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Aerationisaunitprocessinwhichairandwaterarebroughtintointimatecontact.Turbulenceincreasestheaerationofflowingstreams(Figure
Treatment 41).Inindustrialprocesses,waterflowisusuallydirectedcountercurrenttoatmosphericorforceddraftairflow.Thecontacttimeandtheratio
External
ofairtowatermustbesufficientforeffectiveremovaloftheunwantedgas.
Treatment
Aerationasawatertreatmentpracticeisusedforthefollowingoperations:
Chapter04
Aeration
carbondioxidereduction(decarbonation)
Chapter05
oxidationofironandmanganesefoundinmanywellwaters(oxidationtower)
Clarification
ammoniaandhydrogensulfidereduction(stripping)
Chapter06
Filtration
Aerationisalsoaneffectivemethodofbacteriacontrol.
Chapter07
Precipitation METHODSOFAERATION
Softening
Chapter08 Twogeneralmethodsmaybeusedfortheaerationofwater.Themostcommoninindustrialuseisthewaterfallaerator.Throughtheuseof
spraynozzles,thewaterisbrokenupintosmalldropletsorathinfilmtoenhancecountercurrentaircontact.
Ion
Exchange
Chapter09 Intheairdiffusionmethodofaeration,airisdiffusedintoareceivingvesselcontainingcountercurrentflowingwater,creatingverysmallair
Membrane bubbles.Thisensuresgoodairwatercontactfor"scrubbing"ofundesirablegasesfromthewater.
Systems
WaterFallAerators
ContactUs
Manyvariationsofthewaterfallprincipleareusedforthistypeofaeration.Thesimplestconfigurationemploysaverticalriserthatdischarges
waterbyfreefallintoabasin(Figure42).Theriserusuallyoperatesontheavailableheadofwater.Theefficiencyofaerationisimprovedas
thefalldistanceisincreased.Also,stepsorshelvesmaybeaddedtobreakupthefallandspreadthewaterintothinsheetsorfilms,which
increasescontacttimeandaerationefficiency.
Coketrayandwoodorplasticslatwaterfallaeratorsarerelativelysimilarindesignandhavetheadvantageofsmallspacerequirements.
Coketrayaeratorsarewidelyusedinironandmanganeseoxidationbecauseacatalyticeffectissecuredbycontactoftheiron/manganese
bearingwaterwithfreshprecipitates.Theseunitsconsistofaseriesofcokefilledtraysthroughwhichthewaterpercolates,withadditional
aerationobtainedduringthefreefallfromonetraytothenext.
Woodorplasticslattrayaeratorsaresimilartosmallatmosphericcoolingtowers.Thetrayslatsarestaggeredtobreakupthefreefallofthe
waterandcreatethinfilmsbeforethewaterfinallydropsintothebasin.
Forceddraftwaterfallaerators(seeFigure43)areusedformanyindustrialwaterconditioningpurposes.Horizontalwoodorplasticslattrays,
ortowersfilledwithpackingofvariousshapesandmaterials,aredesignedtomaximizedisruptionofthefallingwaterintosmallstreamsfor
greaterairwatercontact.Airisforcedthroughtheunitbyablowerwhichproducesuniformairdistributionacrosstheentirecrosssection,cross
currentorcountercurrenttothefallofthewater.Becauseofthesefeatures,forceddraftaeratorsaremoreefficientforgasremovalandrequire
lessspaceforagivencapacity.
AirDiffusionAerators
Airdiffusionsystemsaeratebypumpingairintowaterthroughperforatedpipes,strainers,porousplates,ortubes.Aerationbydiffusionis
theoreticallysuperiortowaterfallaerationbecauseafinebubbleofairrisingthroughwateriscontinuallyexposedtofreshliquidsurfaces,
providingmaximumwatersurfaceperunitvolumeofair.Also,thevelocityofbubblesascendingthroughthewaterismuchlowerthanthe
velocityoffreefallingdropsofwater,providingalongercontacttime.Greatestefficiencyisachievedwhenwaterflowiscountercurrenttothe
risingairbubbles.
APPLICATIONS
Inindustrialwaterconditioning,oneofthemajorobjectivesofaerationistoremovecarbondioxide.Aerationisalsousedtooxidizesoluble
ironandmanganese(foundinmanywellwaters)toinsolubleprecipitates.Aerationisoftenusedtoreducethecarbondioxideliberatedbya
treatmentprocess.Forexample,acidmaybefedtotheeffluentofsodiumzeolitesoftenersforboileralkalinitycontrol.Carbondioxideis
producedasaresultoftheacidtreatment,andaerationisemployedtoridthewaterofthiscorrosivegas.Similarly,whentheeffluentsof
hydrogenandsodiumzeoliteunitsareblended,thecarbondioxideformedisremovedbyaeration.
Inthecaseofcoldlimesoftening,carbondioxidemayberemovedfromthewaterbeforethewaterenterstheequipment.Whencarbondioxide
removalistheonlyobjective,economicsusuallyfavorremovalofhighconcentrationsofcarbondioxidebyaerationratherthanbychemical
precipitationwithlime.
Airstrippingmaybeusedtoreduceconcentrationsofvolatileorganics,suchaschloroform,aswellasdissolvedgases,suchashydrogensulfide
andammonia.Airpollutionstandardsmustbeconsideredwhenairstrippingisusedtoreducevolatileorganiccompounds.
IronandManganeseRemoval

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Ironandmanganeseinwellwatersoccurassolubleferrousandmanganousbicarbonates.Intheaerationprocess,thewaterissaturatedwith
oxygentopromotethefollowingreactions:
4Fe(HCO3)2

O2

ferrousbicarbonate

2H2O

oxygen

2Mn(HCO3)2

manganesebicarbonate

O2

water

2MnO2

oxygen

4Fe(OH)3

ferrichydroxide

manganese
dioxide

4CO2

8CO2
carbon
dioxide

2H2O
water

carbondioxide

Theoxidationproducts,ferrichydroxideandmanganesedioxide,areinsoluble.Afteraeration,theyareremovedbyclarificationorfiltration.
Occasionally,strongchemicaloxidantssuchaschlorine(Cl2)orpotassiumpermanganate(KMnO4)maybeusedfollowingaerationtoensure
completeoxidation.
DissolvedGasReduction
Gasesdissolvedinwaterfollowtheprinciplethatthesolubilityofagasinaliquid(water)isdirectlyproportionaltothepartialpressureofthe
gasabovetheliquidatequilibrium.ThisisknownasHenry'sLawandmaybeexpressedasfollows:
Ctotal=kP
where
Ctotal=totalconcentrationofthegasinsolution
P=partialpressureofthegasabovethesolution
k=aproportionalityconstantknownasHenry'sLawConstant
However,thegasesfrequentlyencounteredinwatertreatment(withtheexceptionofoxygen)donotbehaveinaccordancewithHenry'sLaw
becausetheyionizewhendissolvedinwater.Forexample:
H2O

CO2

water

H+

carbon
dioxide

H2S

hydrogenion

water

NH3
ammonia

hydrogen
ion

H+

hydrogen
sulfide
H2O

HCO3
bicarbonateion

HS
hydrosulfideion

NH4+
ammonium
ion

OH
hydroxideion

Carbondioxide,hydrogensulfide,andammoniaaresolubleinwaterundercertainconditionstotheextentof1,700,3,900,and531,000ppm,
respectively.Rarelyaretheseconcentrationsencounteredexceptincertainprocesscondensates.Inanormalatmosphere,thepartialpressureof
eachofthesegasesispracticallyzero.Consequently,theestablishmentofastateofequilibriumbetweenwaterandairbymeansofaeration
resultsinsaturationofthewaterwithnitrogenandoxygenandnearlycompleteremovalofothergases.
Astheequationsaboveshow,ionizationofthegasesinwaterisareversiblereaction.Thecommonioneffectmaybeusedtoobtainalmost
completeremovalofthesegasesbyaeration.Iftheconcentrationofoneoftheionsontherightsideoftheequationisincreased,thereactionis
driventotheleft,formingthegas.Inthecaseofcarbondioxideandhydrogensulfide,hydrogenionconcentrationmaybeincreasedbythe
additionofanacid.Bicarbonateandcarbonateionsinthewaterwillformcarbondioxide,whichcanberemovedbyaeration.
Inasimilarmanner,anincreaseinhydroxylionconcentrationthroughtheadditionofcausticsodaaidsintheremovalofammonia.
Figures44,45,and46showthepercentageofgasremovalthatmaybeobtainedatvariouspHlevels.
Gasremovalbyaerationisachievedasthelevelofgasinthewaterapproachesequilibriumwiththelevelofthegasinthesurrounding
atmosphere.Theprocessisimprovedbyanincreaseintemperature,aerationtime,thevolumeofairincontactwiththewater,andthesurface
areaofwaterexposedtotheair.Aspreviouslyindicated,pHisanimportantconsideration.Theefficiencyofaerationisgreaterwherethe
concentrationofthegastoberemovedishighinthewaterandlowintheatmosphere.
LIMITATIONS
Temperaturesignificantlyaffectstheefficiencyofairstrippingprocesses.Therefore,theseprocessesmaynotbesuitableforuseincolder
climates.Theoretically,at68Fthecarbondioxidecontentofthewatercanbereducedto0.5ppmbyaerationtoequilibriumconditions.Thisis
notalwayspracticalfromaneconomicstandpoint,andreductionofcarbondioxideto10ppmisnormallyconsideredsatisfactory.
AlthoughremovaloffreecarbondioxideincreasesthepHofthewaterandrendersitlesscorrosivefromthisstandpoint,aerationalsoresultsin
thesaturationofwaterwithdissolvedoxygen.Thisdoesnotgenerallypresentaproblemwhenoriginaloxygencontentisalreadyhigh.
However,inthecaseofawellwatersupplythatishighincarbondioxidebutdevoidofoxygen,aerationsimplyexchangesonecorrosivegas
foranother.
Theefficiencyofaerationincreasesastheinitialconcentrationofthegastoberemovedincreasesaboveitsequilibriumvalue.Therefore,with
waterscontainingonlyasmallamountofcarbondioxide,neutralizationbyalkaliadditionisusuallymorecosteffective.
ThecompleteremovalofhydrogensulfidemustbecombinedwithpHreductionorchemicaloxidation.
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Nonvolatileorganiccompoundscannotberemovedbyairstripping.Forexample,phenolsandcreosolsareunaffectedbytheaerationprocess
alone.
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