The efficiency of electrocoagulation in treating wastewater from a dairy industry, part I: iron electrodes

Iron electrodes were used for electrocoagulation (EC) treatment of wastewater from a dairy plant. Electrolysis time, pH, current density and distance between electrodes were considered to assess the removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total solids (TS) and their fractions and turbidity. Samples were collected from the effluent of a dairy plant using a sampling methodology proportional to the flow. The treatments were applied according to design factorial of half fraction with two levels of treatments and three repetitions at the central point. The optimization of parameters for treating dairy industry effluent by electrocoagulation using iron electrodes showed that electric current application for 15 minutes, an initial sample pH close to neutral (pH 7.0) and a current density of 50 A (.)(m-2) resulted in a significant reduction in COD by 58 %; removal of turbidity, suspended solids and volatile suspended solids by 95 %; and a final treated effluent pH of approximately 9.5. Negative consequences of the type of electrode used were the emergence of an undesirable color and an increase in the proportion of dissolved solids in the treated effluent.     

The efficiency of electrocoagulation in treating wastewater from a dairy industry,Part I: Iron electrodes

Iron electrodes were used for electrocoagulation (EC) treatment of wastewater from a dairy plant. Electrolysis time, pH, current density and distance between electrodes were considered to assess the removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total solids (TS) and their fractions and turbidity. Samples were collected from the effluent of a dairy plant using a sampling methodology proportional to the flow. The treatments were applied according to design factorial of half fraction with two levels of treatments and three repetitions at the central point. The optimization of parameters for treating dairy industry effluent by electrocoagulation using iron electrodes showed that electric current application for 15 minutes, an initial sample pH close to neutral (pH 7.0) and a current density of 50 A ^{. m?2} resulted in a significant reduction in COD by 58 %; removal of turbidity, suspended solids and volatile suspended solids by 95 %; and a final treated effluent pH of approximately 9.5. Negative consequences of the type of electrode used were the emergence of an undesirable color and an increase in the proportion of dissolved solids in the treated effluent.     

Biological treatment of wastewater by selected aquatic plants

Pollutant-removal efficiency of certain macrophytes and algae, such as Eichhornia crassipes, Microcystis aeruginosa, Scenedesmus falcatus, Chlorella vulgaris and Chlamydomonas mirabilis, has been tested in laboratory conditions to evaluate their potential role in wastewater treatment. Sewage of Varanasi city, mixed with the effluents of about 1200 small-scale industries, was used for the tests. The investigation was performed in three stages i.e. a water hyacinth culture followed by an algal culture, and finally a second water hyacinth culture. For the first water hyacinth culture, 10 water hyacinth plants were grown in a tank of wastewater with 15 days' retention time. In the second stage, algal species were cultured in the treated wastewater for 5 days, whilst in the third stage, water hyacinth plants were again grown for further treatment of the wastewater for 9 days. This three-stage aquaculture resulted in very high reductions of BOD (96.9%), suspended solids (78.1%), total alkalinity (74.6%), PO(4)-P (89.2%), NO(3)-N (81.7%), acidity (73.3%), NH(4)-N (95.1%), COD (77.9%), hardness (68.6%) and coliform bacteria (99.2%). An increase in the concentration of dissolved oxygen (70%) was also observed.     

Aerobic Treatment of a Nitrogen-Limited Chemical Process Waste water

Abstract

Nitrogen transformations and their effect on aerobic suspended growth treatment of an industrial wastewater were studied in three parallel bench-scale reactors operated at 5 "C at mean cell residence times (MCRT) of 15, 30, and 60 days. In normal process wastewater, the bulk of influent nitrogen was in organic form, and the fraction transformed was almost totally incorporated into synthesized biomass. Assimilative control by heterotrophs maintained ammonianitrogen levels below permitted effluent levels, and nitrification was not significant. Although volatile suspended solids had a nitrogen content of only 5% to 8%, effective organics removal was maintained, and total organic carbon and filtered daily average five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BODS) were below permitted effluent levels. A marked improvement in settleability and lower effluent total suspended solids was achieved by adding ammonia-nitrogen to the wastewater in excess of stoichiometric growth requirements.

During a batch production cycle of a cationic chemical, the ratio of nitrogen to chemical oxygen demand and the fraction of the total influent nitrogen in soluble form increased in the wastewater. Reactor effluent ammonia levels increased to above permit levels at all three MCRTs during treatment of wastewater containing cationic production effluents. The magnitude of ammonia increase was greater for longer MCRTs, suggesting that synthesis of cell mass was not capable of assimilating the increased ammonia supply under these non-steady conditions. The experimental results suggest several potential strategies for operating the aerobic process at the treatment facility, including adding nitrogen to improve settleability and discontinuing these additions when wastewater contains a high ratio of nitrogen to chemical oxygen demand and an elevated soluble nitrogen fraction     

Endocrine disrupting compounds in municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants in Northern Greece

The occurrence and fate of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in a sewage treatment plant and two industrial wastewater treatment plants from textile and tannery factories were investigated. EDCs of interest are 4-nonylphenol, 4-octylphenol, their ethoxylate oligomers (mono- and di-ethoxylates of nonylphenol and octylphenol), bisphenol A, triclosan and steroid estrogens. Target compounds were determined in dissolved fraction, total suspended solids and sludge by employing solid phase extraction and ultrasonication followed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry.Nonylphenols and oligomers with one or two ethoxy groups were the most abundant compounds in raw wastewater as well as in effluents from all the treatment stages of sewage treatment plant, followed by triclosan and bisphenol A. Steroids were found at very low concentrations. Almost all phenolic EDCs compounds were predominantly associated to suspended solids in influents whereas the dissolved fraction dominated the treated effluents. High removal rates, ranging from 86% to 99%, were observed throughout the whole treatment process. Biodegradation was the main removal pathway of EDCs. Tannery wastewaters exhibited high concentrations of nonylphenolic compounds. This type of wastewaters could pose a significant risk to the aquatic and terrestrial environment.     

Improvement of upflow anaerobic sludge bed performance using chitosan.

Chitosan, with a degree of deacetylation of 85% and a molecular weight of 2.5 x 10(5) Da, yielding high flocculation efficiency (85 to 100% flocculation) and a broad flocculation region (2 to 45 mg/g suspended solids), was selected for accelerating granulation in a 30-L upflow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) used to treat wastewater from a tropical fruit-processing industry. Compared with other studies, smaller amounts of chitosan were applied (two injections with 2 mg chitosan/g suspended solids in the reactor at each injection). Comparison with the UASB without chitosan addition, the UASB had a 24 to 37% larger particle size and a 6 to 41% longer solids retention time. In addition, the reactor performances were also enhanced. The UASB with chitosan addition had a 9 to 59% lower effluent chemical oxygen demand (COD), 4 to 10% higher COD removal, up to 35% higher biogas production rate, and a 16 to 68% lower biomass washout. The paired t-test analysis indicated that these performance parameters were significantly different (P < 0.05).     

Treatment of chemical mechanical polishing wastewater by electrocoagulation: system performances and sludge settling characteristics

Treatment of copper chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) wastewater from a semiconductor plant by electrocoagulation is investigated. The CMP wastewater was characterized by high suspended solids (SS) content, high turbidity (NTU), chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentration up to 500 mgl(-1) and copper concentration up to 100 mgl(-1). In the present study, electrocoagulation was employed to treat the CMP wastewater with an attempt to simultaneously lower its turbidity, copper and COD concentrations. The test results indicated that electrocoagulation with Al/Fe electrode pair was very efficient and able to achieve 99% copper ion and 96.5% turbidity removal in less than 30 min. The COD removal obtained in the treatment was better than 85%, with an effluent COD below 100 mgl(-1). The effluent wastewater was very clear and its quality exceeded the direct discharge standard. In addition, sludge settling velocities after electrocoagulation were measured and the data were employed to verify the empirical sludge settling velocity models. Finally, the sludge settling characteristic data were also utilized to establish the relation between the solids flux (G) and the initial solids concentration.     

Assessment of the effluent quality from a gold mining industry in Ghana

The physical and chemical qualities of the process effluent and the tailings dam wastewater of AngloGold-Ashanti Limited, a gold mining company in Ghana, were studied from June to September, 2010. The process effluent from the gold extraction plant contains high amounts of suspended solids and is therefore highly turbid. Arsenic, copper and cyanide were identified as the major pollutants in the process effluent with average concentrations of 10.0, 3.1 and 21.6 mg?L^?1, respectively. Arsenic, copper, iron and free cyanide (CN^?) concentrations in the process effluent exceeded the Ghana EPA discharge limits; therefore, it is necessary to treat the process effluent before it can be discharged into the environment. Principal component analysis of the data indicated that the process effluent characteristics were influenced by the gold extraction process as well as the nature of the gold-bearing ore processed. No significant correlation was observed between the wastewater characteristics themselves, except for the dissolved oxygen and the biochemical oxygen demand. The process effluent is fed to the Sansu tailings dam, which removes 99.9 % of the total suspended solids and 99.7 % of the turbidity; but copper, arsenic and cyanide concentrations were still high. The effluent produced can be classified as inorganic with a high load of non-biodegradable compounds. It was noted that, though the Sansu tailings dam stores the polluted effluent from the gold extraction plant, there will still be serious environmental problems in the event of failure of the dam.     

An approach to wastewater treatment in organised industrial districts: a pilot-scale example from Turkey

In this study, a detailed wastewater profile and treatability studies of Demirtas Organized Industrial District (OID) were undertaken on a pilot-scale. The industrial categorisation of Demirtas OID was determined, and the wastewater characterisations of each industrial sector were analysed and the flow-rates were measured. The results were used to design a wastewater treatment plant for Demirtas OID. Pilot-scale chemical and biological treatability studies were carried out. The steady-state performance of the pilot-scale treatment system in removing chemical oxygen demand (COD) and suspended solids (SS) was studied for a period of three months. The removal efficiencies obtained in this study were 42% of COD and 67% of SS in the chemical treatment, and 84% of COD and 25% of SS in the biological treatment. The overall removal efficiency of the pilot-scale system was 91% COD and 75% SS. The pilot-scale study showed that the wastewater from Demirtas OID could be treated with biological and chemical methods, and the treated wastewater met the Regulation of Discharge Standards of Turkey. The significance of this study is that it is the first such system in Turkey to be tested on a pilot scale.     

Bioavailability of dissolved organic nitrogen in treated effluents.

The research objective was to assess dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) bioavailability in wastewater effluents from a pilot-scale nitrification plant and a laboratory-scale total nitrogen (TN) removal plant. The DON bioavailability was assessed using a 14-day bioassay protocol containing bacterial and algal inocula. Nitrogen species, dissolved organic carbon, chlorophyll a, and biomass (as total suspended solids and culturable cell counts) concentrations were measured to assess DON bioavailability. The results showed an increase in algal chlorophyll a concentration, with a concurrent increase in algal biomass over time; increased bacterial counts and a decrease in DON concentration over time; and increased carbon-to-nitrogen ratio at the end of the 14-day bioassay, indicating effluent DON bioavailability to algae and bacteria. Approximately 18 to 61% of the initial DON in low-total-nitrogen wastewater effluent (TN = 4 to 5 mg/L) sample was bioavailable. The results show that bacteria and algae uptake and release DON during their growth.     

Electrocoagulation-integrated hybrid membrane processes for the treatment of tannery wastewater

Three different combinations of treatment techniques, i.e. electrocoagulation combined with microfiltration (EMR), membrane bioreactor (MBR) and electrocoagulation integrated with membrane bioreactor (hybrid MBR, (HMBR)), were analysed and compared for the treatment of tannery wastewater operated for 7 days under the constant trans-membrane pressure of 5 kPa. HMBR was found to be most suitable in performance as well as fouling reduction, with 94 % of chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal, 100 % chromium removal and 8 % improvement in percentage reduction in permeate flux compared to MBR with only 90 % COD removal and 67 % chromium removal. The effect of mixed liquor suspended solids on fouling was also investigated and was found to be insignificant. EMR was capable of elevating the flux but was not as efficient as HMBR and MBR in COD removal. Fouling reduction by HMBR was further confirmed by SEM-EDX and particle size analysis.     

Sanitation assessment of wastewater treated by stabilization ponds for potential reuse in agricultural irrigation sanitation assessment.

Wastewater reuse has become an important alternative to agricultural irrigation; on the other hand, it poses concern with regard to public health. Total coliform and Escherichia coli concentration, presence of helminth eggs and Salmonella, and physical-chemical parameters were evaluated in raw and treated wastewater. Chemical and biochemical oxygen demand removal efficiency was 74.6 and 77.9%, respectively. As for organic nitrogen, total phosphorus, and total suspended solids, total efficiency removal was 17.4, 12.5, and 32.9%, respectively. The average density of total coliforms and E. coli was 3.5 x 10(9) and 1.8 x 10(8) MPN/100 mL and 1.1 x 10(7) MPN/100 mL and 3.9 x 10(5) MPN/100 mL for raw and treated wastewater, respectively. Ascaris eggs were observed in 80.8% of the samples collected, and viable eggs in 42.3% of the samples. Salmonella was detected in 36.4% of the samples. The values observed in treated wastewater did not show the adequate bacteriological quality, as recommended by World Health Organization (Geneva, Switzerland). Therefore, additional measures should be taken to achieve an improved microbiological and parasitological quality.     

Electrolytic treatment of an industrial wastewater from a hosiery plant.

Textile plant wastewater being treated in a facultative pond system had too high of a solids concentration to be reused in the dying and rinsing processes. Electrocoagulation was evaluated to further treat the pond effluent to remove turbidity, which was caused by dyes and microorganisms. A range of amperages were tested for removal of turbidity and chemical oxygen demand (COD). Electrocoagulation lowered the turbidity from 1400 NTU to below 50 NTU; and COD was lowered from 550 mg/L to approximately 250 mg/L, which was acceptable for reuse. In addition, a laboratory-scale sedimentation study was conducted on the electrocoagulated pond effluent, which indicated that a settling time of 35 minutes would provide for 80% removal of suspended solids, which was acceptable for reuse of the water in plant processes.     

Advanced extraction and lower bounds for removal of pollutants from wastewater by water plants.

The capacity to reach lower bounds for extraction of pollutants from wastewater by four floating aquatic macrophytes--water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes), salvinia (Salvinia rotundifolia), and water primroses (Ludvigia palustris)--is investigated. It is shown that the following lower bounds can be established for wastewater purification with water hyacinth: biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), 1.3 mg/L; chemical oxygen demand (COD), 11.3 mg/L; total suspended solids (TSS), 0.5 mg/L; turbidity, 0.7 NTU; ammonia, 0.2 mg/L; and phosphorus, 1.4 mg/L. Also, the following lower bounds can be established for wastewater purification with water lettuce: BOD, 1.8 mg/L; COD, 12.5 mg/L; TSS, 0.5 mg/L; turbidity, 0.9 NTU; ammonia, 0.2 mg/L; and phosphorus, 1.6 mg/L. These lower bounds were reached in 11- to 17-day experiments that were performed on diluted wastewater with reduced initial contents of the tested water quality indicators. As expected, water hyacinth exhibited the highest rates and levels of pollutant removal, thereby producing the best lower bounds of the water quality indicators. Given the initially low levels, BOD was further reduced by 86.3%, COD by 66.6%, ammonia by 97.8%, and phosphorus by 65.0% after 11 days of a batch experiment. The capacity of water plants to purify dilute wastewater streams opens new options for their application in the water treatment industry.     

Response surface modeling for optimization heterocatalytic Fenton oxidation of persistence organic pollution in high total dissolved solid containing wastewater

The rice-husk-based mesoporous activated carbon (MAC) used in this study was precarbonized and activated using phosphoric acid. N₂ adsorption/desorption isotherm, X-ray powder diffraction, electron spin resonance, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, ²⁹Si-NMR spectroscopy, and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy were used to characterize the MAC. The tannery wastewater carrying high total dissolved solids (TDS) discharged from leather industry lacks biodegradability despite the presence of dissolved protein. This paper demonstrates the application of free electron-rich MAC as heterogeneous catalyst along with Fenton reagent for the oxidation of persistence organic compounds in high TDS wastewater. The heterogeneous Fenton oxidation of the pretreated wastewater at optimum pH (3.5), H₂O₂ (4 mmol/L), FeSO₄?7H₂O (0.2 mmol/L), and time (4 h) removed chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand, total organic carbon and dissolved protein by 86, 91, 83, and 90 %, respectively.     

A2/O工艺缺氧池中反硝化聚磷菌的比例、特性研究及菌株鉴定

用释磷/聚磷装置和微生物筛选、分离方法研究A2/O工艺缺氧池污泥,确定缺氧池中反硝化聚磷菌(DPB)的比例,筛选、分离得反硝化聚磷单菌株且对单菌株聚磷特性进行研究.结果表明,缺氧池中DPB占聚磷菌(PAO)的比例约为21.5%.从缺氧池分离得到的肠杆菌科、气单胞菌属和假单胞菌属都是DPB,而不动杆菌属仅是好氧PAO,葡萄球菌属和微球菌属仅是一种专职的反硝化菌.反应过程中同时存在O2和NO3时,肠杆菌科优先利用水中的O2进行聚磷;在缺氧环境中,肠杆菌科在COD为30mg/L时的聚磷效果优于COD为180 mg/L时的聚磷效果.可见DPB的反硝化和聚磷的特性与电子受体的存在形式和COD有密切关系.因此,改良传统A2/O工艺和研发同步反硝化聚磷装置时,必须控制缺氧反硝化聚磷单元中混合液的DO和COD.     

Treatment of high-strength pet food wastewater using two-stage membrane bioreactors.

A two-stage membrane bioreactor was used to treat dissolved-air-flotation pretreated, high-strength pet food wastewater characterized by oil and grease concentrations of 50 000 to 82 000 mg/L and total chemical oxygen demand (COD) and five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) concentrations of 100 000 and 80 000 mg/L, respectively, to meet stringent surface discharge criteria (i.e., BOD5, total suspended solids [TSS], and ammonium-nitrogen [NH4(+)-N] of < 10 mg/L at an overall hydraulic retention time of 6.3 days). Organic contaminants were removed primarily in the first stage, followed by almost complete removal of ammonia in the second stage. Despite a rise in poorly biodegradable COD in the second stage, overall removal of TSS, BOD5, COD, and ammonia was 100, 99.9, 95.2, and 99.7%, respectively, thus readily achieving the required criteria. Consistent nitrite accumulation over a period of more than 100 days, even at dissolved oxygen concentrations of more than 2.5 mg/L, was remarkable. A residual alkalinity requirement for nitrification was quantified. Membrane performance was extensively studied in this work.     

溶解氧对底泥扰动状态下水体中磷去除和固定的影响

以太湖梅梁湾底泥和上覆水为研究对象,通过实验室实验研究了底泥扰动状态下溶解氧水平（2～4mg／L、5～6mg／L、7～8mg／L）对上覆水中磷去除和固定的影响。结果表明,底泥扰动和溶解氧水平对上覆水中磷迁移有明显影响。扰动时间延长,溶解性磷酸盐（DIP）和溶解性总磷（DTP）均呈降低的趋势;但溶解氧水平提高,上覆水中DIP和DTP浓度有所增加。底泥扰动和溶解氧水平改变了悬浮物上不同形态磷的数量分布。随着溶解氧水平提高,NH4Cl-P（1～5d平均值）和Fe／Al—P（1～5d平均值）含量及其占总磷（Tot—P）的百分比均呈逐渐降低的趋势。另外,闭蓄态铁铝结合态磷（Fe／Al—P）占Fe／Al—P的比值从51．2％（2～4mg／L）增加至54．1％（7～8mg／L）。     

Demonstration of Microfiltration Technology

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in cooperation with E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Company, Inc. (DuPont) and the Oberlin Filter Company (Oberlin), undertook a field demonstration project to evaluate microfiltration technology for removal of zinc and suspended solids from wastewater. The microfiltration system utilized DuPont's Tyvek T-980 membrane filter media in conjunction with the Oberlin automatic pressure filter. The project was undertaken at the Palmerton Zinc Superfund site in April 1990 to verify the ability of the technology to remove dissolved zinc from the site's shallow groundwater. Pretreatment of the groundwater with lime for pH adjustment to precipitate dissolved zinc and other metals was included as part of the technology demonstration program. Analysis of the treated filtrate indicated that the system removed precipitated zinc and other suspended solids at an efficiency greater than 99.9 percent. The filter cake produced during the study passed both the Extraction Procedure (EP) Toxicity and the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) tests.     

Ultraviolet disinfection of fecal coliform in municipal wastewater: effects of particle size.

Suspended solids interfere with the efficiency of disinfection using UV radiation by decreasing the rate of disinfection and inducing tailing. However, conventional measures of solids (total suspended solids, turbidity, and UV transmittance) do not adequately predict the presence or degree of these effects. Bacteria and viruses can become associated with particles in wastewater. A fractionation technique was developed to separate particle-associated bacteria into three fractions, based on particle size. The results show that the degree to which particles interfere with UV disinfection efficiency is dependent on particle size. The small size fraction (< 5 microm) consistently produced a statistically significant faster disinfection rate than the large fraction (> 20 microm), with the unfiltered sample and the medium fraction (particles > 5 microm, but < 20 microm) between the two extremes. Tailing also was observed only in the large fraction. Correlations between the disinfection rate constant and the percentage of large fraction bacteria of a sample were good.