Introduction

Industrial Waste Water Treatment Plants will need to be capable of managing the difficult and varying effluent qualities produced by industry which are totally different from the biodegradable levels found in domestic systems and then treat it for safe disposal. As opposed with municipal waste water, industrial wasted water can be toxic substances, heavy metals, high pH, non-biodegradable substances, as well as various pollutants which are characteristic of diffferent industrial producting processers. The operation of an industrial treatment plant is complex and includes such specialized processes as are required by both the ordinary pollutants and industry-related wastestreams in order to be in compliance with increasingly stringent environmental guidelines.

It is very important to know the operating principles of these plants for a successful industrial water management and environmental protection. In this article, we take a deeper look into the processes and equipment from which industrial water treatment plants operate.

Influent Characterization and Equalization

The initial phase of wastewater treatment in industry is to characterize the effluent, which is greatly dependent upon the branch of industry. The wastewater from various production units can be processed individually or amalgamated for a more efficient treatment, depending on the constituents to be treated.

Characterization

Industrial effluents are defined through the physical, chemical and biologic properties. This may involve assessment of what substances are present at the landfill, and at what concentrations (e.g., heavy metals, oily wastes, solvents, etc.). Various treatment processes could be chosen depending on the properties of the wastewater.

Equalization

Equalization tanks are important for the control of WWF and concentration peaks due to the cyclic work of the industry. The holding tank serves as a stabilizing mechanism that evens out spikes in waste volume or toxic load before the waste is mixed with the treatment solution. Equalization prevents downstream systems from sudden “shock loads,” which would otherwise have the potential to overload or shock biological treatment systems in particular.

Primary Treatment Operations

Preliminary treatment in an industrial waste water treatment is physical and chemical process to remove the large solids and to make the water more amenable to treatment.

Neutralization

In primary treatment, one of the initial steps consists of so manipulating the pH of the waste water that this pH is at the optimum for subsequent action. This is accomplished by neutralization systems that include dosing the effluent with acids or alkalis to raise or lower their effluent pH. During processing in industries using very acidic or high alkaline solutions, for example, the industrial metal finishing or chemical manufacturing industry, this is crucial in trying to protect equipment and to facilitate the further treatment of the waste.

Chemical Precipitation

Chemical precipitation is performed in order to eliminate the dissolved heavy metals and other inorganic impurities in the water. This process includes the addition of chemicals to cause a reaction between the contaminants and the chemicals to form insoluble compounds, which can then precipitate from the wastewater. These precipitates are taken off and handled independently so that no hazardous materials accumulate in the effluent.

Oil-Water Separation

In the wastewater of many industrial operations, for example food treatment and metal processing, free oils and greases are present. These materials present issues when it comes to biological treatment and have to be removed before any downstream treatment. Oil and water separation systems, like API and dissolved air flotation (DAF) units, are very efficient at eliminating free oils from the waste stream, producing a cleaner discharge to the downstream process.

Biological Treatment Processes

In biological treatment, all the impurities are degraded by microorganisms in industrial wastewater treatment plants. Like in municipal plants, biological treatment for industrial plants can also be interesting, but attention should be paid to the nature of the industrial pollution.

Aerated lagoons and SBRs

Processes such as aerated lagoons or sequencing batch reactors are employed by industrial plants to augment biological treatment. In aerated lagoons, microorganisms decompose organic materials in a large, shallow tank that is open to the air and is continually aerated with oxygen. SBRs are cyclically operated, flow-through-based, batch reactors used for aeration to break down organic solution.

Membrane Bioreactors (MBRs)

Membrane bioreactors integrate biological process and membrane filtration in one unit operation. They are not only for removing micropollutants and disinfection, but also for removing organics or suspended metals in industrial effluent. MBR process combines biological treatment and filtration in a single step to achieve high-quality effluent.

Specialized Microbial Cultures

Standard microorganisms may not be effective to degrade the specific pollutants in the effluent, in some industrial applications. To deal with this: industrial wastewater treatment plants may bring in specifically adapted microbial cultures in order to degrade industrial type compounds such as solvents, oils or other toxic compounds.

Advanced Treatment and Polishing

When industrial wastewater contains refractory substances that can not be effectively treated by conventional techniques, advanced treatment methods are necessary. These treatments are designed for either specified discharge salinity levels or for industrial requirements.

Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs)

Advanced oxidation is the use of a strong oxidant, such as ozone or hydrogen peroxide, to decompose persistent organic species. There has been considerable interest in applying AOPs to treat the wastewater containing complex non-biodegradable pollutants that are recalcitrant to the conventional treatment processes.

Membrane Filtration

On the other hand, membrane separation processes (i.e., reverse-osmosis and nanofiltration) eliminate dissolved solids, heavy metals, and specific ions in wastewater. These systems are extremely efficient at generating high-quality effluent for discharge and/or reuse.

Activated Carbon Adsorption

Activated carbon targets any trace organics left in effluent after other treatment processes. The carbon will adsorb these by-products on its surface, thus preventing unwanted pollutants to bypass the treatment.

Conclusion

Industrial wastewater treatment plants are construction of custom processes for their specific waste.Which presents very different in sewages. Beginning with the initial characterization and equalization of wastewater to primary treatment, biological treatment and advanced polishing, these plants are designed to satisfy environmental discharge limitations of industrial waste streams. Incorporating specific methods for treatment of the effluent, e.g. advanced oxidation or membrane processing, the treatment of industrial wastewater contributes to a decreased level of pollution and preserves fresh water resources.

With more sophisticated industrial waste, the treatment plant needs to be monitored and adjusted regularly to keep the system in equilibrium, when waste types and loads change as production changes. Through the application of advanced treatment technologies which are required due to increasingly stringent environmental regulations, industries will be able to properly handle their wastewater and contribute to a more clean and sustainable environment.

For professional advice on custom industrial wastewater treatment from your manufacturing operations, visit Amalgam Biotech, (www. amalgambiotech. com) to learn more about our wastewater treatment solutions and odour control solutions.