Optimization of Wastewater Treatment Plant Design using Process Dynamic Simulation: A Case Study from Kurdistan, Iraq

Hayder M. Issa

doi:10.14500/aro.10488

Hayder M. Issa Department of Geography, College of Human Science, University of Garmian, Sulaimaniyah Province 46021, Kurdistan Region http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0857-0097

Keywords: Wastewater dynamic simulation, Sewage treatment operation analysis over time, Trickling biofilter, Activated sludge, Aeration tank

Abstract

Satisfactory effluent characteristics are indispensable to evaluate the performance of any wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) design. Dynamic simulation software has a great role in pursuing this objective, in which an efficient and cost-effective design is constantly performed. In this study, a dynamic simulator sewage treatment operation analysis over time (STOAT) has been used under certain influent conditions to optimize design possibilities for modifying an existing primary WWTP College of Engineering Wastewater Treatment Plant (COEWWTP) at Erbil, Kurdistan, Iraq. The optimization was established on the basis of total suspended solids (TSS) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) characteristics in the effluent. Two alternative design schemes were proposed; trickling biofilter and aeration basin. In the dynamic simulation for the investigated design schemes, the predicted effluent profile showed that each of the existing and trickling biofilter processes has failed to correspond to the valid effluent limitation, whereas predicted results of the aeration basin exhibited an effluent profile that meets TSS and BOD allowable limits. Different simulation models have been implemented by STOAT to simulate treatment processes in studied design approaches: ASAL 1 model; BOD model; BOD semi-dynamic model; and SSED 1 model. This study offers an additional understanding of WWTP design and facilitates the application of dynamic simulators as tools for wastewater treatment development in Kurdistan.

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Author Biography

Hayder M. Issa, Department of Geography, College of Human Science, University of Garmian, Sulaimaniyah Province 46021, Kurdistan Region

Hayder M. Issa is an assistant professor at University of Garmian, he has completed his B.Sc. degree in Chemical Engineering from University of Baghdad, Iraq in 1992 and M.Sc. degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Baghdad in 1995. The PhD degree is in Process and Environmental Engineering (Chemical Engineering) from University of Toulouse III (Université Paul Sabatier), INPT, Toulouse, France, in 2013. He has academic and research experiences related to various topics like oil & gas processing, applied thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, mixing, mass transfer process design, water and wastewater treatment, water quality, process simulation & modeling, dimensional analysis, industrial chemistry. He has many technical & software Skills: LDV (Laser Doppler Velocimetry), PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry), MATLAB, XLSTAT, STOAT, Design Expert, WatPro, Aspen HYSYS, COMSOL Multiphysics. He has more than 22 published papers in peer reviewed journals and conference proceedings. Also, he has reviewed many articles for various highly ranked journals.

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