Effluent treatment plant

Effluent treatment plant

Introduction: textile wet processing generate effluents of
extremely variable composition and constitute an
environmental risk specially water pollution of major
concern. By rapid disposal of untreated wastewater
deteriorate the ecosystem and damage the aquatic life. To
combat ecological degradation it is mandatory for a textile
dyeing industry to install an effective effluent treatment
plant (ETP). A semi-automated composite textile industry of
10 ton capacity produced 1250 m3 of effluent each day,
which contains an assortment of chemical including salts,
dyes and bleaches. Under the 1997 rules fabric dyeing and
chemical processing industries are categorized as “Red
industries”, which is the highest category in the rules and
for which an effluent treatment plant is mandatory.
 National standard (waste discharge quality standard for industry)

Public Sewer
Insland surface
Parameter Unit secondary Irrigated land
water
treatment plant

Ammoniacal
Nitrogen (N mg/l 50 75 75
molecule)
Ammonia (free
mg/l 5 5 15
ammonia)
Arsenic mg/l 0.2 0.5 0.2

BOD5 200C mg/l 50 250 100

Boron (B) mg/l 2 2 2
Cadmium (Cd) mg/l 0.05 0.5 0.5

Chloride (Cl—) mg/l 600 600 600

Chromium (total Cr) mg/l 0.5 1.0 1.0

COD mg/l 200 400 400

Chromium
mg/l 0.1 1.0 1.0
(hexavalent Cr)
Copper (Cu) mg/l 0.5 3.0 3.0
Dissolved Oxygen
mg/l 4.5-8 4.5-8 4.5-8
(DO)
 Effluent treatment plant
Inland Public Sewer
Surface secondary Irrigated Land
Parameter Unit
water treatment

Electrical Conductivity micro mho/cm 1200 1200 1200

Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) mg/l 2100 2100 2100
Fluoride (F) mg/l 7 15 10
Sulfide (S) mg/l 1 2 2
Iron (Fe) mg/l 2 2 2
Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (N) mg/l 100 100 100
Lead (Pb) mg/l 0.1 0.1 0.1
Manganese (Mn) mg/l 5 5 5
Mercury (Hg) mg/l 0.01 0.01 0.01
Nickel (Ni) mg/l 1.0 1.0 1.0
Nitrate (N molecule) mg/l 10.0 Undetermined 10.0
Oil & grease mg/l 10 20 10
Phenol compounds (C6H5OH) mg/l 1.0 5 1
Dissolved Phosphorus (P) mg/l 8 8 10
Radioactive materials: As determined by Bangla desh Atomic
Energy
Commission
pH 6-9 6-9 6-9
Selenium (Se) mg/l 0.05 0.05 0.05
Zn (Zn) mg/l 5.0 10.0 10.0
Temperature Centigrade
Summer 0C 40 40 40
Winter 0C 45 45 45
Total Suspended Solid (TSS) mg/l 150 500 200
Cyanide (CN) mg/l 0.1 2.0 0.2
Characteristic of waste water of typical textile wet processing

Ph 8-14

BOD 400-600 PPM

COD 800-1200 PPM

TSS 200-500 PPM

TDS 3000-6000 PPM

OIL & GREASE 30-60 PPM

COLOR Dark mixed

TEMPERATURE Up to 600C
 What national or international standards must you comply with?

What volume of effluent do you have? What chemicals does it contain? At

what concentrations? e.g. 30m3/hour with COD of 500ppm, and pH of 11.5
Do you plan to increase production? Will this increase the amount of
effluent to be treated?

How much can you afford to spend on constructing an ETP?

How much can you afford to spend on running an ETP?

How much land do you have available, or can you buy, on which to build
the ETP?

Which ETP expert or designer should be used?

What type of plant will best suit your requirements? (the answers that you
give to the above questions will help you and the designers to decide this).

Consideration
What capacity when
do you have in planning
your factory an ETP
to manage PLAN
the ETP? Do you need
to hire more staff or train existing staff?
 Biological treatment
The basic units needed for biological treatment are: screening; an equalization unit; a pH
control unit; an aeration unit; and a settling unit. A sludge dewatering unit may also be
included. Biological treatment plants require the presence of microorganisms that are
adapted to degrade the components of the effluent to be treated. Textile industry waste
will not contain suitable microorganisms so these must be added to the ETP when it is set
up. Traditionally in South Asia cow dung is used as a source of microorganisms. While it
may be useful to use cow dung it is unlikely to be the best source of microbes for
treatment of textile waste. If possible new reactors (either activated sludge or fixed film
systems) should be set up using activated sludge from an existing ETP, preferably one
treating a similar waste. If this is not possible polluted river water is likely to be a good
source of suitable microorganisms and can be used together with cow dung or activated
sludge. It is likely to take several months for the microbial population to establish itself
and successful treatment to result.
 Biological unit processes
The objective of biological treatment of industrial wastewater is to remove, or reduce the
concentration of, organic and inorganic compounds. Biological treatment process can take
many forms (Table 4) but all are based around microorganisms, mainly bacteria. These
microorganisms use components of the effluent as their “food” and in doing so break
them down to fewer complexes and less hazardous compounds. In the process the
microorganisms increase in number. There are two main types of processes, these involve
suspended microbial growth (e.g. activated sludge) and attached microbial growth (e.g.
fixed film). With both approaches large populations of microorganisms are brought into
contact with effluent in the presence of an excess of oxygen. In both systems the
microbial population has to be retained in a tank referred to as the reactor. With suspended
growth systems microbes grow in small aggregates or “flocs” (this is known as activated
sludge). Activated sludge (AS) leaves the reactor with the treated effluent but is settled
out in a clarifier and returned to the aeration unit to recycle the bacteria.
 Biological unit processes
If the amount of AS is excessive some may be disposed of rather than being recycled. In fixed film
systems the microbial population grows as a thin layer (a “bio-film”) on the surface of an inert
support medium. The classical fixed film system is known as a percolating or biological filter and
uses small stones as a medium to support microbial growth. In the more modern system microbes
grow on plastic supports. In the traditional percolating filters effluent is sprayed over the medium
and trickles through a packed bed with oxygen entering from the air. In more recent reactor
designs, the medium (usually plastic) are submerged in effluent and air is blown into the base of
the reactor. Traditional percolating filters require large areas of land and are unlikely to be of use
in Bangladesh due to landcosts. Submerged fixed film reactors using plastic media require much
less land. Fixed film systems require a final clarifier to remove particles of bio film that become
detached from the medium. However, this material is not recycled to the reactor. While most of
the activated sludge is recycled some may be surplus to requirements and needs to be disposed
of, as does detached bio film from fixed film reactors. This material must be disposed of
appropriately so that the pollutants now present in this sludge do not enter the water cycle. The
treated liquid is discharged to the environment or taken for further treatment depending on the
desired standard of effluent quality or the required use of the wastewater. Biological treatment
plants must be carefully managed as they use live microorganisms to digest the pollutants. For
example some of the compounds in the wastewater may be toxic to the bacteria used, and pre-
treatment with physical operations or chemical processes may be necessary. It is also important to
monitor and control pH as adverse pH may result in death of the microorganisms. The ETP must
be properly aerated and must be operated 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to ensure that the
bacteria are provided with sufficient “food” (i.e. wastewater) and oxygen to keep them alive. Like
humans, microorganisms need a “balanced diet” with sources of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus
and sulphur. While textile wastes have enough carbon and sulphur (sulphate) they are generally
lacking in nitrogen and phosphorous containing compounds. If the microorganisms are to grow
and work effectively they are likely to need addition of nutrients. Normally materials such as urea
and ammonium phosphate are added. It is possible to replace these nutrients by substituting the
liquid portion of effluent from toilets, which is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus containing
chemicals (the solid portion may cause problems). Both activated sludge and fixed film systems
can produce high quality effluent but both have advantages and disadvantages. In the AS process,
the settling and recycling of AS to the aerobic reactor is vital, and the settling process can be
difficult to accomplish. Fixed film systems do not require recycling of biomass and so do not
have this problem.
 Table: Biological Treatment processes

Treatment Processes Definition

Suspended-growth processes e.g. The microorganisms are maintained
activated sludge in suspension in the liquid
Attached-growth processes or fixed- The microorganisms are attached to
film processes some inert medium such as rock or
inert plastics
Combined processes A combination of suspended-growth
and fixed-film

 Output quality
Evidence shows that output quality from biological treatment can satisfy the
national standards for most of the required parameters except color. According
to Metcalf & Eddy (2003) a properly designed Biological ETP can efficiently
satisfy BOD, pH, TSS, oil and grease requirements. However, as already
mentioned, the compounds in industrial wastewater may be toxic to the
microorganisms so pretreatment may be necessary. Similarly most dyes are
complex chemicals and are difficult for microbes to degrade so there is usually
very little color removal.
 Effluent treatment plant (Biological)

Process flow chart

Effluents Screening Equalization Neutralization

Clarifier Sedimentation 1 Aeration

Sedimentation 2

Return Tank
Filtration Sludge Thickener

Sludge dewatering sludge disposal

Water discharge
Limitation of different process:

The physico-chemical methods with coagulation-flocculation can treat effectively

the color and BOD in the influent. However , the disadvantage of this method
are the high chemical cost, large amount of highly toxic physico-chemical
sludge and cannot satisfy national effluent quality standard (NEQS).
Biological treatment is the most economic and eco-friendly process due to least
running cost, no hazardous chemicals are required and very low non-toxic
sludge are produced. In this method waste water is treated by microorganisms
mainly bacteria.
Combination of physico-chemical and biological method is the most efficient
method where the bacteria or micro organism failed to treat (in high
temperature and non biodegradable compound) the effluent. But it has the most
running cost.
Wastewater treatment with oxidants like chlorine is now practicing in Bangladesh.
Chlorine can react with natural organic compounds which can produce
dangerous compounds known as disinfection byproducts (DBPs). Wastewater
treatment with Chlorine may produce Aromatic organic halides (AOX),
Trihalomethanes (THMs), Dioxins. Skin diseases and inhalation problems can
be occurred. Most of the time this process cannot maintain discharge standard.
Sludge characteristics:
Parameter Physic- Biological Combined Chlorination
chemical bio-
chemical
Sludge 2-5 kg/m3 300-4000 2-5 kg/m3 Negligible
quantity kg/m3

Sludge Highly toxic Non-toxic toxic --

toxicity

Sludge Severe Slight Medium --

disposal

Sludge High Very low High --

disposal
cost
Sludge Brick Fertilizer , Brick --
utilization brick