James Hartley
Chartered Water & Wastewater Process Engineer
CEng MIChemE · BEng (Hons) Chemical Engineering · 18 years in industrial effluent treatment
James Hartley is a chartered process engineer (CEng MIChemE) with 18 years of experience designing and commissioning industrial water and wastewater treatment plant. He has led process design on dissolved air flotation (DAF), membrane bioreactor (MBR) and moving-bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) installations for food and beverage, dairy, and municipal clients in the UK, Ireland and the Gulf.
His focus is pragmatic, standards-led design: sizing equipment against real load data, hitting discharge consents reliably, and keeping whole-life energy and chemical costs down. James writes MCBA's systems and equipment guides to translate that field experience into clear, decision-ready reference material.
Areas of expertise: Dissolved air flotation, Membrane bioreactors, MBBR, Coagulation & flocculation, Effluent compliance, Process commissioning
Articles by James Hartley
- Anammox Deammonification: The Science of PN/A Nitrogen Removal
- Chemical Dosing System Design: Pumps, Sizing and Control
- Chemical Phosphorus Removal with Metal Salts: Chemistry, Dosing and Sludge
- Air Solubility and Henry's Law: The Physics Behind DAF
- The Air-to-Solids Ratio in DAF Design, From First Principles
- DAF Bubble Dynamics and Bubble-Particle Attachment
- DAF Energy Consumption and Optimisation: Where the Power Goes
- DAF Float Sludge Handling: Skimmings, Solids and Volumes
- DAF Jar and Float Testing: The Bench-to-Pilot Protocol That Fixes Your Design
- DAF Nozzle Design: The Pressure-Release Device That Makes the Bubbles
- DAF Recycle System Design: Recycle Ratio and Pump Sizing
- DAF Saturator Design: Engineering the Air-Dissolution System
- DAF Tank Design: Hydraulics and Internal Zone Sizing
- DAF vs Sedimentation: Choosing the Right Solid-Liquid Separator
- Decanter Centrifuge Sludge Dewatering: Design, Sigma Theory and Operation
- Electrodialysis and EDR: How Ion Transport Demineralises Water
- Forward Osmosis: How the Osmotically-Driven Membrane Process Works
- High-Rate DAF Design: Hydraulic Loading, Rise Rate and Footprint
- Iron and Manganese Removal from Groundwater: The Oxidation-Filtration Approach
- The Membrane Aerated Biofilm Reactor (MABR): Bubbleless Aeration Explained
- MBBR Design: Sizing on Protected Biofilm Surface Area
- Membrane Bioreactor Design: Flux, MLSS and Aeration Energy
- Membrane Fouling and Cleaning: Diagnosis, CIP Chemistry and Protocol Design
- Metal Adsorption on Iron Oxide: Surface Complexation and Surface Precipitation
- Odour Control for Hydrogen Sulphide at Wastewater Works
- pH Neutralisation Systems: Design, Staging and Reagent Sizing
- Sludge Bulking and SVI: Diagnosing and Controlling Poor Settleability
- Sludge Conditioning Polymer: Selection, Dosing and Testing
- Activated Carbon Adsorption: Isotherms, Kinetics and Bed Design
- Aerobic Sludge Digestion and ATAD: Kinetics, Oxygen Demand and Design
- Chlorination Disinfection: Chemistry, CT and Dosing
- Constructed Wetlands for Wastewater Treatment: An Engineering Guide
- Flow Equalisation Tank Design and Sizing
- Ozonation in Water Treatment: Generation, Dose and Contactor Design
- Primary Clarifier Design: Overflow Rate, Weir Loading and Depth
- Rotating Biological Contactors: Process Theory and Design
- Trickling Filter Design: Loading Rates, Media and Removal Models
- Waste Stabilisation Ponds: Design, Loading and Pathogen Removal
- Sludge Incineration and Energy Recovery: The Combustion Balance
- Sludge Drying Fundamentals: Heat, Mass Transfer and Energy
- Struvite Phosphorus Recovery: Chemistry and Reactor Design
- Landfill Leachate Treatment: Composition, Ammonia and Treatment Trains
- Thermal Hydrolysis of Sludge: THP as Digestion Pretreatment
- Advanced Oxidation Processes for Refractory Wastewater
- Sludge Thickening Design: Solids Flux Theory and Sizing
- COD and BOD in Wastewater: Rigorous Definitions and Design Use
- UASB Reactor Design: Granulation, Hydraulics and Sizing
- Dairy Wastewater Treatment: Characterisation and Treatment Train
- Grit Removal Systems: Settling Physics, Sizing and Selection
- Aeration and Oxygen Transfer: The Engineering of Gas Transfer
- Biological Nutrient Removal: The Microbiology of N and P
- Anaerobic Digestion Fundamentals: Biochemistry, Kinetics and Reactor Design
- Electrocoagulation Water Treatment: Mechanisms and Design
- Ion Exchange Water Softening: Resin Chemistry, Capacity and Column Design
- UV Disinfection System Design: Dose, Kinetics and Reactor Sizing
- Media Filtration Design: Mechanisms, Head Loss and Backwash
- Nanofiltration Water Treatment: How the Membrane Selects Ions
- Coagulation and Flocculation: Colloid Science to Design
- Lamella Clarifier Design: Settling Theory and Sizing
- Sequencing Batch Reactor Design: Cycles, Volume and SRT
- Activated Sludge Process Design: A Kinetic Approach
- Ultrafiltration Membrane System Design: Flux, TMP and Sizing
- Reverse Osmosis System Design: A Rigorous Engineering Guide
- Industrial Wastewater Treatment: Processes & Selection
- Rotary Drum Screens: Operation, Selection and Sizing
- Screw Press vs Belt Press: Sludge Dewatering Compared
- What Is a DAF System? How Dissolved Air Flotation Works
- Brewery Wastewater Treatment: Process & Design
- MBR vs MBBR: Which Wastewater System Is Best?
- Oil and Grease Separators: Types, Sizing and Selection
- Sludge Dewatering Equipment: Types and How to Select
- How to Size a DAF System: A Step-by-Step Engineering Guide