A Novel Method for Solids Separation Using Hydrodynamic Separator

Many water treatment facilities face the challenge of producing high quality clean water either for drinking, agricultural or industrial applications regardless of fluctuating turbidity and TSS (Total Suspended Solids) inlet conditions. In order to meet the increasing demand for high quality and continues supply of water, many water treatment plants will incorporate a solid separation step. A solid separation step will be needed either as pretreatment or a stand-alone process if turbidity levels exceed 50 - 100 NTU or for the treatment of fine particles (e.g algae, silt etc.). .Traditionally, most solids separation processes are being done by separation that is dependent on the density difference between the water and the particles. Particles might have higher density than water and will settle in a settling basin or will have lower density than water and will float and will be skimmed from the surface of the water.Since many particles have density that is very close to water, in order to achieve high efficiency of solids separation, separation by density difference have to either work at very low velocity (0.5-1 m/hr) and thus large footprint and associated cost will be needed, or to invest high capital cost and high amount of energy to float the particles in Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF). While processes that removes particles using centrifugal forces do exist in the market as an alternative to separation density difference (e.g Hydrocyclone) they are very limited in the particle size separation (larger than 70 um) and particles density (larger than 1.9 g/cc) and are mainly used for sand separation. The high shear forces created in the Hydroclyclone will prevent using coagulation and flocculation processes since flocs will be broken and thus the process will be ineffective.The recently developed innovative hydrodynamic separator, developed by AquaHD, is free from the limitations of the conventional solid separation processes. The hydrodynamic separator works by creating centripetal hydrodynamic forces to separate particles under low pressure (1bar). In the hydrodynamic separator, the water is flowing through a dedicated circular structure. The pass of the water in the circular structure, allows the creation of high centrifugal forces (6-8 G) under low pressure. The unique geometry and flow patterns of the liquid inside the hydrodynamic separator, allows for the creation of laminar flow.The configuration of the separator was developed using a complex mathematical model that creates flow structure, causing high level and efficient separation of the suspended particles. Unlike other traditional solutions, hydrodynamic separator removes a wide range of organic and inorganic suspended solids as small as 2 micron, from water with dirt load of up to 12,000 PPM of TSS.Due to the high centrifugal forces, particles will be concentrated in the outer perimeter of the separator. Due to the laminar flow, particles stay in the outer perimeter layer and do not mix with the clean water in the inside of the separator. A specially designed outlet structure will separate the stream rich in particles (near the outer perimeter) and the clean water stream. Particles that had been removed from the water will either go a further sludge thickening and dewatering treatment or will be sent back to the environment. See Figure 1 for the separator illustration.The performance of the hydrodynamic separator was tested and evaluated in a demonstration plant that simulated a facility for treating surface water with high turbidity. The demonstration plant was then challenged with the water of the Jordan River from December 2017 to March 2018 totaling 93 days in all. The main goal of the test was to validate the capability of the hydrodynamic separator to achieve more than 70% removal of turbidity and TSS from the Jordan River. The second goal was to evaluate the performance of the hydrodynamic separator as a buffer to the significant turbidity fluctuations in order to enable the granular filter media to operate properly and without interruption. The project was done with the support of Mekorot, Israel Water Utility. .The turbidity of the river fluctuated significantly almost every day during the test period as shown in Figure 1. Turbidity values increased from 40 NTU to 120-400 NTU, however they decreased back within a day or two. During this period, the turbidity of the hydrodynamic separator outlet water remained constant and most of the time was less than 20 NTU. Even when turbidity increased to 500 NTU, the outlet turbidity of the hydrodynamic separator increased only slightly to a value of 30 NTU. Figure 2 presents results from the separator achieved by the hydrodynamic separator.Average turbidity removal performance of the hydrodynamic separator was above the success criteria (70% removal). The daily average turbidity removal (84.2%) and the average TSS removal (78.1%) both met and exceeded the success criteria described in the project’s goals. It found that the higher the TSS, the higher the removal percentage. From 100 mg/l and up the removal percentage was 95%.Operating hydrodynamic separator followed by media filtration operated in a filtration velocity of 17 m/hr (versus 8-10 m/hr of normal operation without the hydrodynamic separator) resulted in 90-95% turbidity and TSS removal. The separator was also used for recycling water in pack-houses. In pack houses, water is used extensively during the packaging process. Pack house operations use process-water to clean and to transport produce throughout the packing operation. Packhouses can incur high costs for both water usage and wastewater discharge tariffs. This can limit pack-house operations due to shortages of fresh water, as well as land for wastewater discharge..Wastewater generated in pack-houses is characterized by high presence of solids creating high turbidity and total suspended solids (TSS) level which result in high costs associated in removing the particles from the wastewater stream. Recently, the hydrodynamic separator as installed in two pack-houses of sweet potato and carrots in Israel. Figure 3 above, presents an installation in the sweet potato pack houses. The installation was done in an existing pack-house were limited footprint for new installation was available. The compactness of the separator allowed to install the separator in a very small footprint and without interfering with the pack-house daily operation. The graph below, presents the TSS results from the treatment. As can been seen from the graph, while high and flocculating TSS inlet values, the system was able to achieve very high values of solids removal that achieved over 90% reduction of TSS (all effluent results were below 100 mg/L of TSS) and allowed for over 90% of water recycling back to the process and a quick pay back of the system. .The results clearly show that the hydrodynamic separator provides excellent and reliable solids separation under both low and high solids inlet concentration. This makes it suitable for any water treatment application used for solids separation with a quality that meets any client demands for either drinking water, industrial or agricultural needs.