Resumen
Primary settling tanks are used to remove solids at wastewater treatment plants and are considered a fundamental part in their joint operation with the biological and sludge treatment processes. The aim of this study was to obtain a greater understanding of the influence of operational parameters, such as surface overflow rate, hydraulic retention time, and temperature, on the removal efficiency of suspended solids and organic matter by the measurement of chemical oxygen demand and biochemical oxygen demand in the primary sedimentation process. The research was carried out in a semi-technical primary settling tank which was fed with real wastewater from a wastewater treatment plant. The physical process was strictly controlled and without the intervention of chemical additives. Three cycles of operation were tested in relation to the surface overflow rate, in order to check their influence on the different final concentrations. The results obtained show that the elimination efficiency can be increased by 11% for SS and 9% for chemical oxygen demand and biochemical oxygen demand, for variations in the surface overflow rate of around ±0.6 m3/m2·h and variations in hydraulic retention time of around ±2 h. The results also show that current design criteria are quite conservative. An empirical mathematical model was developed in this paper relating SS removal efficiency to q, influent SS concentration, and sewage temperature.