How Does Liquid Oxygen Improve Wastewater Treatment?

Liquid Oxygen helps biological wastewater treatment plants by increasing their capacity and by helping to settle upset conditions quickly. Upset conditions include times of high Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD); high sludge volume index, also known as bulking; and abnormal production of sulphurous odours. All of these conditions are the results of low dissolved Oxygen in the sludge, and can be rapidly remedied by injecting Oxygen.

Keeping Things Regular

A typical biological plant strives to maintain two to three milligrams per litre of dissolved Oxygen in its biobasin. This level ensures that the biomass has enough Oxygen to metabolize efficiently, and it helps control the population of filamentous bacteria. Some filamentous bacteria are needed in the biomass as a foundational component of the bacterial mesh that helps separate the liquids from the solids in the system. When these bacteria are allowed to overpopulate, though, the solids in the system no longer settle properly, and the whole system becomes less efficient. An overpopulation of certain types of filamentous bacteria can also cause foaming, which also has a negative impact on the plant’s operation, and can actually cause the tanks to overflow, which creates hazardous and disgusting work conditions.

Oxygen To The Rescue

Historically, aeration systems have been used in biological wastewater treatment plants to try to address these issues. A typical aeration system increases the amount of Oxygen in the system by 10-15% (air has about 21% Oxygen). More recently, plants have begun using pure Oxygen transfer systems, which use liquid Oxygen (LOx) and specially designed delivery devices to achieve Oxygen transfer on the order of 70-90%. Other plants have modified their aeration systems to accept Oxygen enrichment, which significantly boosts the Oxygen transfer rate. With either a pure Oxygen transfer system or Oxygen enrichment on an aeration system, plant managers get much finer control over their biomass and tank conditions, and faster response in a crisis.

Liquid Oxygen Delivery

If you are planning to improve your wastewater treatment plant with an Oxygen boosting system, you’ll appreciate the customer support and competitive pricing of Josef Gas. We are an independent supplier of industrial gases, operate our own fleet of delivery trucks, and deliver and service customers throughout the greater Toronto and Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge areas. We have built decades-long relationships with our suppliers, and our long-standing contracts with them and our own low overhead allow us to offer our customers the highly competitive pricing of a much larger distributor, with the customer service of a family-run operation. Request a quote online or call us today to learn how liquid Oxygen delivery from Josef Gas can help your plant.