Assignment 4

Laboratory Assignment

Expectations:

The assignment is due on Friday March 26 at the start of the morning lecture. Make use of the reference material in the library, and include bibliographic citations for any facts, figures or information you are quoting in your answers.

make sure you clearly indicate your methodology in how you do get to your final numbers or conclusions. Use well labeled graphical representation of the results to help demonstrate your methods and illustrate your interpretation.

Relevant Sections From Droste (For The Problems and Assignment):

Sections 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 17.1, 17.2, 17.3, 17.4

Data:

The Microplate Data is available from the course URL. Each Team has their own COD data.

Suggested Study Problems (NOT TO BE HANDED IN):

Chapter 17: Problem 22, 23, 35, 40.

Assignment (TO BE HANDED IN):

Is the extent of dissolved COD removal influenced by the presence of silver sulphate? Provide quantitative support to your answer.
Is the maximum observed biomass growth rate influenced by the presence of silver sulphate? Provide quantitative support to your answer.
Estimate the biomass yield (Y) in COD removal.
What (if anything) is influenced by the presence of silver sulphate?
What would be the impact in dissolved COD removal of a silver sulphate spill to a full scale wastewater treatment process? What kind of bioreactor configuration would be most affected, plug flow or completely mixed?
What other types of inhibition can impact the performance of contaminant removal in biological treatment systems?
For this experiment, the microplate spectrophotometer was used to follow the rate of increase in biomass concentration based on an increase in turbidity (optical density at 550 nm). The optical density was measured at a specific wavelength related to light scattering by dispersed growth of bacteria. Describe how you could use the microplate spectrophotometer for an experiment to determine typical values for the Monod constants (m , and K_s) for the aerobic biodegradation of a specific organic contaminant, say compound Z. Be specific about the data you will acquire and how you will use that data to determine the kinetic constants.