Abstract
Biological technologies can be used to treat a vast majority of organic wastewaters because all organics could be biologically degraded if the proper microbial communities are established, maintained, and controlled. Before environmental engineers design and operate biological treatment systems that create the environment necessary for the effective treatment of wastewater, a sound understanding of the fundamentals of microbial growth and substrate use kinetics is essential. This chapter covers the above including basic microbiology and kinetics, kinetics of activated sludge process, factors affecting the nitrification process, kinetics of the nitrification process, denitrification by suspended growth systems and design examples.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
G. Bitton, Wastewater Microbiology, Wiley-Liss, New York (1999).
L. D. Benefield and C. W. Randall, Biological Process Design for Wastewater Treatment, Prentice-Hall, New Jersey (1980).
B. E. Rittmann and P. L. McCarty, Environmental Biotechnology, McGraw-Hill, New York (2001).
M. D. LaGrega, P. L. Buckingham, and J. C. Evan, Hazardous Waste Management, McGraw-Hill, New York (2001).
W. W. Eckenfelder, Industrial Water Pollution Control, McGraw-Hill, New York (2000).
R. L. Droste, Theory and Practice of Water and Wastewater Treatment, Wiley, New York (1997).
Metcalf & Eddy, Wastewater Engineering, McGraw-Hill, New York (2003).
S.J. Pirt, The maintenance energy of bacteria in growing cultures, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B163, 224–231 (1965).
J. Chang, P. Chudoba, and B. Capdeville, Determination of the maintenance requirement of activated sludge, Water Science and Technology, 28, 139–142 (1993).
Y. Liu, and J. H. Tay, Interaction between catabolism and anabolism in the oxidative assimilation of dissolved organic carbon, Biotechnology Letters, 22, 1521–1525 (2000).
D. Herbert, R. Elsworth, and R. C. Telling, The continuous culture of bacteria: a theoretical and experimental study, Journal of General Microbiology, 114, 601 (1956).
A. W. Lawrence and P. L. McCarty, Unified basis for biological treatment design and operation, Journal of Sanitary Engineering, 96, 757 (1970).
APHA, Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, 20th ed., American Public Health Association, Washington, DC (1998).
W W Eckenfelder and Y. Argaman, principles of biological and physical/chemical nitrogen removal. In: Phosphorus and Nitrogen removal from Municipal Wastewater, R. I. Sedlak (ed.), pp. 3–42, Lewis Publishers, New York (1991).
L. K. Wang, D. Veilkind, and M. H. Wang, Computer-aided mathematical modeling of stream purification capacity, Part I: Nonlinear DO model, Institute of Environmental Sciences 1976 Proceedings, 553 (1976).
L. K. Wang, C. P. C. Poon, and M. H. Wang, Control tests and kinetics of activated sludge process, Water, Air and Soil Pollution, 8, 315–351 (1977).
S. F. Yang, J. H. Tay, and Y. Liu, A novel granular sludge sequencing-batch reactor for organic and nitrogen removal from wastewater, Journal of Biotechnology, 106, 77–86 (2003).
P. Chudoba, Etude et Intérêt du Découplage Energetique dans les Processus D'épuration des Eaux par Voie Biologique Procédé OSA, Ph.D. thesis, Institut National des Sciences Appliquées, Toulouse, France (1991).
L. K. Wang, M. H. Wang, and D. B. Dahm, Design, Cost Estimation and Optimization of Sewage Collection and Treatment Systems for Housing Development in the Glenwood, New York Area, Technical Report No. ND-5390-M-1, Calspan Corporation, Buffalo, New York (1974).
J. R. McWhirter, Oxygen and activated sludge process, In: The Use of High-Purity Oxygen in the Activated Sludge Process, Vol. 1, J. R. Mcwhirter (ed.), pp. 25–62, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL (1978).
H. Roques, B. Capdeville, J. C. Seropian, and H. Grigoropoulou, Oxygenation by hydrogen peroxide of the fixed biomass used in biological water treatment, Water Research, 18, 103–110 (1984).
B. Abbassi, S. Dullstein, and N. Rabiger, Minimization of excess sludge production by increase of oxygen concentration in activated sludge flocs: experimental and theoretical approach, Water Research, 34, 139–146 (2000).
A. G. Boon, and D. R. Burgess, Treatment of crude sewage in two high-rate activated sludge plants operated in series, Water Pollution Control, 74, 382 (1974).
T. R. Stall, and J. H. Sherrard, Effect of wastewater composition and cell residence time on phosphorus removal in activated sludge, Journal of Water Pollution Control Federation, 48, 307– 322 (1976).
R. Wunderlich, J. Barry, D. Greenwood, and C. Carry, Start-up of a high-purity, oxygen-activated sludge system at the Los Angeles County SanitationDistricts' Joint Water Pollution Control Plant, Journal of the Water Pollution Control Federation, 57, 1012–1018 (1985).
N. J. Horan, Biological Wastewater Treatment Systems, Wiley, Chichester (1990).
Y. Liu, and J. H. Tay, Strategy for minimization of excess sludge production from the activated sludge process, Biotechnology Advances, 19, 97–107 (2001).
Y. Liu, Chemically reduced excess sludge production in the activated sludge process, Chemosphere 50, 1–7 (2003).
N. K. Shammas, Optimization of Biological Nitrification, Ph.D. dissertation, Microfilm Publication, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (1971).
K. M. Mackenthun, A Review of algae, lake weeds, and nutrients, Journal of the Water Pollution Control Federation, 34, 1077 (1962).
K. Wuhrmann, Objectives, technology, and of results of nitrogen and phosphorus removal processes, University of Texas, Water Resources Symposium No. 1, 21 (1968).
W. W. Eckenfelder, Jr., A design procedure for biological nitrification and denitrification, Chemical Engineering Progress Symposium Series, 63(78), 230 (1967).
P. M. Sutton, K. L. Murphy, and B. E. Jank, Kinetic studies of single sludge nitrogen removal systems, Progress in Water Technology, 10, 241 (1978).
D. F. Bishop, J. A. Heidman, and J. B. Stamberg, Single-stage nitrification-denitrification, Journal of the Water Pollution Control Federation, 48, 520 (1976).
P. M. Sutton, K. L. Murphy, and B. E. Jank, Design considerations for integrated nutrient removal systems, Progress in Water Technology, 10, 469 (1978).
P. A. Vesilind (ed.), Wastewater Treatment Plant Design, Water Environment Federation, Alexandria, VA (2003).
P. H. Jones and H. N. Sabra, Effect of systems solids retention time on nitrogen removal from activated sludge, Water Pollution Control, 79, 106 (1980).
C. S. Huang and N. E. Hopson, Nitrification rate in biological processes. Journal of Environmental Engineering Division, American Society of Civil Engineers EE2, 100, 409 (1974).
P. M. Sutton, T. R. Bridle, W. K. Bedford, and J. Arnold, Nitrification and denitrification of an industrial wastewater, Journal of the Water Pollution Control Federation, 53, 176 (1981).
C. W. Randall and D. Buth, Nitrite build-up in activated sludge resulting from temperature effects, Journal of the Water Pollution Control Federation, 56, 1039 (1984).
N. K. Shammas, Biocontactors for wastewater reuse, kinetic approach for achieving the required effluent quality, First Saudi Engineering Conference, Jeddah, KSA, May (1983).
A. P. Sincero and G. A. Sincero, Environmental Engineering – A Design Approach, Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ (1996).
M. H. Gerardi, Nitrification and Denitrification in the Activated Sludge Process, Wiley Inter-Science, New York, December (2001).
N. K. Shammas, Interactions of temperature, pH and biomass on the nitrification process, Journal of the Water Pollution Control Federation, 58, 1, 52–59, January (1986).
A. L. Downing et al., Nitrification in the activated sludge process, Journal of the Institute of Sewage Purification, 130 (1964).
G. Knowles et al., Determination of kinetic constants for nitrifying bacteria in mixed culture with the aid of an electronic computer, Journal of General Microbiology, 38, 263 (1965).
F. E. Stratton and P. L. McCarty, Prediction of nitrification effects on the dissolved oxygen balance of streams, Environmental Science and Technology, 1, 405 (1967).
H. A. Painter and K. Jones, The use of the wide-bore dropping- mercury electrode for the Determination of rates of oxygen uptake and of oxidation of ammonia by microorganisms, Journal of Applied Bacteriology, 26, 471 (1963).
H. E. Wild, C. N. Sawyer, and T. C. McMahon, Factors affecting nitrification kinetics, 43rd Annual Conference, Water Pollution Control Federation, Boston, MA, October 9 (1970).
D. F. Bishop et al., Single-stage nitrification-denitrification, Journal of the Water Pollution Control Federation, 48, 520 (1976).
A. L. Downing, Factors to be considered in the design of activated sludge plants, Proceedings of Water Resources Symposium No. 1, University of Texas Press, Austin, TX, 190 (1968).
A. M. Buswell et al., Laboratory studies on the kinetics of the growth of nitrosomonas with relation to the nitrification phase of the BOD test, Applied Microbiology, 2, 21 (1954).
US EPA, Nitrification and Denitrification Facilities-Wastewater Treatment, Environmental Protection Agency, Technology Transfer, EPA-625/4-73-004a, August (1973).
N. K. Shammas, An allosteric kinetic model for the nitrification process, Proceedings of Tenth Annual Conference of Water Supply Improvement Association, Honolulu, HI, pp. 1–30, July (1982).
J. Monod, J. Wyman, and J. P. Changeux, On the nature of allosteric transitions: a plausible model, Journal of Molecular Biology, 12, 88 (1965).
C. Frieden, Treatment of enzyme kinetic data, II the multisite case: comparison of allosteric models and a possible new mechanism, Journal of Biological Chemistry, 242, 4045 (1967).
M. V. Volkenstein and B. N. Goldstein, Allosteric enzyme models and their analysis by the theory of graphs, Biochemica et Biophysica Acta, 115, 478 (1966).
B. R. Rabin, Co-operative effects in enzyme catalysis: a possible kinetic model based on substrate-induced conformation isomerization, Biochemical Journal, 102, 22c (1967).
J. R. Sweeny and J. R. Fisher, An alternative to allosterism and cooperativity in the interpretation of enzyme kinetic data, Biochemistry, 7, 561 (1968).
D. Koshland, G. Nemethy and D. Filmer, Comparison of experimental binding data and theoretical models in proteins containing subunits, Biochemistry, 5, 365 (1966).
E. Kvamme and A. Pihl (eds.), Regulation of enzyme activity and allosteric interactions, Proceedings of the 4th Meeting of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies, Oslo (1967), Academic Press, New York (1968).
T. E. Barman, Enzyme Handbook, Springer-Verlag, New York (1969).
H. Boring and A. Horon, Analysis of kinetic data of allosteric enzymes by a linear plot, FEBS Letters, 3, 325 (1969).
B. Formby and J. Clausen, Allosteric and kinetic properties of a K-dependent acylphosphatase in rat brain synaptosomes and its possible relation to (Na+ + K+) ATPase, Hoppe-Seyler's Zeitschrift Für Physiologische Chemie, 350, 973 (1969).
K. Kirschner, Temperature-jump relaxation with an allosteric enzyme: glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, Proceedings of the 4th Meeting of FEBS, Academic Press, New York, 39 (1968).
P.L. Ipata and G. Cercignani, The effect of pH on the allosteric properties of sheep brain. FEBS Letters, 7, 129 (1970).
WEF, Technology Assessments: Nitrogen Removal Using Oxidation Ditches, Water Environment Federation, July (2000).
R. I. Sedlak, Phosphorus and Nitrogen Removal from Municipal Wastewater: Principles and Practice, 2nd ed., Lewis Publishers, New York, October (1991).
B. R. Blicker, Process Optimization of an On-Site Wastewater Treatment System for Nitrogen Removal, M.S. thesis, Environmental Engineering, Montana State University, December (1997).
M. Debabrata, Hybrid reactor system for wastewater treatment–application and approach of modeling, International Journal of Environment and Pollution (India), 21, 2, 105–131 (2004).
L. K Wang, N. C Pereira, and Y. T. Hung (eds.), Biological Treatment Processes, Humana Press, Totowa, NJ (2005).
Y. Liu, J. H. Tay, and Y. T. Hung, Biological nitrification and denitrification. In: Biological Treatment Processes, L. K Wang, N. C Pereira, and Y. T. Hung (eds.), Humana Press, Totowa, NJ (2005).
B. Halling-Soresen and S. E. Jorgensen, Removal of Nitrogen Compounds from Wastewater, Elsevier, Amsterdam, (1993).
H. Constantin, S. Raoult, W. Montigny, and M. Fick, Environmental Technology, 17, 831– 840 (1996).
EvTEC, Wastewater Denitrification Technologies, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, http://www.cerf.org/evtec/eval/padep.htm, April (2001).
INI, Workshop on Advanced Approaches to Quantify Denitrification, International Nitrogen Initiative, Sponsored by EPA, Workshop Final Report May (2004).
L. K Wang, Y. T. Hung, and N. K. Shammas (eds.), Advanced Physicochemical Treatment Processes, Humana Press, Totowa, NJ (2005).
L. K. Wang, E. Fahey, and Z. Wu, Dissolved air flotation. In Physicochemical Treatment Processes, L. K Wang, Y. T. Hung, and N. K. Shammas (eds.), Humana Press, Totowa, NJ (2005).
L. K Wang, Y. T. Hung, and N. K. Shammas (eds.), Physicochemical Treatment Processes, Humana Press, Totowa, NJ (2005).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer ScienceCBusiness Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Shammas, N.K., Liu, Y., Wang, L.K. (2009). Principles and Kinetics of Biological Processes. In: Wang, L.K., Shammas, N.K., Hung, YT. (eds) Advanced Biological Treatment Processes. Handbook of Environmental Engineering, vol 9. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-170-7_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-170-7_1
Publisher Name: Humana Press
Print ISBN: 978-1-58829-360-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-60327-170-7
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)