Technical Bulletin No. 0128: The Effect of Some Organic Substances on Oxygen Absorption in Bubble Aeration

The attached report first issued in 1960 summarizes progress made on the Council's aeration project then underway at the University of Maine. The purpose of the research described herein was to explore the possibilities of increasing the efficiency of oxygen absorption through mechanical reaeration by various chemical additives. In this phase of the work, the effect of selected organic substances the efficiency of oxygen absorption in bubble aeration was studied. A number of these substances, including alcohols, carboxylic acids, and ketones, were found to produce marked increases in the efficiency of oxygen absorption. The presence of sulfite waste liquor was also found to somewhat improve the efficiency of oxygen absorption. While the concentrations required of the investigated substances appeared to be economically prohibitive for use in stream aeration, the possibility existed that there might be applications of this technique in such fields as waste treatment and fermentation. The project therefore continued its investigation, studying the use of commercial surface-active agents as well as methods for better distribution of these efficiency-improving compounds in river aeration work.