NewMethodsofTextilewastewater treatment

Leture37

Traditional method of Treatment

Atreatabilitystudyoftextilewastewaterbytraditionalmethodusingcoagulationbyadding polyelectrolytes ((12ppm)atpH(6.77.5)andprimarysedimentationfollowedbyaeration andfinalsettlinggaveagoodresults. CODdecreasedfrom1835to120ppm,SSdecreasedfrom960to120ppm andsulphate from1350to125ppm. InthefullscaletreatmentplantfiltrationisusedtoimprovedresultsbydecreasingCOD, from263to55andSSfrom295to10andSulphatefrom158to100ppm respectively

Coagulation and aeration

Theprimarytreatedwastewaterfromtheindustrialplantisgenerallydischargedintothepublic sewerwhereitismixedwithdomesticwastewater. Usingcoagulationandaerationwithsedimentationassecondaryorbiologicaltreatmentimproved theeffluentquality. Textilewastewatershaveimpurities,dissolvedcolloidalandsuspendedform,atfirstarecoagulated andprecipitatedtoproducemicroflocs bysimplyadjustingpH(6.77.5)orbyaddinginorganicor organiccoagulatingchemical. Lowmolecularweightnonionicpolyelectrolytes (12ppm)wereusedtoreducesludge productionwhentheimpuritiesareintheformofmicroflocs andothersuspendedsolids.The benchscalereactortankswasoperatedatHRTof6hourswithoutfiltration.

Usual process outcome

Textilewastewatertreatmentstudyhasbeensuccessfullyoperatedatmanytextilemills. The simpleaerobictreatmentincombinationwiththeuseoffiltrationresultedinasignificant Suspendedsolids,CODandcolor removal. Researchwasconductedonthedevelopmentofapplicablemethodoftextilewastewater treatmenttosatisfythevaluesofSS,BOD,COD,SO4 andPO4 removalefficiencyshowing76%, 84%,86%,92%and100%respectivelywithoutfiltration. RemovalefficiencyimprovedwithfiltrationforSS,BOD,CODandSO4 tobe98.3%,91.2%,95%and 92%respectively. Usingfiltrationisessentialtogettreatedtextilewastewatersatisfiespermissiblelimitstobe reused.

Technologies for colour removal

Therearemorethan100,000commerciallyavailabledyeexistandmorethan700000tonnes peryearareproducedannually(Pearceetal.,2003,McMullanetal.,2001). Wastewatercontainingdyesisverydifficulttotreat,sincethedyesarerecalcitrantorganic molecules,resistanttoaerobicdigestion,andarestabletolight. Asyntheticdyeinwastewatercannotbeefficientlydecolorizedbytraditionalmethods. Thisisbecauseofthehighcostanddisposalproblemsfortreatingdyewastewateratlarge scaleinthetextileandpaperindustries(Ghoreishi andHaghighi,2003). Thetechnologiesforcolourremovalcanbedividedintothreecategories:biological,chemical andphysical(Robinsonetal.,2001).Allofthemhaveadvantagesanddrawbacks.

Biological Methods

Biologicaltreatmentistheoftenthemosteconomicalalternativeswhencomparedwith otherphysicalandchemicalprocesses.Biodegradationmethodssuchasfungal decolourization,microbialdegradation,adsorptionby(livingordead)microbialbiomassand bioremediationsystemsarecommonlyappliedtothetreatmentofindustrialeffluents becausemanymicroorganismssuchasbacteria,yeasts,alges andfungiareableto accumulateanddegradedifferentpollutants(McMullanetal.,2001andFuandViraraghavan, 2001).

Biological treatment
However,theirapplicationisoftenrestrictedbecauseoftechnicalconstraint. Biologicaltreatmentrequiresalargelandareaandisconstrainedbysensitivitytowarddiurnal variationaswellastoxicityofsomechemicals,andlessflexibilityindesignandoperation. Further,biologicaltreatmentisincapableofobtainingsatisfactorycoloureliminationwithcurrent conventionalbiodegradationprocesses(Robinsonetal.,2001). Moreover,althoughmanyorganicmoleculesaredegraded,manyothersarerecalcitrantdueto theircomplexchemicalstructureandsyntheticorganicorigin(RaviKumaretal.,1998).In particular,duetotheirxenobiotic nature,azo dyesarenottotallydegraded.

Chemical methods
Chemicalmethodsincludecoagulationorflocculationcombinedwithflotationandfiltration, precipitationflocculationwithFe(II)/Ca(OH)2,electroflotation,electrokinetic coagulation, conventionaloxidationmethodsbyoxidizingagents(ozone),irradiationorelectrochemical processes. Thesechemicaltechniquesareoftenexpensive,andalthoughthedyesareremoved,accumulation ofconcentratedsludgecreatesadisposalproblem. Thereisalsothepossibilitythatasecondarypollutionproblemwillarisebecauseofexcessive chemicaluse.

Chemical Methods

Recently,otheremergingtechniques,knownasadvancedoxidationprocesses,whichare basedonthegenerationofverypowerfuloxidizingagentssuchashydroxylradicals,have beenappliedwithsuccessforthepollutantdegradation. Althoughthesemethodsareefficientforthetreatmentofwaterscontaminatedwith pollutants,theyareverycostlyandcommerciallyunattractive.Thehighelectricalenergy demandandtheconsumptionofchemicalreagentsarecommonproblems.

Physical methods

Differentphysicalmethodsarealsowidelyused,suchasmembrane filtrationprocesses (nanofiltration,reverseosmosis,electrodialysis)andadsorptiontechniques.Themajor disadvantagesofthemembraneprocessesisthattheyalimitedlifetimebeforemembrane foulingoccursandthecostofperiodicreplacementmustthusbeincludedinanyanalysisof theireconomicviability.Inaccordancewiththeveryabundantliteraturedata,liquidphase adsorptionisoneofthemostpopularmethodsfortheremovalofpollutantsfrom wastewatersinceproperdesignoftheadsorptionprocesswillproduceahighqualitytreated effluent.

Physical methods

Thisprocessprovidesanattractivealternativeforthetreatmentofcontaminatedwaters, especiallyifthesorbentisinexpensiveanddoesnotrequireanadditionalpretreatmentstep beforeitsapplication. Adsorptionisawellknownequilibriumseparationprocessandaneffectivemethodforwater decontaminationapplications(Dabrowski,2001). Adsorptionhasbeenfoundtobesuperiortoothertechniquesforwaterreuseintermsof initialcost,flexibilityandsimplicityofdesign,easeofoperationandinsensitivitytotoxic pollutants.Decolourisationisaresultoftwomechanisms:adsorptionandionexchange (Slokar andLeMarechal,1998),andisinfluencedbymanyphysiochemicalfactors,suchas, dye/sorbentinteraction,sorbentsurfacearea,particlesize,temperature,pH,andcontact time(Kumaretal.,1998).Adsorptionalsodoesnotresultintheformationofharmful substance.