Chemical Engineering Department

CHE 62 PROCESS DESIGN AND PROJECT FEASIBILITY

PRODUCTION OF PURIFIED WATER FROM COPPER CONTAMINATED WASTEWATER AND

EGGSHELL BASED PACKED BED COLUMN

Process Design Project BASIS OF DESIGN

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT 2

Cuervo, Ellen Jane Marie M. (96104911)

Labor, Marc Phillip P. (200530411)
Silve, Jerome James O. (200932430)

Maria Theresa Isla-Cabaraban, Ph.D

Instructor

Date submitted
July 16, 2015

Literature survey
A survey of the literature reveals that the Waikato Drinking Water Treatment Plant located in Tuakau,
New Zealand is one of the model Water Treatment Plants with regards to its sterilization of raw water
from waterborne pathogens. In the Waikato Water Treatment Plant, Raw water is pumped though a fine
screen, and aluminum Sulphate is added as a coagulant year-round to reduce color and TOC. The
influent flows through the clarification stage, where the majority of the turbidity is removed. The water
then flows to the ZeeWeed immersed membranes, where permeate pumps draw the settled water
through the membrane fiber. With a nominal pore size of 0.04m, the ZeeWeed membrane acts as a
physical barrier to waterborne pathogens. Permeate from the membrane then flows through Granulated
Activated Carbon (GAC) filtration, to remove organics, taste and odor. Chlorine treatment is used for
final disinfection before water is released from the plant. (Watercare, 2010)

Table 1. Typical treated water results from Waikato Water Treatment Plant (Watercare, 2010)

Screening

Coagulation

Clarification

Membrane
Filtration

GAC
Filtration

Chlorine
Treatment

Figure a. Block Flow diagram of the Waikato Water Treatment Plant process (Watercare, 2010)
The Modification of Waikato Water Treatment sequence with the addition of Heavy Metal Adsorption
Treatment using an Eggshell Packed Bed Column as the primary adsorbent for heavy metal
contamination from mining wastewater is the primary innovation which the proponents propose.

Raw Materials
1. Raw water and waste water
Availability: Presently, raw water is relatively abundant at our potential source which is the
Davao River. Industrial wastewater will be extracted from the Titan Mining and Energy Corporations
coal mining site in Davao Oriental. Future availability will be a concern in the event of a Titan Mining
and Energy Corporation shutdown; therefore the Davao River will be a viable alternative.
Processing required:

Screening

Chlorination

Heavy metal
adsorption

Coagulation and
Clarification

Granular
Activated
Carbon filtration

Membrane
Filtration

Storage requirements: Raw water and/or wastewater are immediately processed right after
suction from the source, thus no storage required.
Alternative: Raw water feed only from Davao River is a viable alternative in the event of any
shut down of Titan Mining and Energy Corporation or any unforeseen circumstances. The alternative
raw water will not cause any changes in the processing flow.

2. Eggshell
Availability: Presently, and in the future, availability of eggshells will not be a problem since
egg demands wont diminish anytime soon as a primary agricultural product. The problem lies with the
segregation of these eggshells from other wastes since it is common in almost all households and
industries to mix eggshells with other organic wastes.

Processing required:

Washing

Drying

Comminution

Storage requirement: Closed dry storage facility, normal room temperature, atmospheric
pressure, and metal containers (drums) should be air tight sealed.
Alternative: Limestone (CaCO3). This is a viable alternative in the event of any shortage of
eggshell, and the only processing required will be comminution.

3. Columns
Availability: relatively abundant in the present and in the future due to abundance of
manufacturing plants available in the Philippines and in the locality.
Processing required: Washing
Storage requirement: Since most packed-bed columns will be used for the water treatment
facility, a basketball-sized warehouse may be sufficient for an order based production. Storage facilities
must be dry and at room temperature, columns must also be tightly sealed.
Product specifications
1. Production Rate
It will produce 10,000 Liters/day of safe purified water from copper-contaminated wastewater
generated Titan Mining and Energy Corporation in the coal reservation in Davao Oriental.
2. Composition (or purity), Phase and Form
Purified water should not contain the following:
1. inorganic ions
2. organic compounds
3. bacteria
4. endotoxins and nucleases
5. particulates (typically controlled by filtration)
The product is in liquid form and bottled in opaque-colored bottles for better storage.
3. Value, Potential Markets and Uses
The purified water will be supplied to Crystal Clear, a bottled purified water brand of Solerex
Water Technologies Inc. The company will be the one to process it for purified drinking water. Since
this company is growing, they will need a larger amount of feed flow rate for their plant.
Other uses of purified water includes many applications including autoclaves, hand-pieces,
laboratory testing, laser cutting, and automotive use. Some industrial processes, notably in the
semiconductor and pharmaceutical industries, need large amounts of very pure water. In these
situations, feed-water is first processed into purified water and then further processed to
produce ultrapure water.

COAL ASIA HOLDINGS, INC. (COAL) is an investment holding company whose goal is to engage in
the acquisition of companies specializing in the exploration, development, and mining of coal and other
energy related businesses in the Philippines and around Asia. COAL has acquired Titan Mining and
Energy Corporation (TMEC) which owns 13,000-hectares of coal resources in Davao Oriental and
Zamboanga Sibugay. (Coal Asia Holdings, Inc., 2015) For the present report, the plant location is
targeted to be in-situ in TMECs coal mining site in Manay, Davao Oriental, Philippines. In the current
chosen plant site, the proposed plant is to be built and its facilities has yet to be fabricated and
constructed in the site. The succeeding illustrative descriptions gives more of the facts needed about
the plants location susceptibility to environmental and climate disasters.

b)

a)
Figure 1a. Location of Davao Oriental within the Philippines (www.zamboanga.com, 2015)
and 1b. Location of Manay within Davao Oriental Province (Wikipedia, 2015)

Figure 2a. Legend of Landslide and Flood Susceptibility Map of Davao Oriental
(Mines and Geosciences Bureau - XI, 2013)

Figure 2b. Landslide and Flood Susceptibility Map of Davao Oriental

(Mines and Geosciences Bureau - XI, 2013)

Seismicity (geographic and historical distribution of earthquake events) is noted all over the country
except in the Palawan region and Davao Oriental has been enlisted as one of the top ten provinces that
are at risk to earthquakes. The following earthquake prone-provinces together with Davao Oriental are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Surigao Del Sur

La Union
Benguet
Pangasinan
Pampanga
Tarlac
Ifugao
Davao Oriental
Nueva Vizcaya
Nueva Ecija

La Union and Pangasinan are prone to earthquakes, especially the deep-focused ones, due to the
Manila Trench while Surigao del Sur and Davao Oriental have earthquake hazards due to Philippine
Trench and nearby active faults. (Center for Environmental Geomatics - Manila Observatory, 2005)
With being a province vulnerable to earthquake, Davao Oriental has also been enlisted as one of the
top ten provinces which are at risk to earthquake-induced shallow landslides. Together with Davao
Oriental, the following provinces are susceptible to landslide hazards:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Ifugao
Lanao Del Sur
Sarangani
Benguet
Mountain Province
Bukidnon
Aurora
Davao del Sur
Davao Oriental
Rizal

Furthermore, Davao Oriental has not been enlisted as one of the top ten provinces which are at risk to
volcanic eruptions and tsunamis. (Center for Environmental Geomatics - Manila Observatory, 2005)

Figure 3. Philippine Vulnerability to Environmental Disasters

(Center for Environmental Geomatics - Manila Observatory, 2005)

Figure 4. Philippine Vulnerability to Climate Disasters

Fortunately, Davao Oriental has not been enlisted as one of the top ten provinces which are at risk to
projected temperature increase, projected rainfall change, typhoons and El Nio.
Source: (Center for Environmental Geomatics - Manila Observatory, 2005)
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The following information on utility services were obtained from Davao City Investment Promotion
Center, 2013 and were based from the assumption that availability and pricing of the said services also
exist and goes along with the rates imposed at them in Manay, Davao Oriental.

.
Figure 5. Minimum Daily Wage + Cost of Living Allowance (COLA)
(Davao City Investment Promotion Center, 2013)

Figure 6. Water Rates (Davao City Investment Promotion Center, 2013)

Figure 7. Power Rates (Davao City Investment Promotion Center, 2013)

Figure 8. Land Rates - Average per Square Meter (Davao City Investment Promotion Center, 2013)

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Figure 9. Tax Rates and Mandatory Contributions (Davao City Investment Promotion Center, 2013)

References
Center for Environmental Geomatics - Manila Observatory. (2005). Climate- and Weather-Related Risk
Maps. Retrieved from Center for Environmental Geomatics - Manila Observatory:
http://vm.observatory.ph/cw_maps.html
Center for Environmental Geomatics - Manila Observatory. (2005). Mapping Philippine Vulnerability to
Environmental Disasters. Retrieved from Center for Environmental Geomatics - Manila
Observatory: http://vm.observatory.ph/images/Geophys_hires/risk_geophys.jpg
Coal

Asia

Holdings,

Inc.

(2015).

COAL

ASIA

HOLDINGS,

INC.

Retrieved

from

www.coalasiaholdings.com: http://www.coalasiaholdings.com/
Davao City Investment Promotion Center. (2013). Cost of Doing Business in Davao City. Retrieved from
www.davao.city.gov.ph:
http://www.davaocity.gov.ph/dcipc/downloads/costofdoingbusiness201320130620110713.pdf
Mines and Geosciences Bureau - XI. (2013). Geohazard Map of Davao Oriental. Retrieved from Mines
and

Geosciences

Bureau

XI:

http://mgbxi.org/wp-

content/uploads/2013/09/DAVAOOriental_EDITED.jpg
Watercare. (2010). Waikato Water Treatment Plant. Retrieved from Watercare: www.watercare.co.nz
Wikipedia.

(2015,

February

8).

Manay,

Davao

Oriental.

Retrieved

from

Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manay,_Davao_Oriental
www.zamboanga.com. (2015, March 9). Manay, Davao Oriental Province, Philippines. Retrieved from
www.zamboanga.com:
http://www.zamboanga.com/z/index.php?title=Manay_Davao_Oriental_Philippines

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