Procuring the Design Data in Order to
Uprate and Optimize the Operation of an
Industrial Waste Treatment Facility
JAMES R. GRUBE, II, Chief Sanitary Engineer
American Cyanamid Company
Organic Chemicals Division
Bound Brook, New Jersey
INTRODUCTION
The Bound Brook, New Jersey, Plant of the American Cyanamid Company is
located along the north banks of the Raritan River approximately 20 miles inland
from Raritan Bay. This plant employs approximately 3, 000 persons and produces
over 800 different products in the form of pharmaceuticals, dyestuffs, pigments,
rubber chemicals, and intermediates.
For the past 30 years, the Bound Brook Plant has been actively engaged in
pollution control practices. In the late 1930's, a primary treatment plant was installed at a cost of $500, 000 which included an equalization basin, a neutralization facility, and a primary settling system. Beginning in 1949, over $1, 000, 000
were expended for laboratory and pilot plant studies to procure design data for the
construction of an activated sludge secondary treatment plant. This facility was
built in 1957 at a cost of $4, 500, 000 and placed into operation in 1958. In 1957,
a 20-year contract was signed with the Somerset-Raritan Valley Sewage Authority
whereby it was agreed that the secondary treatment plant would biologically treat
the primary effluent from this municipal facility. This arrangement has proven
to be mutually beneficial to both parties concerned.
The secondary effluent discharged to the Raritan River fulfilled the requirements of the New Jersey State Department of Health during the years of operation
that the design criteria were not exceeded. However, with the continual increase
in production which produced corresponding increases in the organic loading and
hydraulic flow, it became apparent in early 1966, that an improvement in the BOD
removal efficiency would be necessary to meet the more stringent requirements
established by the State Department of Health. From a critical evaluation of
1) the low DO levels in the activated sludge aeration basins, 2) the BOD load on
the Raritan River from the secondary treatment plant, and 3) the gradual decreasing DO levels in the Raritan River both upstream and downstream of the effluent
discharge, it was concluded that the secondary treatment facility would have to
be uprated to provide a BOD removal efficiency approaching 95 per cent. Therefore, a program was developed to accomplish two objectives; namely, to determine the quantity of additional oxygen required to uprate and optimize the operation of the secondary treatment facility, and to select and design the aeration
facilities to supply this additional oxygen. These two objectives are the subject
of this paper.
DESCRIPTION OF THE WASTE TREATMENT FACILITIES
As a background for discussion the two objectives of this paper, a schematic
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