Fluidized-Sand Biofilters

Steven Summerfelt
Freshwater Institute, Shepherdstown, WV

Michael Timmons
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 1

 Benefits of FSB
 Treat dissolved wastes.
 Cost effective for large recycle systems:
filter sand is relatively inexpensive,
 cost for surface area is low ($0.02-0.001/m2)
biofilters scale to treat large flows
 1.5 – 15 m3/min
 400 to 4000 gal/min

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 2

 FSB Can Be More Cost Effective
 FSB are about 5 times less expensive than
comparable trickling filters
(Summerfelt & Wade, Fluidized-sand Fluidized-sand Plastic media
1998, Recirc Today) biofilter #1 biofilter #2 trickling filter
Flow capacity, L/min 1,520 2,280 2,000
Design feed loadd, kg/day 58 64 59
Media specific surface area, m 2/m3 11,300 11,300 180
Design TAN removal rate, g/d/m2 0.06 0.06 0.2
Media volume, m3 2.5 2.7 49.0
Cost of media, $ 380 415 20,600
Total biofilter cost, $ $6,000 $5,500 $28,000
10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 3
 FSB Can Be More Cost Effective at Large Scales
 Capital cost estimates associated with biofilter
choice for a 1 million lb/yr tilapia farm.
(Timmons et al., 2000) Farm Cost Cost, $/lb/yr
RBC $668,000 $0.68
Trickling Biofilter $620,000 $0.62
Pressurized Bead Filter $296,000 $0.30
Conventional FSB $124,000 $0.12
Cyclo Bio $76,000 $0.08

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 4

 Fluidization Fundamentals
 Buoyant force of rising water lifts sand bed when
velocity exceeds minimum fluidization velocity (vmf).

Interface Between
Clear Fluid & Static Bed
Le
L
Water Distribution &
Media Support Mechanism

Static Bed Expanded Bed

(vo < vmf) (vo > vmf)
10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 5
 Fluidization Fundamentals
 Bed expansion terminology:
 50% expansion , e.g., 1 m of static sand depth expands to 1.5 m
 100% expansion , e.g., 1 m of static sand depth expands to 2.0 m
 200% expansion , e.g., 1 m of static sand depth expands to 3.0 m

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 6

 Fluidization Fundamentals
 Pressure drop across a sand bed

Bed height
 increases according to Ergun’s
equation until bed begins to expand.
 remains constant at all water
velocities after the expansion begins. Real
Static Bed
Real
Fluidized Bed

Pressure drop
 remains constant for all sand sizes,
 1 m of static sand requires about 1 m of
water head to expand.
 see Summerfelt and Cleasby (1996)
Superficial velocity

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 7

 Fluidization Fundamentals
 Estimate bed expansion for a given

Bed height
sand as a function of water velocity,
using:
 water viscosity and density
Real Real
 sand size, sphericity Static Bed Fluidized Bed

Pressure drop
 void space of the static bed
 see Summerfelt and Cleasby (1996)
Superficial velocity

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 8

 Applications: Coldwater vs. Warmwater
lower fluidization velocities require lower TAN removal rates & efficiencies,
larger beds than desirable biofloc management required
cold-water
warm-water
systems:
systems: super high fluidization
effectiveness

thick biofilms,
velocities require beds
low velocities, thin biofilms,
to be too narrow and tall
biofloc manage- high velocities,
and limits TAN removal capacity
ment required, high loading rate,
without increasing flowrate
low loading rate, high removal rate,
high removal %, deep beds required,
TAN limiting, somewhat self cleaning
shallow beds,

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2

Effective Diameter (D10), mm
(See Timmons & Summerfelt, 1998)
10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 9
 Nitrification Rates
 Warm-water & cold-water applications:
g TAN removed
per day TAN
per m2 per m3 static Removal
surface area sand vol. Efficiency
COLD-WATER BIOFILTER 0.06 700 70-90%
fine sand, ~11,500 m2/m3
D10 = 0.17-0.25 mm
WARM-WATER BIOFILTER 0.2 1000 10-30%
coarse sand, ~5,000 m2/m3
D10 = 0.6-0.8 mm

(summarized by Timmons & Summerfelt, 1998)

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 10
 Coldwater Applications
 Fine sands (D10 = 0.20-0.25 mm) are used:
provide high specific surface areas
 11,000 m2/m3
require low water velocities
 0.7-1.0 cm/s
provide longer hydraulic retention times across bed
 1-3 min

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 11

 Coldwater Applications
 Fine sands (D10 = 0.20-0.25 mm) are used:
produce higher TAN removal efficiencies
 80-95% TAN removal each pass
provide excess nitrification capacity
 200% excess can be achieved
controls nitrite-nitrogen at very low levels
 generally < 0.1-0.2 mg/L

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 12

 FSB Start-up in Coldwater
 Start-up period at FI took 7-8 week at 14ºC.
3.00 Note 1. Step changes
TAN and Nitrite-Nitrogen (mg/L)

TAN in make-up water

2.50
flows were used to
NO2-N
2.00 increase or decrease
dilution when nitrite
1.50
spiked.
1.00
Note 2. Feeding
0.50
reached 79 kg/day by
0.00 10/16/00 11/2/00 and TAN
10/23/00
10/30/00
8/28/00

10/2/00
10/9/00
8/14/00
8/21/00

9/18/00
9/25/00
9/4/00
9/11/00
8/7/00

removal efficiency
was > 50%.
Time (days)
10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 13
FSB Performance in Coldwater
 FSB first started up on ammonium chloride.
1 .4 0
Note 1. At stocking
-N (m g /L )

1 .2 0
T A N (B io filter In ) the fish density was
T A N (B io filter O u t)
1 .0 0 15 kg/m3 (mean fish
N itrite (B io filter O u t)
0 .8 0
weight = 150 g).
T A N & N2O

0 .6 0
Note 2. Last
0 .4 0 measured fish
0 .2 0
density was 33.5
kg/m3 (mean fish
0 .0 0
36951 36966 36981 36996 37011 37026 37041 weight = 320 grams).
T im e (da y s )

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 14

 Biofilm Development
 Biofilms develop around individual sand grains;

Suggested reading: Nam et al. 2000. Aquacultural Engineering, 22: 213-224.

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 15

 Biofilm Development in
Time Fine Sand Biofilters
 biofilms thicken with time:
decreasing particle density,
increasing bed expansion,
migrating to top of bed.
Time

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 16

shear

shear
Biofilm Development in
Fine Sand Biofilters
 Shear forces tear biofilm
shear

shear

pieces from the sand,

shear

shear

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 17

 Biofilm in Fine Sand Biofilters
 Water velocities (0.7-1.4 cm/s) do not flush larger
sheared pieces from the bed;
such pieces accumulate & continue to grow.

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 18

 Biofilm in Fine Sand Biofilters
 biofilms grow on the expanded sand

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 19

 Fine Sand Biofilters
growth
 Biofilter bed depth increases
with time (about 8 cm/wk @ FI):
bio-particles accumulate;
bed expansion increases,
 as thickening biofilm reduces particle
densities.

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 20

 Managing Bed Depth
 Siphon biosolids from the bed:
maintain a maximum bed depth;
remove biosolids from the top,
 removes thickest and oldest biofilm;
also remove some sand,
 lost sand must be replaced on occasion.

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 21

 Managing Bed Depth
 Intermittent biosolids siphoning,
 remove top 15-30 cm of bed,
 only when bed reaches a max depth,
 technique used in past.
 Continuous biosolids siphoning:
 4-20 L/min (1-5 gpm) siphon rate,
 0.2 - 1% of total biofilter flow,
 current tecchnique in FI’s growout system.

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 22

 Managing Bed Depth
 Siphoning biosolids
from a biofilter in the
Freshwater Institute’s
old research system.

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 23

 Managing Bed Depth
 Siphon biosolids flow:
out of recirc system,
to recirc system drum filter.

Filter
inlet Filter
outlet

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 24

 Vertical Stratification
 The beds are vertically stratified in:
sand size
bed expansion
biofilm thickness and biofloc size
nitrification rate

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 25

 Vertical Stratification
Particle Size
0.320 to 0.341 mm sand
Bio-particles Upper
4-15 m biofilm
231-257% expanded bed
0.9-1.1 mm biofloc

0.343 to 0.358 mm sand

Bio-particles Middle 7-20 m biofilm
203-207% expanded bed 0.9-1.7 mm biofloc

0.421 to 0.434 mm sand

Scoured-sand Lower
no visible biofilm
59-68% expanded bed
no biofloc
10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 26
 Vertical Stratification
Regional TAN
Removal Rates
(g/d/m2 sand surface)
Upper
Bio-particles 0.116 - 0.150
bed

Middle 0.099 - 0.172

Bio-particles
bed

Lower
Scoured-sand 0.031 - 0.048
bed
10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 27
 Flow Distribution Mechanisms
 Flow distribution methods vary, but are all important!

1-2 cm

orifices distributed orifices distributed slotted inlet

across false-floor across pipe-manifold about circumference
(controlling P) (controlling P) (NO controlling P)
10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 28
 Distribution by Vertical Probes
 In 1989, Dallas Weaver (Scientific Hatcheries) sold FI a
FSB that used vertical injection probes.

Injection Probes

Influent
Manifold
Effluent Weir

Freshwater Institute’s ‘old system’

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 29
 Distribution by Vertical Probes
 Peterson Fish Farm (MN)  Sierra Aquafarm (CA)

(Designed by Dallas Weaver) (Designed by Dallas Weaver)

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 30

 Distribution Through False Floor
 Eric Swanson reported (Aqua Expo, 1992)
flow injection underneath a false floor.

Influent
Manifold
Effluent Weir

false-floor distribution plate

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 31
Distribution Through False Floor
 Buckmans Creek Hatchery (NB)

fluidized-
sand biofilter

(Swanson-type design)
10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 32
 Distribution Through False Floor
 Formerly Penobscot Smolt Hatchery (Franklin, ME)
 Currently Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research

(Designed by Eric Swanson)

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 33

 Distribution Through False Floor
 Oak Bay Hatchery, Cooke Aquaculture (NB)

(Swanson-type design)

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 34

 Distribution Through False Floor
 Atlantic Silver Hatchery (NB)

(Designed by Eric Swanson)

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 35
 Pipe-Lateral Distribution
 Freshwater Institute adopted a modified
pipe-lateral distribution manifold.
swing
check swing
valve check
outlet
valve

ball
ball
valve
valve

abrasion resistant floor

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 36
 Pipe-Lateral Distribution
 Modified pipe-lateral
distribution manifold at
Freshwater Institute’s old
facility.

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 37

 Pipe-Lateral Distribution
 To create uniform flow
distribution:
Pressure drop (P) across orifice
should be  headloss through the
sand bed (i.e.,  depth of static
sand):
2
 Qorif  1
Porif    
 C  Aorif  2  g
Qorif = flowrate in ft3/s
Aorif= orifice area in ft2
C = 0.6 and g = 32.2 ft/s2
10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 38
 Pipe-Lateral Distribution
 Glacier Springs Fish Farm (Manitoba)

(system designed by FI)

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 39

 Pipe-Lateral Distribution
 Integrated Aquaculture Systems (PA)

(system designed by FI)

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 40

 Pipe-Lateral Distribution
 Fingerlakes Aquaculture (NY)

(farm designed by Mike Timmons)

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 41

 Pipe-Lateral Distribution
 Hunting Creek Fisheries (MD)

(system designed by FI)

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 42
 Pipe-Lateral Distribution
 Bingham Hatchery (Maine)

(system designed by PRAqua Tech.)

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 43
 Pipe-Lateral Distribution
 Target Marine Hatchery (BC)

(systemdesigned by PRAqua Tech.) Courtesy of PRAqua Technologies (BC)

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 44
 Pipe-Lateral Distribution
 Target Marine Hatcheries(BC)

(system designed by PRAqua Tech.)

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 45
 Pipe-Lateral Distribution
 Three salmon smolt systems at Nutreco’s Big Tree
Creek Hatchery (BC)

(system designed by PRAqua Tech.)

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 46

 Cyclo Biofilter™
 Patent protected technology from Marine Biotech Inc.
(Beverly, MA)

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 47

 Cyclo Biofilter™
 Water injected tangentially into circular plenum and
through 1.9 cm (3/4”) slotted inlet about its base.

slotted inlet

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 48

 Cyclo Biofilter™
 Pressure drop across the piping, sand, & cyclo bio
Pump pressure, psig

10.0 0.4 psi

1.7 psi
8.0
6.4 psi

pipe & manifold P

6.0

sand P
4.0
2.0
0.0

water lift
0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0

HLR, gpm/ft2
(Freshwater Institute data)
10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 49
Cyclo Biofilter™ Advantage
 Cyclo Bio requires less pressure to operate.
0.1-0.3 bar (2-4 psig) less pressure was required to
operate a cyclo bio compared to a modified-pipe
manifold FSB.
 assuming a similar fluidized-sand biofilter height.
cyclo bio’s reduce P of piping and inlet orifice

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 50

 Cyclo Biofilter™
2.7 m
 Cyclo Bio™ at Freshwater outlet
Institute
 Dimensions:
 2.7 m (9 ft) dia
 6.1 m (20 ft) tall
 Static sand capacity: 6.1 m
 1.5 m (5 ft) depth
 8.5 m3 (300 ft3) volume
 15 TON inlet
 assimilates TAN from ~200 kg
feed/day
 e.g., 0.7 kg TAN/m3/day
 Treats 1250 gal/min flow
(courtesy of Marine Biotech Inc.)
10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 51
 Cyclo Biofilter™
 Effluent collection launder

To stripping
column

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 52

 Cyclo Biofilter™
 Cyclonic bed rotation observed @ HLR > 25 gpm/ft2

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 53

Cyclo Bio™ at Freshwater Inst.

9 ft dia x 20 ft
strippers cyclo biofiler

fan fan
LHOs UV channel
LHO
sump

side-wall
150 m3 culture tank
drain
10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 54
 Cyclo Bio™ at WV Aqua
 Three 9 ft dia Cyclo Bio’s installed at char farm

(system designed by PRAqua Tech.)

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 55
Cyclo Bio’s™ at Fingerlakes Aqua
 Four 11 ft dia Cyclo Bio’s (Groton, NY)

(farm designed by Mike Timmons)

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 56

Practical Considerations: Sand Blasting
 Installation of an abrasion resistant floor is critical.

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 57

Practical Considerations: Clean Outs
 Clean-out caps on all distribution pipes
provides a method to remove debris that
could plug laterals.

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 58

 Practical Considerations: Check Valves
 Reliable swing check valves (or foot valves) are critical to
prevent backflow! swing
check swing
valve check
outlet
valve

ball
ball
valve
valve

abrasion resistant floor

swing-flex foot valves @ FI
10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 59
Practical Considerations: Biosolids Removal
 Siphon biosolids bed regularly to prevent them
from overtopping biofilter.

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 60

 Practical Considerations: Viewing Bed
 Select a clear FRP vessel to provide a visual of
expanded bed.

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 61

 Practical Considerations: Air Bubbles
 Prevent bubbles from being pumped into fluidized-
sand biofilters. Bubbles washout sand!

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 62

 Purchasing Filter Sand
 Sand suppliers usually report the
effective size and uniformity coefficient
of their sand.

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 63

 Characterizing Sand: D10
 The “effective size” (D10) is defined as
the opening size which will pass only the
smallest 10%, by weight, of the granular
sample. The D10 provides an estimate of
the smallest sand in the sample and is
the size used to estimate the maximum
expansion at a given superficial velocity.

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 64

 Characterizing Sand: UC
 The “uniformity coefficient” (UC) is a
quantitative measure of the variation in
particle size of a given media and is
defined as the ratio of D60 to D10.
D60
UC 
D10

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 65

 Characterizing Sand: D90
 The “largest size” (D90) is the sieve size
for which 90% of the grains by weight
are smaller.
 The D90 provides an estimate of the
largest sand in the sample and is the
size to estimate the minimum expansion
at a given velocity. The D90 can be
estimated from the D10 and the UC:

D90  D10  101.67logUC  
10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 66
 Characterizing Sand: D50
 The “mean size” (D50) is the sieve size
for which approximately 50% of the
grains by weight are smaller. The D50
provides an estimate of the average size
of the sand in the sample and is the
value used during design to estimate the
average bed expansion at a given
 
superficial velocity: 0.83logUC 
D50  D10  10

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 67

 Characterizing Sand: Sb
 The “bed specific surface area” is the specific
surface area available per unit of bed volume
(Sb); this can can be estimated using
estimates for the static bed void fraction ( 
0.45) and sand sphericity (  0.75):
6  1   
Sb 
  D50
 Recognize the limits of guesstimates.

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 68

 Purchasing Filter Sand
 Some filter sand suppliers listed in the
Northeast:
 Ricci Brothers Sand and Gravel (NJ)  F. B. Leopold Company, Inc. (PA)
 609-785-0166 ph  412-452-6300 ph;

 Unimin Corporation  Lang Filter Media Co. (PA)

 412-779-3990 ph
 800-243-9004 ph
 American Materials Corp. (WI)
 U.S. Silica (WV)  800 -238-9139 ph
 800-243-7500 ph  Morie Company, Inc. (NJ)
 Unifilt Corporation (PA)  800-257-7034 ph
 412-758-3833 ph  R.W. Sidley, Inc. (OH)
 800-536-9343 ph

*as published in the 1998 AWWA Sourcebook and 1996 AWWA Buyers Guide

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 69

Characterizing Sand: Sieve Analysis
 Typical mean % retained at a given screen size.
USA STD Sieve Size Typical Mean % Retained
mesh mm opening US Silica Parry Company
#1 Q-ROK 35/42 silica sand
20 0.84 0 0
30 0.60 8 0
40 0.42 52 9
50 0.30 32 45
70 0.21 7 40
100 0.15 1 6
140 0.11 0 0

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 70

Characterizing Sand: Fluidization Tests
 Sand Expansion Tests
140 140.0

Expansion, %
Expansion, %

120 120.0
100 100.0
80 80.0
60 60.0
40 40.0
20 20.0
0 0.0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 0 5 10 15 20 25 30

HLR, gpm/ft 2
HLR, gpm/ft2
US Silica sand Parry Company sand
D10 = 0.275 mm D10 = 0.23 mm
10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 71
 Purchasing Filter Sand
 Freshwater Institute recently purchased filter
sands from:
US Silica Company (Berkeley Springs, WV)
 D10 = 0.275 mm, UC =1.7
 $1300 for 15 tons delivered in 100 lb bags on pallets
The Parry Company (Richmond Dale, OH)
 D10 = 0.23 mm, UC =1.5
 $1800 for 15 tons delivered by pneumatic truck

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 72

 Installing Filter Sand
 US Silica Sand: 300 bags (100 lb/bag)
hand loaded into cyclo bio.

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 73

 Installing Filter Sand
 Parry Company sand: 15 tons of sand were
pneumatically transferred from a tank truck.

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 74

 Installing Filter Sand
 Wash fine clay found in new sand out of
system before recirculating water to fish.

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 75

 Questions?
 Contact Steven Summerfelt
[email protected]
304-876-2815, ext. 211

10th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Shortcourse. 76