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Grit chamber for 190 l/s

Short answer

Given SOR=0.02 m/s and detention 60 s: A=9.50 m², H=1.20 m. v_h=0.20 m/s (between organic scour 0.081 and grit scour 0.233 m/s). L=v_h t=12.0 m, B=0.8 m. Chamber: 12.0 m × 0.8 m × 1.20 m water depth, total depth 1.75 m, detention 60 s.

Design a grit chamber for wastewater flow of 190 liter/sec with surface overflow rate = 2 cm/s and detention time = 60 sec. Take specific gravity of organic and inorganic particles are 1.2 and 2.65 respectively. Assume size of both organic and inorganic materials as 0.21 m. Take k = 0.06 and f = 0.03.

The flow is Q=190Q=190 l/s =0.19=0.19 m³/s. The particle size is read as 0.21 mm (the "0.21 m" in the question is a typing slip). k=0.06k=0.06, f=0.03f=0.03, SOR (surface overflow rate) =2=2 cm/s =0.02=0.02 m/s, detention time =60=60 s.

Step 1: Surface area and depth

Q=0.190 m3/sSurface area A=QSOR=0.1900.020=9.50 m2Volume V=Q t=0.190×60=11.40 m3Depth H=VA=1.20 m\begin{aligned} Q &= 0.190\ \text{m}^3/\text{s}\\ \text{Surface area } A &= \frac{Q}{SOR} = \frac{0.190}{0.020} = 9.50\ \text{m}^2\\ \text{Volume } V &= Q\,t = 0.190\times 60 = 11.40\ \text{m}^3\\ \text{Depth } H &= \frac{V}{A} = 1.20\ \text{m} \end{aligned}

Step 2: Scour velocity for the two kinds of particles

vc=8kf(G−1) g dv_c=\sqrt{\frac{8k}{f}(G-1)\,g\,d}
ParticleGGdd (mm)vcv_c (m/s)
Organic1.20.210.081
Inorganic (grit)2.650.210.233

The horizontal velocity must be above the organic scour velocity (organic matter stays suspended and is carried through) and below the grit scour velocity (settled grit is not re-suspended). Adopt vh=0.20v_h = 0.20 m/s, which satisfies 0.081 < 0.20 < 0.233 m/s. (The flow velocity should also be near 0.2-0.3 m/s in practice.)

Step 3: Dimensions

L=vh t=0.20×60=12.00 mB=AL=9.5012.00=0.79 mCheck: Ac=B H=0.79×1.20=0.950 m2≈Qvh=0.950 m2\begin{aligned} L &= v_h\,t = 0.20\times 60 = 12.00\ \text{m}\\ B &= \frac{A}{L} = \frac{9.50}{12.00} = 0.79\ \text{m}\\ \text{Check: } A_c &= B\,H = 0.79\times 1.20 = 0.950\ \text{m}^2 \approx \frac{Q}{v_h} = 0.950\ \text{m}^2 \end{aligned}

Adopt L=12.0L = 12.0 m, B=0.8B = 0.8 m, water depth H=1.20H = 1.20 m, plus 0.25 m grit storage and 0.30 m free board (total depth about 1.75 m). Provide two units in parallel.

Answer: grit chamber L×B×H=12.0×0.8×1.20L\times B\times H = 12.0\times 0.8\times 1.20 m, flow velocity 0.20 m/s, detention 60 s, surface overflow rate 2 cm/s.

✓ Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort)

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