A heat transfer model for biological wastewater treatment system

A heat transfer model for predicting the water temperature of aeration tank in a biological wastewater treatment plant is presented. The heat transfer mechanisms involved in the development of the heat transfer model include heat gains from solar radiation and biochemical reaction and heat losses from evaporation, aeration, wind blowing and conduction through tank walls. Several empirical correlations were adopted and appropriate assumptions made to facilitate the model development. Experiments were conducted in the biological wastewater treatment plant of a chemical fiber company over a year's period. The operational, weather and temperature data were registered. The daily water temperature data were averaged over a month period and compared with the theoretical prediction. Excellent agreement has been obtained between the predicted and measured temperatures, verifying the proposed heat transfer model.