Effluent ammonium measured Effluent temperature measured

0.06
Influent ammonium measured Inflow measured

4:00

(A)

0.00 8:00 12:00 16:00 20:00 0:00 Time [h] 16 Wastewater temperature [C]

Ammonium concentration [mgN/L]

14

activated sludge tanks of this WWTP. Fig. 4 shows the ow scheme as it was implemented in the ASIM program. The secondary clarier consists of the inuent zone, the clear water zone and the sludge blanket. The clear water zone volume, which actually is 5000 m3, had to be set to 2500 m3, because of short circuit currents that had been observed in earlier work (Siegrist et al., 2000). The sludge recycle ow was 1.5 times the average inow in all simulations. Simulations were performed for various days with dry and wet weather. In Fig. 5, an example of transients typical for a dry weather day is shown. The measured inuent ammonium concentration and the inow to the activated sludge tank have a maximum value of 32.4 mg N L1 and of 0.23 m3 s1, respectively, and the ratio of the maximum to the average inuent ammonium load is 1.7 (Fig. 5A). As was shown above, the measured efuent temperature is almost constant throughout the day (Fig. 5B). The measured efuent ammonium concentration has a maximum of 2.0 mg N L1. It is reproduced quite well by the modeled efuent ammonium concentration. Since this result was obtained without any parameter tting, it indicates that the calibrated ASM3 can indeed be used to analyze and predict the effect of a temperature decrease on the nitrication process. The modeled efuent ammonium concentration in Fig. 5B is slightly higher than the measured concentration. The reason is that the modeled concentration was calculated for the efuent of the secondary clarier, while the measured concentration originates from the efuent of the occulation ltration (Fig. 4), by which the ammonium concentration is further reduced by up to 0.5 mg N L1 (Koch and Siegrist, 1997). An example of a simulation for a wet weather day is shown in Fig. 6. A storm event in the Zurich area made the inow to the activated sludge tank increase to 0.47 m3 s1 (Fig. 6A). Due to dilution, the measured inuent ammonium concentration has a minimum of

12

0
0:00 (B) 4:00 8:00 12:00 16:00 20:00

10
0:00

Time [h]

Fig. 5. Measured inuent ammonium concentration and inow to the activated sludge tank (A), measured efuent ammonium concentration and temperature, and modeled efuent ammonium concentration (B) for the Zurich WWTP on the dry weather day 20 March 2003.

10.8 mg N L1, and the ratio of the maximum to the average ammonium inuent load is 1.9. As a result of the storm event, the measured efuent temperature dropped from 16.0 to 13.1 1C (Fig. 6B). The measured efuent ammonium concentration has a maximum of 1.3 mg N L1. As for dry weather, the modeled efuent ammonium concentration is higher than the measured concentration. This difference cannot be fully attributed to neglecting the occulation ltration in the model. The difference almost disappears if the simulation is repeated with a wastewater temperature which is kept constant at 16 1C for the whole day (dashed line in Fig. 6B). It is possible that the growth rate of the nitriers in the WWTP does not respond to a wastewater temperature decrease of a few degrees and lasting for a few hours only. In consequence, for such a situation, the model underestimates the nitrication capacity of the WWTP and overestimates the efuent ammonium concentration. In the next step, the veried model was used to predict the effect of a permanent temperature decrease on the ammonium efuent concentration of the Zurich WWTP. First, simulations were performed for the 50% loading day. The inuent was modeled with typical diurnal

Flow[m3/s]

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0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 4:00 8:00 12:00 16:00 20:00 0:00

4731

Ammonium concentration [mgN/L]

50 40 30 20 10 0 0:00
Influent ammonium measured Inflow measured

Cumulative frequency [%]

100 80 60 40 20 0 150

Flow[m3/s]

(A)
Ammonium concentration [mgN/L]

Time [h]

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

550

Wastewater temperature [C]

3
Effluent ammonium modeled Effluent ammonium measured Effluent ammonium modeled with T = 16C Effluent temperature measured

16 12 8 4

Ammonium load [kgN / d]

Fig. 7. Cumulative frequency distribution of the daily ammonium inuent load of one activated sludge tank of the Zurich WWTP, calculated from 140 ow-weighted 24-h composite samples collected in the primary efuent in 2002 and 2003.

0 0:00

4:00

(B)

0 8:00 12:00 16:00 20:00 0:00 Time [h]

Fig. 6. Measured inuent ammonium concentration and inow to the activated sludge tank (A), measured efuent ammonium concentration and temperature, and modeled efuent ammonium concentration (B) for the Zurich WWTP on the wet weather day 2 April 2003.

variations, e.g., as shown in Fig. 5A, and with mean values of 15,000 m3 d1 for the inow to one activated sludge, tank and of 24.2 mg N L1 and 253 mg COD L1 for ammonium and total COD primary efuent concentrations, respectively. These values represent averages of the inow and of the ammonium and COD concentrations as calculated from 140 24-h composite samples collected from the primary efuent in 2002 and 2003. The various COD fractions, which are considered in ASM3, were calculated from total COD according to Koch et al. (2000). Fig. 7 shows the cumulative frequency distribution of the daily ammonium load as calculated from these samples. The 50% value for one activated sludge tank is 363 kg N d1 and the 85% value is 410 kg N d1, representing an increase of the ammonium inuent load of 13%. Simulations also were performed for the 85% loading day of the Zurich WWTP. The inuent was modeled with the same diurnal variation as the 50% loading day, but with higher mean values of 16,000 m3 d1 for the inow and of 25.7 mg N L1 for the ammonium primary efuent concentration. These values were obtained from Fig. 7 under the assumption that the increase of the ammonium load of 13% was attributed half to the

inow and half to the ammonium concentration. By an analogous procedure, the primary efuent concentration of total COD was calculated to be 269 mg COD L1(data not shown). Fig. 8 shows the ow-weighted daily average of the ammonium concentration in the secondary clarier efuent for various wastewater temperatures, as predicted by ASM3 for the 50% (solid line) and 85% (dashed line) loading day. Fig. 8A describes a large WWTP with a SRTaer of 8 d, as is the case for the Zurich WWTP. In order to examine the inuence of SRTaer and of the size of the WWTP, simulations were also performed for a (hypothetical) medium size WWTP, which treats the wastewater of 20,000 p.e., has a SRTaer 10 d and a ow scheme as shown in Fig. 4. The volumes of the reactors R1R7 were 160, 360, 360, 1000, 500, 1000, and 450 m3, respectively, and the clear water zone volume of the secondary clarier was 1300 m3. The diurnal variation of the inuent was made more pronounced so that the ratio of the maximum to the average ammonium inuent load was 2.1. The mean values of the inow for the 50% and the 85% loading day were 7500 and 8000 m3 d1, respectively. The mean values of the ammonium and total COD primary efuent concentrations were the same as for the simulations of the Zurich WWTP. In Fig. 8B, the ammonium efuent concentration predicted for this medium size WWTP with a SRTaer of 10 d is displayed. Fig. 8 also shows the values of the nitrication SF (triangles), which is directly related to the temperature by Eqs. (2) and (4). As indicated by Fig. 8, the ammonium efuent concentration increases signicantly with decreasing temperatures, especially at low temperatures. With a SF of 2 against washout of the nitriers and wastewater temperatures of 12 1C for the large WWTP and of 10 1C

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6
SF = 1.6

Ammonium concentration [mgN/L]

5 4 3 2 1 0 10
2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 SRTaer = 8 d

4. Procedure to estimate the effect of heat recovery from raw wastewater on ammonium efuent concentrations of an existing WWTP Fig. 9 shows cumulative frequency distributions of the ammonium efuent concentration. The solid line distribution is based on 134 24-h composite samples collected in the secondary clarier efuent of the Zurich WWTP in 2002 and 2003. For this number of samples, the Swiss water protection ordinance demands that the ammonium efuent concentration is below the limit of 2 mg NH4N L1 for 90% of the samples. For the solid line distribution, the 90% value is 0.9 mg N L1, which is well below the required limit. The dashed line distribution in Fig. 9 shows the shift of the cumulative frequency distribution predicted for an inuent wastewater temperature which is permanently reduced by DT 1:5 1C because of heat recovery from the raw wastewater. The new, shifted distribution was generated based on an analytical expression C NH4 T C NH4 10ek10T ,
20

(A)
6

12 14 16 18 Wastewater temperature [C]

20

Ammonium concentration [mgN/L]

5 4 3 2 1 0 10 12 14 16 18 Wastewater temperature [C]

SF = 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 SRTaer = 10 d

(5)

(B)

Fig. 8. Flow-weighted daily average of the ammonium concentration in the secondary clarier efuent, calculated for the 50% (solid line) and 85% (dashed line) loading day as a function of the wastewater temperature and corresponding nitrication safety factors (triangles) for two WWTPs with different aerobic sludge retention times.

tted to the 85% curve of Fig. 8A with C NH4 (10) 5.96 mg N L1 and k 0:33 1C1 . This expression yields a correction factor f C NH4 T DT C NH4 10ek10TDT ek DT , C NH4 T C NH4 10ek10T (6)

for the medium size WWTP, the model predicts ammonium efuent concentrations of about 2 and 3 mg N L1 for the 50% and 85% loading day, respectively. According to the Swiss water protection ordinance, the limit for the ammonium efuent concentration of a nitrifying WWTP is 2 mg N L1 for efuent temperatures higher than 10 1C. This limit may be exceeded for 1020% of the days only, depending on the number of 24-h composite samples which are taken throughout the year. As can be seen from Fig. 8, for 85% of the days, the concentration is above 2 mg N L1 at temperatures of 10 1C, i.e., for more than 15% of the days, the ammonium efuent concentration is above the limit. However, inspection of the data of the Zurich WWTP revealed that only for a minority of the samples do the high ammonium loads correspond to low temperatures. Consequently, the data in Fig. 8 are not sufcient to quantify the effect of heat recovery from raw wastewater on the ammonium efuent concentration of a WWTP, but must be used in combination with data which reect the specic temperature regime, wastewater characteristics, potential growth-limiting or -inhibiting compounds in the wastewater (e.g. precipitants), and the aeration system of this plant.

which can be interpreted as the relative increase of the ammonium efuent concentration for a wastewater temperature reduced by DT. Eq. (6) can be used to predict new ammonium efuent concentrations C NH4 ;new ek DT C NH4 ;ori , (7)

Cumulative frequency [%]

100 80 60 40 20 0 0 1 2 3 Ammonium concentration [mgN/L] 4

Fig. 9. Cumulative frequency distribution of the ammonium efuent concentration, calculated from 134 24-h composite samples collected in the secondary clarier efuent of the Zurich WWTP in 2002 and 2003 (solid line). The dashed line predicts the shift of the distribution if the inuent temperature is permanently reduced by 1.5 1C because of heat recovery from the raw wastewater.

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based on the original measured values C NH4 ;ori . By applying Eq. (7) to all samples, the new cumulative frequency distribution represented by the dashed line in Fig. 9 was generated. Based on the new shifted distribution, the effect of the decrease by DT 1:5 1C of the inuent wastewater temperature on the ammonium efuent concentration of the Zurich WWTP can be quantied. The distribution predicts a 90% value of 1.6 mg N L1, which is still below the required limit of 2 mg N L1. Furthermore, as has been mentioned before, this value represents an upper estimate, since nitrication in the occulation ltration was not considered in the model predictions. A t of Eq. (5) to the 85% curve of Fig. 8B yields C NH4 (10) 2.58 mg N L1 and k 0:335 1C1 , i.e., the value of k is practically the same as that for Fig. 8A. The approach described here for the Zurich WWTP can be formulated as a general procedure to determine the reserve nitrication capacity of an existing WWTP and the effect of permanently reduced raw wastewater temperatures due to heat recovery in the sewer system on the ammonium efuent concentration. This procedure includes the following steps:

9. If the ammonium efuent concentrations of the new distribution do not meet the required limits anymore, reduce DT and repeat steps 79. 10. If the ammonium efuent concentrations of the new distribution meet the required limits, use the rearranged Eq. (1) to calculate the amount of heat which theoretically can be recovered from the raw wastewater per unit time.

5. Conclusions Lower inuent wastewater temperatures lead to a reduced nitrication capacity of the WWTP and to higher ammonium efuent concentrations. Reduced temperatures are observed during long-lasting wet weather conditions or are the result of heat recovery from the raw wastewater in the sewer system. Inuent wastewater temperatures which are reduced for a couple of hours only do not affect nitrication, since they are equalized mostly by the substantial hydraulic retention times of activated sludge plants. Due to bioenergy, warm digester supernatant and warm air from the compressor, the efuent temperature of the WWTP has been observed to be 0.51.0 1C higher than the inuent wastewater temperature. The consequences of reduced wastewater temperatures under steady-state conditions have been analyzed. A permanent temperature decrease of 1 1C leads to a 10% reduction of the maximum net specic growth rate of the nitriers and of the safety factor for washout of these microorganisms. If the safety factor is to be maintained, the aerobic sludge retention time must be increased by 10%. To achieve this, an activated sludge tank which is 10% larger is needed or, if there is nitrication and denitrication in the WWTP, the aerobic volume of the activated sludge tank can be increased at the expense of the anoxic volume. In the latter case, however, the efciency of total nitrogen removal is reduced. By simulations with a calibrated dynamic model and data of diurnal proles, a quantitative relationship between the wastewater temperature in the WWTP and the ammonium efuent concentration has been established. Such a relationship can, in combination with ammonium efuent concentration data of an existing WWTP, be used in a procedure proposed to estimate the effect of heat recovery on nitrication in this plant. The procedure necessitates that a model is calibrated for the WWTP, 24-h composite samples of the ammonium efuent concentration are available and are used to calculate a cumulative frequency distribution, which shows whether the plant has reserve nitrication capacity and whether the ammonium efuent concentrations are below required limits. Then, based on the established relationship between

1. Use diurnal proles of measured ow, temperature, ammonium inuent and efuent concentration and a simulation program (such as ASIM) to calibrate an activated sludge model (such as ASM3) for the WWTP considered. 2. Use measured daily ammonium inuent loads to calculate a cumulative frequency distribution of the ammonium inuent load and determine the 50% and 85% values. 3. Use the 50% and 85% values of the load and a typical diurnal prole of the ammonium inuent concentration as input to the calibrated model and calculate daily averages of the ammonium efuent concentration for various wastewater temperatures. 4. Fit an analytical expression (such as Eq. (5)) to the calculated ammonium efuent concentrations. 5. Use 24-h composite ammonium concentration samples collected from the efuent of the WWTP to calculate a cumulative frequency distribution of the ammonium efuent concentration. 6. Check whether the WWTP has reserve nitrication capacity, i.e., whether the ammonium efuent concentrations are below required limits. 7. If so, determine, e.g., by Eq. (1), the amount DT by which the inuent wastewater temperature of the WWTP will be reduced due to planned heat recovery from the raw wastewater. 8. Calculate a new cumulative frequency distribution of the ammonium efuent concentration for the temperatures reduced by DT, using the available 24h composite samples and Eqs. (5)(7).

ARTICLE IN PRESS
4734 O. Wanner et al. / Water Research 39 (2005) 47254734 Gujer, W., Larsen, A.T., 1995. The implementation of biokinetics and conservation principles in ASIM. Water Sci. Technol. 31 (2), 257266. Gujer, W., Henze, M., Mino, T., van Loosdrecht, M., 1999. Activated sludge model no. 3. Water Sci. Technol. 39 (1), 183193. Head, M.A., Oleszkiewicz, J.A., 2004. Bioaugmentation for nitrication at cold temperatures. Water Res. 38 (3), 523530. Koch, G., Siegrist, H., 1997. Denitrication with methanol in tertiary ltration. Water Res. 31 (12), 30293038. Koch, G., Kuhni, M., Gujer, W., Siegrist, H., 2000. Calibration and validation of activated sludge model no. 3 for Swiss municipal wastewater. Water Res. 34 (14), 35803590. Koch, G., Kuhni, M., Siegrist, H., 2001a. Calibration and validation of an ASM3-based steady-state model for activated sludge systemsPart I: prediction of nitrogen removal and sludge production. Water Res. 35 (9), 22352245. Koch, G., Kuhni, M., Rieger, L., Siegrist, H., 2001b. Calibration and validation of an ASM3-based steady-state model for activated sludge systemsPart II: prediction of phosphorus removal. Water Res. 35 (9), 22462255. Siegrist, H., Brack, T., Koch, G., Nussbaumer, A., Gujer, W., 2000. Optimization of nutrient removal in the WWTP Zurich-Werdholzli. Water Sci. Technol. 41 (9), 6371. Wanner, O., Panagiotidis, V., Siegrist, H., 2004. Warmeent nahme aus der KanalisationEinuss auf die Abwassertemperatur (Heat recovery from sewerseffect on the wastewater temperature). Korrespondenz Abwasser 51 (5), 489495.

wastewater temperature and ammonium efuent concentration, a new concentration distribution is calculated for wastewater temperatures permanently reduced by heat recovery in the sewer. If the new distribution still meets the required limits, the potential maximal heat recovery from the wastewater in the sewer can be estimated. In summary, inuent wastewater temperatures permanently reduced by heat recovery in the sewer have an effect on nitrication in a WWTP which has to be taken into account, but inuent temperatures which are reduced for a couple of hours only should usually not be a problem.

Acknowledgments The authors gratefully acknowledge the Swiss Federal Ofce of Energy for funding this work and Alfred Hofmann for providing the data of the Zurich WWTP.

References
Abwassertechnische Vereinigung ATV, 2000. Bemessung von einstugen Belebungsanlagen (Guidelines for the design of one-step activated sludge plants). Arbeitsblatt ATVDVWK-A 131, Gesellschaft zur Forderung der Abwasser technik, Hennef, Germany.