ABSTRACT
Most of this book addresses the technical aspects of the design and evaluation of the biochemical operations used in wastewater treatment systems. This chapter, in contrast, addresses the process of designing and evaluating such operations, with particular emphasis on those that use suspended growth bioreactors. It has several purposes. First, it provides a transition between the fundamental principles presented in Parts I and II of this book and the detailed application of those principles to specific named biochemical operations in Part III. Second, it illustrates that design and evaluation of biochemical operations is iterative and provides a perspective on the typical steps involved. Third, it addresses the basic decisions that must be made to select among the various suspended growth biochemical operations, as well as those that are common to all of them. Finally, it contrasts the various levels of design and evaluation, from preliminary to simulation-based. Even though this material is presented in the context of suspended growth bioreactors, much of it is also applicable to the design and evaluation of attached growth bioreactors. Consequently, the reader should also refer to this material while reading Part V.
