Investigation of full scale of a variable declining rate filtration system

Author(s)

Elizabeth Regina Halfeld da Costa

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Carlos.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC/SBD)
• Defense date: 2001-09-28

Examining board members

Luiz Di Bernardo; Renato Machado; Carlos Gomes da Nave Mendes; Bernardo Arantes do Nascimento Teixeira; Jorge Arboleda Valencia

• Advisor: Luiz Di Bernardo

Abstract

A variable declining rate filtration system, designed and operated with care, can be an economical and practical alternative for water treatment as this type of system requires no control equipment for discharge and head. There are various ways to study such systems but most of them employed pilot scale tests; some either modelled the hydraulic of the system mathematically trying to obtain project parameters; others made use of graphical methods to visualise what occurs within these systems. Very few studies have been conducted at full scale. Although declining rate filtration systems are rather simple, their inadequate implantation can pose difficulties in operation, thus making the process complex and less efficient. This work consisted of developing a methodology of investigation that permits the study of full scale rate filtration systems by means of simulations in a pilot installation with the same characteristics as the real system, in order to determine the most adequate operational conditions. This research reveals the difficulties associated with the study of an actual direct down flow and a variable declining rate filtration system, when it functions without a previous experimental operation in which the system and its equipment are adequately adjusted. The development of this work has led to a methodology that allows for obtaining project parameters of a declining variable rate system by means of a pilot installation comprising one single filter, talking into account the storage upstream the filters. (AU)