REVIEW PAPER ON INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT PROCESSES

DAVID MOSES KOLADE

UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA.
2016
ABSTRACT
This paper reviewed five (5) researches on industrial wastewater treatment processes, the
methods employed in these researches are aerobic, anaerobic or the combination of both
methods. The paper tried to briefly discuss the motives of the researchers, their instrumentations
and results. These researches include a combined anaerobic-aerobic system for treatment of
textile wastewater conducted in Malaysia (2007) by Mahdi et al., Fayza et al., in 2004 conducted
a research on chemical industrial wastewater treatment, a preliminary study on nitrogen and
organic removal efficiency of a lab-scale system using aerobic and an-aerobic reactors by
Florante et al., in 2009, a research on Wastewaters from olive mills and pulp and paper mill
industries in Jordan conducted by Bashaar in 2004 and a survey on wastewater treatment plants
in the Slovak Repulic by Gaparikov et al., in 2004.

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INTRODUCTION
The chemical industry is of importance in terms of its impact on the environment. The
wastewaters from this industry are generally strong and may contain toxic pollutants. Chemical
industrial wastes usually contain organic and inorganic matter in varying degrees of
concentration. It contains acids, bases, toxic materials, and matter high in biological oxygen
demand, color, and low in suspended solids. Many materials in the chemical industry are toxic,
mutagenic, carcinogenic or simply hardly biodegradable. Surfactants, emulsifiers and petroleum
hydrocarbons that are being used in chemical industry reduce performance efficiency of many
treatment unit operations (EPA, 1998). The best strategy to clean highly contaminated and toxic
industrial wastewater is in general to treat them at the source (Peringer, 1997) and sometimes by
applying onsite treatment within the production lines with recycling of treated effluent (Hu et al.,
1999). Since these wastes differ from domestic sewage in general characteristics, pretreatment is
required to produce an equivalent effluent (Meric et al., 1999). In chemical industry, the high
variability, stringent effluent permits, and extreme operating conditions define the practice of
wastewater treatment (Bury et al., 2002). Hu et al. 1999 proposed concept to select the
appropriate treatment process for chemical industrial wastewater based on molecular size and
biodegradability of the pollutants. _ (1184) TESCE, Vol. 30, No.2 v s December 2004

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Chemical industrial wastewater can be treated by some biological oxidation methods

such as trickling filters, rotating biological contactor (RBC), activated sludge, or lagoons
(Nemerow, and Dasgupta, 1991; Jobbagy et al., 2000). Pollutants with a molecular size larger
than 10,000-20,000, can be treated by coagulation followed by sedimentation or flotation (Hu et
al., 1999).Waste minimization in the production process in chemical industry is the first and
most important step to avoid waste formation during the production (Carini, 1999; Alvarez et al.,
2004). Because of the fluctuation in the strength and flow rate, Bury et al; 2002 applied dynamic
simulation to chemical-industry wastewater treatment to manage and control the treatment plant.
Aerobic and Anaerobic Wastewater Treatment
Aerobic, as the title suggests, means in the presence of air (oxygen); while anaerobic
means in the absence of air (oxygen). These two terms are directly related to the type of bacteria
or microorganisms that are involved in the degradation of organic impurities in a given
wastewater and the operating conditions of the bioreactor. Therefore, aerobic treatment processes
take place in the presence of air and utilize those microorganisms (also called aerobes), which
use molecular/free oxygen to assimilate organic impurities i.e. convert them in to carbon dioxide,
water and biomass. The anaerobic treatment processes, on other hand take place in the absence
of air (and thus molecular/free oxygen) by those microorganisms (also called anaerobes) which
do not require air (molecular/free oxygen) to assimilate organic impurities. The final products of
organic assimilation in anaerobic treatment are methane and carbon dioxide gas and biomass
(Arun, 2011).

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Aerobic Process
Aerobic treatment systems such as the conventional activated sludge (CAS) process are
widely adopted for treating low strength wastewater (< 1000 mg COD/L) like municipal
wastewater. CAS process is energy intensive due to the high aeration requirement and it also
produces large quantity of sludge (about 0,4 g dry weight/g COD removed) that has to be treated
and disposed off. As a result, the operation and maintenance cost of a CAS system is
considerably high. Anaerobic processes for domestic wastewater treatment are an alternative that
is potentially more cost-effective, particularly in the sub- tropical and tropical regions where the
climate is warm consistently throughout the year. Anaerobic wastewater purification processes
have been increasingly used in the last few decades. These processes are important because they
have positive effects: removal of higher organic loading, low sludge production and high
pathogen removal, methane gas production and low energy consumption ( Nykova et al., 2002).

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Anaerobic Process

LITERATURE REVIEW
In 2007, Mahdi, et al., conducted a combined anaerobic-aerobic system for treatment of
textile wastewater. Textile manufacturing consumes a considerable amount of water in its
manufacturing processes. The water is primarily utilized in the dyeing and finishing operations
of the textile establishments. Considering both the volume generated and the effluent
composition, the textile industry wastewater is rated as the most polluting among all industrial
sectors. In their study, a combined anaerobic-aerobic reactor was operated continuously for
treatment of textile wastewater. Cosmo balls were used to function as growth media for
microorganisms in anaerobic reactor. Effect of pH, dissolved oxygen, and organic changes in
nitrification and denatrification process were investigated. The results indicated that over 84.62%
ammonia nitrogen and about 98.9% volatile suspended solid (VSS) removal efficiency could be
obtained. Dissolved oxygen (DO), pH were shown to have only slight influences on the
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nitrification process; and for each 10% removal of nitrogen, only 3% of pH changes were
achieved.
Instrumentation
A laboratory scale combined anaerobic-aerobic reactor was set up to investigate the
effectiveness of the system to treat textile wastewater in term of nitrogen removal.
Anaerobic reactor
The anaerobic reactor, made of transparent PVC, has a diameter of 30 cm, height of 30 cm, and
total working volume of 18 litres. The reactor was filled up with supporting particles (Cosmo
ball) for immobilization of microorganism in the system, and a total of 2-liter active sludge from
palm oil mill was collected from Hulu Langat, Malaysia and fed into the reactor. The total
surface area of support material was 192.56m2.
Aerobic reactor
The aerobic reactor is made of transparent PVC, has a diameter of 20 cm, height of 48 cm, and
total working volume of 9 litre. A total of 1 liter sewage sludge from Indah Water Konsortium
(IWK) was collected and fed into the aerobic reactor. Acclimatization of the aerobic sludge was
not as critical as compared to anaerobic reactor due to primary function of the aerobic reactor
was meant for polishing only. Air was supplied by a fine bubble diffuser; flow was regulated at 6
mg/l/min by a flow meter.

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Schematic Diagram of Combined Anaerobic- Aerobic System

They concluded that the combined anaerobic-aerobic system was able to treat high
strength textile wastewater. The maximum removal of ammonia nitrogen, BOD, COD, VSS were
84.62%, 63.64%, 60% and 98.9% respectively. The concentrations level of ammonia nitrogen,
BOD and COD in the final effluent were found to be 1.11 mg/l, 13.17 mg/l and 108.75 mg/l
respectively. Dissolved oxygen, pH were shown to have only slight influences on the
nitrification process; and for each 10% removal of nitrogen, only 3% of pH changes were
achieved. The changes of COD/NO3 at 28% gave 0.06 mg NO3/VSS denitrification rate and this
rate will decrease with increasing of dissolved oxygen concentration (Mahdi, et. al., 2007)

Fayza et. al., in 2004 conducted a research on chemical industrial wastewater treatment.
Building and construction chemicals factory and plastic shoes manufacturing factory was
investigated. The two factories discharge their wastewater into the public sewerage network. The
results showed the wastewater discharged from the building and construction chemicals factory
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was highly contaminated with organic compounds. The average values of COD and BOD were
2912 and 150 mg02/l. Phenol concentration up to 0.3 mg/l was detected. Chemical treatment
using lime aided with ferric chloride proved to be effective and produced an effluent
characteristics in compliance with Egyptian permissible limits. With respect to the other factory,
industrial wastewater was mixed with domestic wastewater in order to lower the organic load.
The COD, BOD values after mixing reached 5239 and 2615 mg02/l. The average concentration
of phenol was 0.5 mg/l.
Instrumentation
Aerobic biological treatment using activated sludge and rotating biological contactor was
carried out were carried out. The instrumentation design is shown below;

Conventional Activated Sludge Process System

From their survey, they concluded that Characteristics of chemical industrial wastewater
determine the adequate treatment system, more specifically, concentration, molecular size,
solubility, toxicity and biodegradability of the pollutants. Dilution of chemical industrial
pollutants using domestic sewage in the factory effectively decreases the concentration and
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.toxicity of the pollutants and subsequently increases the efficiency of the biological treatment.
Also dilution with sewage is cost effective since no chemical salts are required to provide
nutrients (Fayza et. al., 2004).

Florante et. al., in 2009 conducted a preliminary study on nitrogen and organic removal
efficiency of a lab-scale system using aerobic and an-aerobic reactors. A simulated wastewater
containing elevated levels of nitrogen was used. This paper aims to compare the efficiency of
aerobic and anaerobic reactors in achieving nitrogen and chemical oxygen demand (COD)
removal of nutrient-rich wastewater. It also presents the start-up experi-mentation conducted on
simulated wastewater using two different reactors configured as aerobic and anaero-bic. Start-up
experiments were carried out using a 5-liter acrylic aerobic reactor and a 4-liter flask anaerobic
reactor containing activated sludge taken from De La Salle University (DLSU) wastewater
treatment plant as a source of inoculum. Simulated wastewater was continuously fed to the two
reactors and the time course of biomass growth was monitored by measuring the biomass
concentration represented by mixed liquor volatile solids (MLVS). The time course of organic
pollutant reduction by measuring the chemical oxygen demand (COD) was conducted until
steady state condition was reached. On the other hand, COD and nitrogen tests such as Ammonia
nitrogen (NH3-N), Nitrite nitrogen (NO2--N), Nitrate nitrogen (NO3--N) were also per-formed
using 5 batch aerobic reactors containing different concentrations of wastewater and a single
batch anaerobic reactor to see the effect of different feed concentrations in the removal of
nitrogen. Preliminary results showed that 98% reduction in COD was obtained in aerobic reactor,
as supported by increasing con-centration of MLVS, with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 5
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hours after 11 days while 34% reduction in COD was obtained in anaerobic reactor with the
same HRT after 14 days.
Instrumentation
Experiments were carried out using aerobic and anaerobic reactors. A continuous aerobic
reactor was made up of acrylic board with a working volume of 5 liters where an air pump was
used for aerobic zone. On the other hand, a continuous anaerobic reactor was made up of a 4-liter
Erlenmeyer flask equipped with magnetic stirrer and stir bar to facilitate continuous stirring
within the reactor. A photograph of the reactors used in this study is shown below.

Aerobic and anaerobic reactors

Batch reactors as shown in the picture below were made up of 5 1-liter imhoff cones
supported by iron stand and iron ring with different concentrations of wastewater. Air pumps
were also used for each reactor for aeration.

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Batch reactors

From the experimental results obtained, the following conclusions were drawn:
Aerobic process requires longer aeration time and produces large amount of sludge but they can
remove ammonium nitrogen. Anaerobic treatment methods usually offer advantages such as
higher organic loading rates and production of usable biogas; however a relatively higher
effluent concentration and incapability to remove ammonium nitrogen are some of its
disadvantages. At the same HRT, 98% reduction in COD was obtained in aerobic reactor against
34 % reduction in anaerobic reactor; therefore, anaerobic bacteria have a slower capability to
degrade organics. Nitrite accumulation and low nitrate build up in aerobic reactor was observed
because of the low activity of NOB maybe due to the presence of inhibitors or un-controlled pH
in the reactor during nitrification. Therefore, based on the above findings, it is more attractive to
use combined anaerobic and aerobic systems for simultaneous removal of nitrogen and COD
(Florante et. al., 2009)
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Bashaar, (2004), conducted a research on Wastewaters from olive mills and pulp and
paper mill industries in Jordan have been characterized and treated using laboratory scale
anaerobic and aerobic sequencing batch reactors, respectively. Nutrient requirements for these
two industrial wastewaters were found to be less than what is usually reported in the literature for
C:N:P ratio of 100:5:1 for aerobic treatment and 250:5:1 for anaerobic treatment. This was
ascribed to the low biomass observed yield coefficients and relatively low removal efficiencies
in these wastewaters. It was found that for anaerobic treatment of olive mills wastewater
COD:N:P ratio of about 900:5:1.7 was able to achieve more than 80% COD removal. The
observed biomass yield was about 0.06 kg VSS per kg of COD degraded. For extended aeration
aerobic treatment of pulp and paper mill wastewater COD:N:P ratio of about 170:5:1.5 was able
to achieve more than 75% COD removal. The observed biomass yield was about 0.31 kg VSS
per kg of COD degraded. In both these wastewaters nutrients were not added. A simple formula
is introduced to calculate nutrient requirements based on removal efficiency and observed
biomass yield coefficient.
Instrumentation
The sequencing batch reactor used in this study had an active volume of 2 L. For
anaerobic treatment of olive mills wastewater (OMW), it was mixed and kept at 30 2oC using a
magnetic stirrer/hotplate. After the mixing time was completed, mixing and heating were turned
off, and the reactor was kept quiescent for 2 h to allow for anaerobic sludge to settle. After that
the calculated volume of the supernatant was removed from the reactor and tested for a number
of parameters following Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater
(APHA, 2000). An equal amount of raw wastewater was added and the whole volume started a
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new phase of mixing under anaerobic conditions. After the startup phase, the COD of the reactor
was kept around 16,000 mg/l by dilution. Sludge wastage was conducted to keep the volatile
suspended solids (VSS) concentration in the reactor as constant and as close to 12,000 mg/l as
possible. The hydraulic retention time was kept equal to 3 days. pH of the reactor was adjusted to
around 7 as found necessary using sodium bicarbonate. For aerobic treatment of pulp and paper
mill wastewater, dissolved oxygen concentrations were kept between 2 and 4 mg/l. The
treatment mode was extended aeration, because the yield coefficient in this mode is lower than
the conventional activated sludge process. Average hydraulic retention time was 24 h. The
reactor was fed three times daily each with about 670 ml. Mixed liquor volatile suspended solids
concentration (MLVSS) was kept about 2500 mg/l.
He further concluded that Olive mills wastewater and pulp and paper mill wastewater in
Jordan have sufficient nitrogen and phosphorous concentrations that addition of such nutrients
was not necessary, and the COD:N:P ratio required for aerobic and anaerobic treatment of
industrial wastewater should be calculated from a formula that take account of the removal
efficiency and observed yield for the wastewater in concern (41/EYobs:5:1) instead of using a
constant value for all different wastewaters, or based on loading rate (Bahsarr, 2009).

Finally, seven small wastewater treatment plants were chosen for evaluation. These
WWTPs work on the principle of anaerobic pre-treatment and aerobic post-treatment and were
made with the cooperation of Slovak Technical University with ASIO-SK s.r.o. Byta and ASIO
s.r.o. Brno. Wastewater treatment plants are made for 5-600 PE. When operated at suitable
conditions, the results match the directive water discharge from small wastewater treatment
plants in the Slovak Republic (Gaparikov et. al., 2004)

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Instrumentation
The presented work can be divided into two basic parts: laboratory research done in reactors ANI and AN-II and research done with evaluation of real working WWTP AS-ANAcomb. Two
pilot-scale reactors were used in the experiment with aerobic post-treatment. Reactor AN-I
(consisting of a primary settling tank, an anaerobic baffled system, an aerobic part and a
secondary settling tank, as can be seen in Fig. 1.), seeded with anaerobic sludge ( 200 l with SS
concentration of 18-22 g/l). Reactor AN-II was designed identically to AN-I, but was started-up
without inoculation. Both experimental plants were installed at the municipal wastewater
treatment plant in Bratislava Devnska Nov Ves (40,000 PE). The pilot scale ex- periments
with both reactors were running from Septem- ber 1999 till August 2001. The basic wastewater
param- eters (COD, BOD5, pH, SS, NH4-N, NO3-N, NO2-N) of the influent and effluent were
monitored according to Standard Methods (A.P.H.A 1985). In the second part, seven real
WWTPs working on an- aerobic aerobic principles were chosen for evaluation, one for 10 PE,
three for 20 PE, two for 200 PE and one for 250 PE. WWTPs from which the samples were
taken are situated in the north of Slovakia. The samples were taken five times during the period
between August 2003 and October 2003 from the effluent of the WWTP and all were grab
samples. COD, BOD5, pH, SS, NH4-N, NO3-N and PO4-P analyses were done on the samples
according to Standard Methods (A.P.H.A 1985).
The results of their work concluded that an integrated system originated from the
combination of anaerobic and aerobic technologies was studied. Following operational
experiences it can be said that the properly operated two-stage technology is effective for the
removal of organic pollution and suspended solids, while under optimal conditions even nutrient
removal can be achieved. Energy consumption decreased at about 25- 40% compared to the

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small WWTP working on aerobic principles. The operation of AS-ANAcomb validated the
lowering of the specific sludge production by 40%. The repeated startup of the WWTP is
without larger problems by proper operation. The operation of AS-ANAcomb showed some
problems which led to a decrease of treatment efficiency. This can be caused by the
accumulation of things that should not get into the WWTPs (grease, oil, solvents, cleaning
agents) in many cases. The fluctuation of the wastewater flow can also be a perturbing influence.
The operation of chosen AS-ANAcomb WWTPs can be evaluated positively. The majority of the
chosen WWTPs were efficient in the removal of the organic pollution without professional
operation, which is one of the most important requirements for small wastewater treatment
plants. The results obtained from WWTP operation confirmed the viability of an integrated anaerobic-aerobic system for municipal wastewater treatment, even in a country with a temperate
climate (Gaparikov et. al., 2004).
CONCLUSION
Anaerobic systems prove to be an excellent treatment technology for many areas of the
world. In future the traditional system of WSP shall definitely compete more and more with
UASB systems. Post-treatment still requires aerobic systems, which e.g. can be ponds, trickling
filters or activated sludge plants. The bigger the plants, the more economical it might combine
these technologies. Anaerobic biological treatment is well understood and used frequently as
anaerobic digesters to treat complex organic solid wastes such as primary and secondary
wastewater sludges. However, it has not been used much in the past to treat low strength organic
wastewaters from industrial and domestic applications. Aerobic processes were preferred for
treatment of these wastewater streams because they are easy to operate and can tolerate process
fluctuations. In comparison, anaerobic reactors were assumed to be less stable under fluctuations,
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more expensive to install and require long start-up time.

This belief was due to limited

knowledge of the process and reactor design. Now the technology advances have significantly
reduced the historical weakness of anaerobic treatment. With the work of Young and McCarty
in the year 1969, application of anaerobic process for the treatment of industrial and municipal
wastewaters has gradually increased in last three decades. Today the anaerobic treatment has
emerged as a practical and economical alternative to aerobic treatment due to significant
advantages over aerobic treatment.
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