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Dosing alum to remove phosphorus (P) from wastewater is a common practice. However, the dosing-location and quantity of alum required to meet P discharge limits are vaguely defined. As such, utilities overdose alum to avoid noncompliance, but this leads to wastage and costs. This study aimed to address this issue through a long-term evaluation of an alum-assisted full-scale intermittently decanted extended aeration (IDEA) plant. Specifically, the effects of relocating alum dosing from a low P containing IDEA-tank to a bioselector containing elevated P concentrations were examined. The plant is fitted with two IDEA-tanks, each retrofitted with a bioselector at the inlet end. Over 359 d, key parameters (dissolved oxygen (DO), NH4+-N, NO2−-N, NO3−-N, PO43–-P) were quantified to account for the effects of switching alum-dosing into the bioselector and varying dosages (429, 643, 1072 and 1286 g-Al3+ per treatment cycle). Results indicated a 52% reduction of alum usage with no impact on discharge limit (≤0.85 mg-P/L). As expected, a failure to maintain DO setpoint (1.6 mg/L) reduced both NH4+-N and PO43–-P removal. Increasing alum dosage simply could not alleviate this problem, but maintenance of DO at least 85% of setpoint enabled effective rectification. This 15% DO buffer zone offers operators an opportunity to rectify imminent operational failures related to DO, prior to escalating alum dosage. An operational framework to manage DO related failures is proposed. Overall, this study offers insights on how to cost effectively apply alum and manage DO failures to achieve P discharge limits in IDEA plants.

The removal of oil from water is of increasing importance in many industries, such as oil and gas, petrochemical and food industries, because of the large volumes of oily wastewater they produce. The aim of this work is to evaluate and compare the performance of ferrous and aluminium sulfate coagulations and to compare between sand filter, coagulation and a hybrid coagulation/sand filter process when used as pre-treatment options. When the concentration of oil was low in the oil-water emulsion, the treatment by sand filter alone was adequate (oil ≤50 mg/L). On the other hand, when the oil concentration was greater than 50 mg/L, advanced treatments such as coagulation are required as post-processes to reach good water quality. Aluminium sulfate was observed to be more efficient (about 5% to 7% higher than the use of ferrous sulfate) and less costly than ferrous sulfate to remove oil from oil-water emulsion using coagulation. The optimal technology for pre-treatment to remove oil from oil-water emulsion was found to be a coagulant dosage of aluminium sulfate combined with sand filter at pH 8 during various concentrations as hybrid. Optimal conditions were found to occur at mixing duration and speed of 120 s and 250 rpm respectively.

Conventional aluminium sulfate (AS) coagulant's inability to effectively meet stringent water quality requirements have created the need to explore enhanced composite coagulants. The coagulation efficiency of AS and composite AS and polydimethyldiallylammonium chloride (AS/PDMDAAC) coagulants were investigated using jar test and then, coupled with rapid sand filtration (RSF). The various composite AS/PDMDAAC at different intrinsic viscosity of PDMDAAC and mass ratio of PDMDAAC to AS in coagulant solutions were optimized and operated at same supernatant turbidity (SST) or same dosage mode (SD). The results showed about 7–10% reduction in dosage for all composite AS/PDMDAAC and also improved water qualities compared to AS only. The patterns of water quality improvements at lower (0.65 dL/g), medium (1.60 dL/g), and higher (2.60 dL/g) intrinsic viscosity of cationic polymer PDMDAAC among different mass ratio of PDMDAAC to AS in the composite mixtures were 5:1 > 20:1 > 10:1; 10:1 ≥ 5:1 > 20:1; 20:1 > 10:1 > 5:1 respectively. The percentage removal efficiencies for AS and optimal composite coagulant at intrinsic viscosity (1.60 dL/g) and mass ratio (10:1) operated at SST or SD after filtration for CODMn, NH3N and turbidity were (71.20, 72.72, 73.33%); (69.15, 69.23, 73.08%) and (93.89, 95.07, 97.26%) respectively. It was concluded that enhanced composite AS/PDMDAAC coagulants operated at SST mode showed significant water quality improvement than conventional AS having 7% and 31.8% for COD and NH3N removal while operational mode at SD produced more significant water quality improvements than conventional AS with 9.49%, 45.45%, and 39.55% for COD, NH3N, and turbidity removal before filtration respectively. More importantly, all composite AS/PDMDAAC met stringent water quality requirements before and after filtration. This research provided new insight about application of economical and effective alternative composite AS/PDMDAAC coagulant useful in the treatment of water for large population.

In conventional water treatment, coagulation and flocculation stages play a very important role, once they are related to the success of the subsequent processes. Among the techniques applied to analyze these stages, analysis of images that aims to provide information related to the formed particles, such as parameters of Particle Size Distribution (PSD) and Fractal Dimension (Df), stands out. Thus, this study aimed to compare the evolution of these parameters and the Df along coagulation and flocculation processes, for different chemical coagulants and different conditions. It was verified that the parameter β1 of PSD tends to increase during time, indicating formation of larger particles, until the establishment of its stabilization level. It was also observed that for higher coagulant dosages and, especially, when turbidity in water was higher and Ferric Chloride and Aluminium Polychloride were used, the parameters β1 of PSD, after initial growth stage, decrease for later dynamic stabilization. As for Df, it was concluded that there is an initial tendency of growing, followed by a stabilization of its value during most of the flocculation process, indicating that the structural organization of the floc is not necessarily linked to the variations in its size. These conclusions can help further investigations and studies on coagulation/flocculation processes in order to understand how flocs behave over time, under the different chemicals used.

Enhanced coagulation can be an effective way to reduce disinfection by-product (DBP) precursor concentrations. Where turbidity is not extremely high, the natural organic matter concentration evaluated by total or dissolved organic carbon concentration or UV absorbance is known to be the most important factor for determining the adequate coagulant dose. Yet, treatment plant operators are often faced with difficult decisions when it comes to coagulant dosages: Should coagulation efforts and coagulant doses be consistent year-round when water quality changes seasonally? Should the coagulant dose be increased when DBP standards are not met, or has the maximum removal of DBP precursors been reached? The objective and novelty of this study is to revisit the concept of enhanced coagulation and to determine optimal coagulation guidelines based not just on the removal of common indicators such as DOC but on the removal of actual DBP precursors. Jar-tests (for DBP precursor removal evaluation) using alum were conducted under a range of conditions on 8 different natural/synthetic waters with varying physicochemical characteristics for subsequent chlorination over 48 h (for DBP formation potential). A coagulant-dose adjustment strategy based on UV254 monitoring was also implemented at a full-scale facility. Results show that, for the wide range of waters tested, an alum/UV254 stoichiometric dose of 180 ± 25 mg alum cm/L represents a point of diminishing return (i.e. it maximises DBP precursor removal). Another original result of this work is that this dose is applicable and equally efficient in all seasons, despite changes in water quality. For utilities with similar raw waters, this means that coagulation efforts should be proportional to the UV254 of the raw water, regardless of the season.

peer-reviewed Carbon (C) losses from agricultural soils to surface waters can migrate through water treatment plants and result in the formation of disinfection by-products, which are potentially harmful to human health. This study aimed to quantify total organic carbon (TOC) and total inorganic C losses in runoff after application of dairy slurry, pig slurry, or milk house wash water (MWW) to land and to mitigate these losses through coamendment of the slurries with zeolite (2.36 3.35 mm clinoptilolite) and liquid polyaluminum chloride (PAC) (10% Al2O3) for dairy and pig slurries or liquid aluminum sulfate (alum) (8% Al2O3) for MWW. Four treatments under repeated 30-min simulated rainfall events (9.6 mm h-1) were examined in a laboratory study using grassed soil runoff boxes (0.225 m wide, 1 m long; 10% slope): control soil, unamended slurries, PAC-amended dairy and pig slurries (13.3 and 11.7 kg t-1, respectively), alum-amended MWW (3.2 kg t-1), combined zeolite and PAC-amended dairy (160 and 13.3 kg t-1 zeolite and PAC, respectively) and pig slurries (158 and 11.7 kg t-1 zeolite and PAC, respectively), and combined zeolite and alumamended MWW (72 and 3.2 kg t-1 zeolite and alum, respectively). The unamended and amended slurries were applied at net rates of 31, 34, and 50 t ha-1 for pig and dairy slurries and MWW, respectively. Significant reductions of TOC in runoff compared with unamended slurries were measured for PACamended dairy and pig slurries (52 and 56%, respectively) but not for alum-amended MWW. Dual zeolite and alum-amended MWW significantly reduced TOC in runoff compared with alum amendment only. We conclude that use of PAC-amended dairy and pig slurries and dual zeolite and alum-amended MWW, although effective, may not be economically viable to reduce TOC losses from organic slurries given the relatively low amounts of TOC measured in runoff from unamended slurries compared with the amounts applied. ACCEPTED peer-reviewed

This study investigated a novel method of predicting the long-term phosphorus removal performance of large-scale adsorption filters, using data derived from short-term, small-scale column experiments. The filter media investigated were low-cost adsorbents such as aluminum sulfate drinking water treatment residual, ferric sulfate drinking water treatment residual, and fine and coarse crushed concretes. Small-bore adsorption columns were loaded with synthetic wastewater, and treated column effluent volume was plotted against the mass of phosphorus adsorbed per unit mass of filter media. It was observed that the curve described by the data strongly resembled that of a standard adsorption isotherm created from batch adsorption data. Consequently, it was hypothesized that an equation following the form of the Freundlich isotherm would describe the relationship between filter loading and media saturation. Moreover, the relationship between filter loading and effluent concentration could also be derived from this equation. The proposed model was demonstrated to accurately predict the performance of large-scale adsorption filters over a period of up to three months with a very high degree of accuracy. Furthermore, the coefficients necessary to produce said model could be determined from just 24 hours of small-scale experimental data. peer-reviewed

In the present study, potential of four coagulants (ferric chloride, FC; ferrous sulfate, FS; poly aluminum chloride, PAC; and aluminum sulfate, AlS) was investigated in terms of removal of traditional water pollution indexes such as COD and TSS for the treatment of upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor effluents. In particular, the effect of various process parameters such as coagulant dosage (m) and pH on treatment efficiency was examined along with characterization of coagulant sludge residue to evaluate its usability in future applications. The results achieved were also verified using zeta potential ( ζ ) measurement and particle size distribution (PSD) of coagulants in reaction mixture. Among the all investigated coagulants, maximum removal efficiency was found to be 85.5%, 80.2% and 97.4% for COD, TSS and turbidity respectively, at m = 150 mg/L and pH 8.5 with FC coagulant. Confirmation experiments also demonstrated that ζ measurement and PSD is a powerful and useful tool in optimization of coagulation process for the treatment of UASB reactor effluent. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), surface area, pore size distribution analysis and thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA/DTA) were used for characterize the solid residue obtained after coagulation experiments. These investigation results revealed that solid residues, produced by different coagulants, have good calorific value, mesoporous in nature and possess higher surface area.

Sulfated mesoporous Fe–Al bimetallic adsorbent, prepared by a simple method of incipient-wetness impregnation, was employed as an efficient adsorbent to remove As(V) from solution. Removal performance was investigated by batch experiments with various factors, including ferric content, inorganic ferric additive, contact time, initial pH and adsorbent dosage. An interesting result was obtained that demonstrated that anions of inorganic ferric additive have a significant influence on As(V) removal, and the sample obtained from additive 10 wt% Fe2(SO4)3 was found to be a highly effective As(V) adsorbent. The experiment data were excellent fitted to Langmuir isotherm and the maximum monolayer uptake was about 98.13 mg/g at near neutral. And solution pH have a negligible influence on As(V) removal in the investigated pH region of 2.5–11.0. More importantly, adsorption equilibrium can be attained within 3 h, which is significantly shorter than that of MA (more than 12 h). Based on the results of batch experiments, pH changes, adsorption energy, XPS analyses and the chemical forms of As(V), the possible uptake mechanisms under the investigated conditions were proposed as follows: (1) during initial pH below 4, H2AsO4− and H3AsO4 were adsorbed by electrostatic interaction and hydrogen bond, respectively; (2) during initial pH higher than 4, the exchange between sulfate group and H2AsO4− was the dominantly interaction.

As widely used Al-based coagulants, poly aluminum chloride (PAC) and aluminum sulfate (AS) were adopted in a short term at the start-up stage (from 10th to 16th) to enhance the formation of aerobic granules, and their effects on aerobic granulation were elucidated. The results suggested that both PAC and AS facilitated the granulation by improving the physicochemical properties of sludge. The reactor performance in pollutant removal was also enhanced. Specifically, in terms of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), PAC dosing mainly stimulated the production of loosely bound EPS (LB-EPS), whereas more tightly bound EPS (TB-EPS) were secreted with the presence of AS. Based on the elemental analysis, polymeric Al hydrolyzed from PAC mainly worked on the exterior of microbial aggregates, and thus the attached aluminum in granules was gradually eliminated by ion exchange and hydraulic shear force. In contrast, the aluminum species in AS hydrolyzed into monomeric and oligomeric Al, and thus could diffuse into the interior of microbial aggregates and eventually created an “Al-core” in the granules. Overall, the present study describes the AGS formation with Al-based coagulants and the mechanisms of PAC- and AS-enhanced aerobic granulation.

To increase the sustainable reuse of animal manure as fertiliser, in many cases suitable treatment techniques are needed to modify the composition and obtain a balanced nutrient content. This study was conducted to evaluate the best strategies to remove solids, P, Cu and Zn, using two additives Ca(OH)2 and Al2(SO4)3, in combination with an ammonia stripping process. The assessment was carried out on five type of liquid fractions derived from the mechanical separation of: raw pig slurry, pig digested slurry, pig digested slurry after ammonia stripping, pig and cattle digested slurry, pig and cattle digested slurry after ammonia stripping. After the addition of the chemicals, the liquid fractions were mixed and then separated using a static filter. The contents of total solids P, Cu and Zn were determined. The additives effectively improved separation efficiencies which depended on the type of slurry and additive used. The P separation efficiencies ranged from 72% to 93% using Al2(SO4)3, and from 20 to 74% using Ca(OH)2. The use of Al2(SO4)3 always had a more consistent effect on the removal efficiencies than Ca(OH)2. The ammonia stripping process, reducing the alkalinity of the digested liquid fractions, facilitated a higher concentration of elements in the separated fraction. With the addition of Al2(SO4)3 to digestate after stripping the concentration of P, Cu and Zn in the solid fraction generally increased when compared to the same liquid fraction without stripping. The addition of Ca(OH)2 might be effective in removing P before the stripping process with the additional benefit to raise pH and improve the ammonia removal efficiency. These findings indicate that solid-liquid separation of animal manure slurries, assisted by chemical additives and coupled with ammonia stripping, can be a viable option for improving the sustainable use of animal manure as a fertiliser.

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is an effective way to recover energy and nutrients from organic waste; however, several issues including the solubilization of bound nutrients and the production of corrosive, highly odorous and toxic volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) in AD biogas can limit its wider adoption. This study explored the effects of adding two different doses of ferric chloride, aluminum sulfate and magnesium hydroxide directly to the feed of complete mix semi-continuously fed mesophilic ADs on eight of the most odorous VSCs in AD biogas at three different organic loading rates (OLR). Ferric chloride was shown to be extremely effective in reducing VSCs by up to 87%, aluminum sulfate had the opposite effect and increased VSC levels by up to 920%, while magnesium hydroxide was not shown to have any significant impact. Ferric chloride, aluminum sulfate and magnesium hydroxide were effective in reducing the concentration of orthophosphate in AD effluent although both levels of alum addition caused digester failure at elevated OLRs. Extensive foaming was observed within the magnesium hydroxide dosed digesters, particularly at higher doses and high OLRs. Certain metal salt additions may be a valuable tool in overcoming barriers to AD and to meet regulatory targets.

A series of experiments were undertaken in order to understand and predict the dosage of powdered activated carbon required to remove taste and odour compounds in an Australian drinking water treatment plant. Competitive effects with organic matter removal by aluminium sulphate during coagulation were also quantified. Data on raw and finished water quality following jar tests, as well as chemical dosages and treatment performance, were statistically analysed, and a data-driven prediction model was developed. The developed powdered activated carbon dosage prediction model can be used by the plant operators for rapid dosage assessment and can increase the preparedness of the plant to sudden taste and odour events. It was also found that total organic carbon levels and properties greatly affect the ability of powdered activated carbon to remove taste and odour compounds; on the other hand, total organic carbon removal is not affected by high taste and odour levels, since these were still much lower than organic carbon concentrations.

The present research investigates the uptake of phosphate ions from aqueous solutions using acidified laterite (ALS), a by-product from the production of ferric aluminium sulfate using laterite. Phosphate adsorption experiments were performed in batch systems to determine the amount of phosphate adsorbed as a function of solution pH, adsorbent dosage and thermodynamic parameters per fixed P concentration. Kinetic studies were also carried out to study the effect of adsorbent particle sizes. The maximum removal capacity of ALS observed at pH 5 was 3.68 mg P g−1. It was found that as the adsorbent dosage increases, the equilibrium pH decreases, so an adsorbent dosage of 1.0 g L−1 of ALS was selected. Adsorption capacity (qm) calculated from the Langmuir isotherm was found to be 2.73 mg g−1. Kinetic experimental data were mathematically well described using the pseudo first-order model over the full range of the adsorbent particle size. The adsorption reactions were endothermic, and the process of adsorption was favoured at high temperature; the ΔG and ΔH values implied that the main adsorption mechanism of P onto ALS is physisorption. The desorption studies indicated the need to consider a NaOH 0.1 M solution as an optimal solution for practical regeneration applications. © 2014 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Harvesting of marine Chlorella sp. by autoflocculation and flocculation by addition of coagulant with pH adjustment was investigated in this study. Autoflocculation provided low efficiency. Response surface methodology was employed to optimize the coagulant dosage and pH for flocculation. Aluminium sulfate and ferric chloride were investigated coagulants. The empirical models from RSM are in a good agreement with the experimental results. The optimum flocculation was achieved at ferric chloride dosage 143 mg/L, pH 8.1 and settling time 40 min. Biomass concentration also presented the significant effect on harvesting efficiency. Lipid extracted from marine Chlorella sp. cultivated in urea fertilizer medium with hexane as a solvent is suitable to produce biodiesel according to it contains high proportion of saturated fatty acids. The crude lipid should be purified to remove some impurities before making biodiesel. As the free fatty acid content was higher than 1% a two-step biodiesel production is recommended.

Background: Harvesting algal biomass is an important unit operation in the production of biofuel from algae. However, many of the known techniques available for harvesting and dewatering microalgal biomass are energy intensive and in some cases intrusive and inefficient. Here we show that microflotation mediated by fluidic oscillation is an approach that differs from dissolved air flotation by the nonintrusive laminar flow approach, as well as low energy consumptions, and is also different from dispersed air flotation by the method of bubble generation. Results and discussion: Using three metallic coagulant types, recovery efficiencies of 99.2, 98.1 and 95.2% were obtained for ferric chloride, ferric sulfate and aluminum sulfate, respectively. The benchmarks in the literature for dissolved air flotation are 40–98%. Conclusion: Biofuel production from microalgae can be facilitated by the improvement of a key unit operation such as harvesting and dewatering. The study outcome strongly recommends the techniq...

The efficiency of various polyaluminium chloride coagulants (PACls) was compared to the efficiency of aluminium sulfate (alum) in the coagulation-flocculation process preceding direct filtration in drinking water treatment. The comparative study consisted of two separate yet complementary series of experiments: the first series included short (5-7 h) and long (24 h) filter runs conducted at a pilot filtration plant equipped with large filter columns that simulated full-scale filters. Partially treated surface water from the Sea of Galilee, characterized by very low turbidity (-1 NTU), was used. In the second series of experiments, speciation of aluminium in situ was investigated using the ferron assay method. Results from the pilot-scale study indicate that most PACls were as or more efficient a coagulant as alum for direct filtration of surface water without requiring acid addition for pH adjustment and subsequent base addition for re-stabilizing the water. Consequently, cost analysis of the chemicals needed for the process showed that treatment with PACl would be significantly less costly than treatment with alum. The aluminium speciation experiments revealed that the performance of the coagulant is more influenced by the species present during the coagulation process than those present in the original reagents.

This paper presents the results of a laboratory study on the effectiveness of the coagulation process in removing surfactants from water. The application of traditional coagulants (aluminium sulfate and iron chlorides) has not brought satisfactory results, the reduction in anionic surfactant (AS) content reached 7.6% and 10%, respectively. Adding cationic polyelectrolyte (Zetag-50) increased the removal efficiency to 24%. Coagulation using a polyelectrolyte alone proved to be more efficient, the reduction in surfactant content fluctuated at a level of about 50%. Complete surfactant removal was obtained when powdered activated carbon was added 5 minutes before the basic coagulant to the coagulation process. The efficiency of surfactant coagulation also increased after the application of powdered clinoptilolite, but to a smaller degree. Then the removal of AS was found to be improved by dosing powdered clinoptilolite simultaneously or with short delay after the addition of the basic coagulant.

Chitosan is a potential substitute for traditional aluminium salts in water treatment systems. This research compared the coagulant performance of acid-soluble chitosan with water-soluble chitosan and with coagulant mixtures of chitosan and aluminium sulfate (alum). We also assessed the coagulant performance of chitosan and poly-aluminium chloride (PAC) to remove kaolinite from turbid water. In addition, we evaluated their respective coagulation efficiencies under different coagulant concentrations, degrees of turbidity (NTU) and pH levels. Furthermore, we determined the size and settling velocity of flocs formed by these coagulants in order to illustrate major factors affecting kaolinite coagulation. The optimal concentrations of acid- versus water- soluble chitosan required to remove kaolinite from a 300 NTU suspension were 4.0 and 10.0 mg/l, respectively-with individual efficiencies of 79.3 and 92.4%, in that order. Optimum concentrations ofwater-soluble chitosan demonstrated a broader range than that of acid-soluble chitosan. In addition, it is of note that chitosan/alum and chitosan/PAC water-soluble coagulant mixtures demonstrated much wider ranges of optimal concentrations for turbidity reduction than either alum or PAC alone. Moreover, our water-soluble chitosan coagulant mixtures produced denser floc with elevated settling velocities that favour cost savings relevant to both installation and operational expenses. Based on our observations of these noteworthy performances, we confidently propose that a coagulant mixture with a 1:1 mass ratio of chitosan and alum presents a remarkably more cost-effective alternative to the use of chitosan alone in water treatment systems.

Old corrugated container fiber foam material (OCCM) was prepared using a liquid frothing approach. The effect of the content of Al/Si compounds, the molar ratio of Al3+/SiO2, and different addition form on the limited oxygen index (LOI) and residue percentage of OCCM was optimized using an orthogonal design. The fire resistance of OCCM was best when the content of Al/Si compounds was 900 mL, the molar ratio of Al3+/SiO2 was 1:1, and the aluminum sulfate solution was added first, followed by the separately added sodium silicate solution. Under these conditions, the LOI and residue percentage of OCCM reached 32.3 and 53.51%, respectively. Thermogravimetric analysis indicated that Al/Si compounds promoted char formation and reduced the heat release of the optimized OCCMs during depolymerisation. Compared with the control group, the residue percentage of optimized OCCM was increased from 12.49% to 37.98%. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy identified the functional groups of Al/Si compounds in the optimized OCCMs, confirming that pyrolysis of the optimized OCCMs was affected by Al/Si compounds.

A novel two-stage coagulant addition strategy applied in a coagulation-ultrafiltration (UF) process for treatment of humic-rich water at neutral pH was investigated in this study. When aluminum sulfate (alum) doses were set at a ratio of 3:1 added during rapid mix stage and half way through flocculation stage, the integrated process of two-stage alum addition achieved almost the same organic matter removal as that of conventional one-stage alum addition at the same overall dose. Whereas membrane fouling could be effectively mitigated by the two-stage addition exhibited by trans-membrane pressure (TMP) developments. The TMP developments were found to be primarily attributed to external fouling on membrane surface, which was closely associated with floc characteristics. The results of jar tests indicated that the average size of flocs formed in two-stage addition mode roughly reached one half larger than that in one-stage addition mode, which implied a beneficial effect on membrane fouling reduction. Moreover, the flocs with more irregular structure and lower effective density resulted from the two-stage alum addition, which caused higher porosity of cake layer formed by such flocs on membrane surface. Microscopic observations of membrane surface demonstrated that internal fouling in membrane pores could be also remarkably limited by two-stage alum addition. It is likely that the freshly formed hydroxide precipitates were distinct in surface characteristics from the aged precipitates due to formation of more active groups or adsorption of more labile aluminum species. Consequently, the flocs could further connect and aggregate to contribute to preferable properties for filtration performance of the coagulation-UF process. As a simple and efficient approach, two-stage coagulant addition strategy could have great practical significance in coagulation-membrane processes.

Effect of bath composition and electrolysis conditions on the current efficiency, electroplating rate and surface morphology of Cr-coatings was studied using a trivalent chromium bath containing chromium sulfate, sodium sulfate, aluminium sulfate, boric acid, formic acid, carbamide and surfactant. The optimal concentrations of Cr(III)-ions, carbamide and formic acid were stated to be 1.0, 0.5 and 0.5 M, respectively. At optimal bath composition and electrolysis conditions, the deposition rate does not appreciably diminish during electrolysis time and reaches ≈1–1.5 μm min−1. The value of current efficiency of chromium electrodeposition process is close to ≈30–40%. The thick chromium coatings deposited from the bath under consideration are bright and smooth; they exhibit nodular type of surface structure.

Dewatered alum sludge, a widely generated by-product of drinking water treatment plants using aluminium salts as coagulants was used as main substrate in a pilot on-site constructed wetland system treating agricultural wastewater for 11 months. Treatment performance was evaluated and spreadsheet analysis was used to establish correlations between water quality variables. Results showed that removal rates (in g/m2.d) of 4.6-249.2 for 5 day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), 35.6-502.0 for chemical oxygen demand (COD), 2.5-14.3 for total phosphorus (TP) and 2.7-14.6 for phosphate (PO4-P) were achieved. Multiple regression analysis showed that effluent BOD5 and COD can be predicted to a reasonable accuracy (R2=0.665 and 0.588, respectively) by using input variables which can be easily monitored in real time as sole predictor variables. This could provide a rapid and cheap alternative to such laborious and time consuming analyses and also serve as management tools for day-to-day process control. Not applicable Enterprise Ireland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

Optimum conditions for applying M. peregrina as a natural coagulant to treat pharmaceutical wastewater are determined and compared with that of alum coagulation. In both cases, coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, was followed by slow sand filtration and activated carbon adsorption treatment. Alum reduced COD, BOD5, TSS and turbidity by 48.6%, 34.8%, 79.6%, and 69.2% respectively. Alum coagulation followed by slow sand filtration reduces the studied parameters by 97.7%, 95.7%, 93.9% and 76.9% respectively. Activated carbon was used to further reduce these parameters to 99.9%, 99.1%, 94.3% and 81.3% respectively. While using M. peregrina excellent reduction in studied parameters was found as 81.7%, 83.2%, 78.6% and 94.2% respectively. Further physicochemical treatment reduced by 99.8%, 99.7%, 99.1%, and 92.3% respectively after SSF. The performance of M. peregrina found to be superior to that of alum coagulation and can bring wastewater quality up to the standard allowable limits for reuse.

The removal of C.I. Acid Black 210 dye from highly concentrated solutions was studied using a coagulation/flocculation process. Aluminium sulphate was used as a primary coagulant and five commercial polymers were used as flocculant aids. The five commercial polymers were ACCEPTA 2058 (poly-diallyl-dimethyl ammonium chloride), ACCEPTA 2047 (high molecular mass (MM) anionic polyacrylamide), ACCEPTA 2111 (high MM cationic polyacrylamide), ACCEPTA 2105 (Low-medium MM cationic polyacrylamide) and ACCEPTA 2037 (Composite of high MM cationic polyacrylamide-inorganic salt(s)). The five polymers behaved differently and they showed maximum colour removal increment in the order: ACCEPTA 2058 > ACCEPTA 2037 > ACCEPTA 2111 approximately = ACCEPTA 2047 > ACCEPTA 2105. Results also showed that the aluminium sulphate is important as primary coagulant and settling time has significant effect on the dye removal.

The formation, breakage and re-growth of flocs were investigated using alum and polyDADMAC to explore the reversibility of floc breakage. There is a significant reversibility of the breakage process, i.e. the broken flocs can re-grow to the size before breakage, when charge neutralization dominates the coagulation mechanism. However, for higher alum dosage, the break-up process displayed a distinct irreversibility. When coagulated in charge neutralization, the re-growth process of alum was nearly the same as that of polyDADMAC. The average size, coagulation rate and fractal dimension of flocs before and after breakage were nearly the same, including alum and polyDADMAC. While at higher alum dosage, the average size, coagulation rate and fractal dimension of flocs after breakage were much lower than that before breakage. Most important is that the number of small flocs after breakage and re-growth was much less than before breakage when charge neutralization dominated the coagulation mechanism. On the contrary, at higher alum dosage, the small flocs, after breakage and re-growth, increased. The fractal dimension of flocs with alum increased as coagulation time increased until a limiting floc size was reached, while for higher alum dosage, it decreased, whether before or after breakage. The determining parameter for floc re-growth is probably not the fractal dimension, but rather the chemical characteristics of the flocs surface.

Electrofilter powders, a by-product of the Bayer process for the production of alumina from bauxite, were leached with sulphuric acid to dissolve gibbsite and transition aluminas, thus obtaining a commercial aluminium sulphate solution and a solid residue. This residue is treated again under more drastic conditions with sulphuric acidic in a furnace at a higher temperature, is then leached with water and filtered, a small amount of solid remaining (alpha-alumina). The liquid is a highly acidic aluminium sulphate solution which does not fulfil commercial grade specifications; the liquor is accordingly treated with potassium hydroxide or ammonium hydroxide to obtain potassium or ammonium alum. Experimental tests were conducted to investigate the synthesis of alum by crystallization. The effects on alum formation of various operating conditions, including the amount of potassium or ammonium hydroxide, temperature and seed alum dosage, were examined. The crystallization process was found to be quite effective in obtaining alum.

Norovirus (NV) is an important human pathogen that causes epidemic acute nonbacterial gastroenteritis worldwide. Because of the lack of a cell culture system or an animal model for this virus, studies of drinking water treatment such as separation and disinfection processes are still hampered. We successfully estimated NV removal performance during a coagulation-rapid sand filtration process by using recombinant NV virus-like particles (rNV-VLPs) morphologically and antigenically similar to native NV. The behaviors of two widely accepted surrogates for pathogenic waterborne viruses, bacteriophages Qbeta and MS2, were also investigated for comparison with that of rNV-VLPs. Approximately 3-log(10) removals were observed for rNV-VLPs with a dose of 40 muM-Al or -Fe, as polyaluminum chloride at pH 6.8 or ferric chloride at pH 5.8, respectively. Smaller removal ratios were obtained with alum and ferric chloride at pH 6.8. The removal performance for MS2 was somewhat larger than that for rNV-VLPs, meaning that MS2 is not recommended as an appropriate surrogate for native NV. By comparison, the removal performance for Qbeta was similar to, or smaller than, that for rNV-VLPs. However, the removal performances for rNV-VLPs and Qbeta differed between the coagulation process and the following rapid sand filtration process. Therefore, Qbeta also is not recommended as an appropriate surrogate for native NV.

The presence of natural organic matter (NOM) in both surface and groundwater supplies produces toxic by-products, mainly trihalomethanes (THMs), during oxidation steps in drinking water production. This research work shows the efficiency of different advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) based on ozone for the degradation of precursors of trihalomethanes in aqueous solutions. Completed treatments comprised different preoxidation processes (chlorination and AOP: O(3), O(3)/H(2)O(2), O(3)/TiO(2) and O(3)/H(2)O(2)/TiO(2)), adsorption with PAC (optional operation), coagulation-flocculation and final postchlorination applied to synthetic samples which were prepared by dilution of the soluble fraction of a humic solution. A direct chlorination of synthetic humic samples which display dissolved organic carbon close to 3 mg l(-1) produced a THM concentration of around 1600 microg CCl(3)l(-1) (measured as THMFP). Comparisons between the trihalomethane formation potential of initial synthetic samples and samples treated by prechlorination and coagulation-flocculation-decantation show that the main factor responsible for THM reduction is the coagulation-flocculation process since a decrease of 90% is achieved. Considering the various completed treatments studied, the most recommendable include preoxidation by ozonation, adsorption by PAC, coagulation-flocculation using aluminium sulphate followed by decantation and final postchlorination.

This paper attempts to compare electrocoagulation using aluminum anodes and stainless steel cathodes with conventional coagulation by aluminum sulfate dosing on aqueous suspensions of ultrafine quartz. Several key parameters affecting the efficiency of electrocoagulation and coagulation were investigated with laboratory scale experiments in search of optimal parameter values. Optimal values of the parameters were determined on the basis of the efficiency of turbidity removal from ultrafine quartz suspensions. The parameters investigated in the study were suspension pH, electrical potential, current density, electrocoagulation time, and aluminum dosage. A comparison between electrocoagulation and coagulation was made on the basis of total dissolved aluminum, revealing that electrocoagulation and coagulation were equally effective at the same aluminum dosage for the removal of quartz particles from suspensions. Coagulation, however, was more effective in a wider pH range (pH 6-9) than electrocoagulation which yielded optimum effectiveness in a relatively narrower pH range around 9, where, in both methods, these pH values corresponded to near-zero zeta potentials of quartz particles. Furthermore, experimental results confirmed that electrocoagulation could display some pH buffering capacity. The kinetics of electrocoagulation was very fast (

Pre-ozonation in combination with enhanced coagulation was used to remove NOM from lake water as to control the formation of disinfection by-products, DBPs. The effect of the hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity nature of NOM on the performance of the combined pre-ozonation and coagulation process was studied. The hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity property of NOM was characterized in terms of mass distribution of the phydrophilic and the hydrophobilic fractions of NOM. The optimal condition for the combined pre-ozonation-coagulation was established: pH=ca. 9.0 and ozone dose=0.45 mg-O(3)/mg-DOC. Under the optimal condition, it was able to achieve approximately 60% of THMFP removal. In terms of THMPF, results also indicated that the distribution between the hydrophilic and the hydrophobic fractions of NOM was 57.3 and 98.7 microg-THMFP/mg-DOC, respectively. Ozonation alters the structures and characteristics of NOM thereby affecting the coagulation effectiveness. Pre-ozonation was effective in removing the hydrophobic NOM, with a decrease of THMFP by approximately 20% versus approximately 10% for the hydrophilic fraction. The dosage of coagulant also governed DOC removal. The removal of hydrophobic and hydrophilic NOM were in the range of 27-41 and 2.5-22.7%, respectively at alum dosage of 0.41-1.65 (in Al/DOC) and 0.41-1.65 (in Al/DOC) and ozone dose of 0.58-2.93, mg/mg respectively. The adsorption characteristics of the hydrophilic and the hydrophobic fractions of NOM on aluminum hydroxide (from coagulant alum) were studied. Results indicated that the modified Langmuir isotherm of competitive adsorption was able to describe the adsorption of NOM onto hydrous aluminum hydroxide formed during alum coagulation of the lake waters.

In this paper, a new kind of inorganic polymeric flocculant (IPF)—polysilicate ferro-aluminum sulfate (PSFA) was adopted to treat banknote printing wastewater. Effects of flocculants dosage on the colour and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) removal were examined. Experiments revealed that maximal colour removal efficiency of 98% and COD removal efficiency of 85% could be achieved at the optimal dosage of 30.33 g/L. And the colour and COD removal results treated by the PSFA flocculant were compared with those treated by aluminum sulfate. Experimental results showed that the most attracting parts of PSFA as compared with that of Al 2 (SO 4 ) 3 were: (i) lower COD and colour contained effluents; (ii) less quantity and volume sludge; (iii) better dewatering behaviour and solid–liquid separation flocs; (iv) providing a possibility to eliminate the high labour intensity plate-frame pressure procedure and replace it by ordinary filtration. Therefore, the using of PSFA generally offered a lower cost of operation and maintenance choice to treat banknote printing wastewater as compared to that of Al 2 (SO 4 ) 3 .

The ability of snail shell (SS) to act as coagulant aid in the alum precipitation of a basic dye (MG) was investigated. The proximate physicochemical characterization of the SS showed the pHsolution to be 8.01, high fraction of the inorganic constituents (ash content = 93.76%), the presence of Ca2+ (99.74%) as the major metal ion present and the point zero charge (PZC) found at pH 7.9. The X-ray diffractometric analysis revealed the presence of aragonite. The stability and leaching of the SS, tested in different aqua medium (acidic, basic and neutral solutions) showed that the SS was less stable in the acidic medium. Both the alum and the SS were used, differently, for the dye precipitation. The alum alone had no precipitating effect on the MG dye molecules while SS alone was able to reduce the intensity of the dye. When the SS was used as coagulant aid in alum precipitation, the percentage of the MG molecule removed was enhanced. The effects of some process variables (coagulant/coagulant aid dosage, pH and flocculation time) were optimized by method of continuous variation. The optimum pH for the MG removal was found to range between 4 and 5 but the amount of MG removed was appreciable at all the pH studied. Studies on the effect of time on the flocculation of the precipitated MG molecule showed that the problem of redispersion and restabilisation encountered in alum precipitation could be overcome using alum–SS combination. The settling characteristics of the sludge obtained from the use of SS alone and alum–SS combination was studied by measuring the sludge volume index (SVI, mg/g) over time. The value of the SVI (mg/g) showed that the sludge produced from the alum–SS combination had better settling characteristics than the sludge got from the use of SS alone.

BACKGROUND: Electrocoagulation is an alternative to the conventional coagulation method, to treat different types of waters and wastewaters. Although there have been many reports on the technical suitability of electrocoagulation, no study has made a direct comparison of the economics of the two processes. RESULTS: Concerning the technical feasibility, no significant differences were found in the results achieved by the two technologies in the treatment of synthetic suspensions, emulsions and solutions of dyes, when the same values of pH and aluminium concentration were adopted in the reaction systems. Regarding the economic comparison, the electrocoagulation process presents lower operating costs for low and intermediate aluminium doses, but results depend on the particular coagulant reagent selected at high doses. The highest operational costs were obtained with conventional coagulation with aluminium sulphate (in the range 3–60 mg dm−3 aluminium). Comparing electrocoagulation and conventional coagulation with aluminium polychloride, the electrocoagulation process presents lower operational costs for low and intermediate doses. However, this situation changes for high aluminium doses. CONCLUSION: Coagulation and electrocoagulation techniques give very similar yields in the removal of different types of pollutants; therefore an economic comparison is of major importance in order to recommend the use of one of the technologies. Nevertheless, it has to be noted that operational costs are of the same order of magnitude for the two processes. Thus, the cost of the electrocoagulation process compares favourably with that of conventional coagulation for small coagulant demands, but the results at high doses depend on the particular coagulant reagent selected. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry

The effect of different physicochemical treatments on the aerobic biodegradability of an industrial wastewater resulting from a cosmetic industry has been investigated. This industrial wastewater contains 11423 and 3148mgL(-1) of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and anionic surfactants, respectively. The concentration of COD and anionic surfactants were followed throughout the diverse physicochemical treatments and biodegradation experiments. Different pretreatments of this industrial wastewater using chemical flocculation process with lime and aluminium sulphate (alum), and also advanced oxidation process (electro-coagulation (Fe and Al) and electro-Fenton) led to important COD and anionic surfactants removals. The best results were obtained using electro-Fenton process, exceeding 98 and 80% of anionic surfactants and COD removals, respectively. The biological treatment by an isolated strain Citrobacter braakii of the surfactant wastewater, as well as the pretreated wastewater by the various physicochemical processes used in this study showed that the best results were obtained with electro-Fenton pretreated wastewater. The characterization of the treated surfactant wastewater by the integrated process (electro-coagulation or electro-Fenton)-biological showed that it respects Tunisian discharge standards.

In the present study, the coagulation of the fresh and thermally treated desizing wastewater has been reported. The maximum COD reduction of fresh desizing wastewater using coagulation was observed with commercial alum at initial pH 4. This was followed by aluminum potassium sulfate (pH 4), FeCl(3) (pH 6), PAC (pH 6) and FeSO(4) (pH 4). The maximum COD reduction observed at a coagulant (commercial alum) dose of 5 kg/m(3) and pH 4 was 58% whereas the color reduction at these conditions was 85%. The results reveal that the application of coagulation on the catalytic thermal treated effluent is more effective in removing nearly 88% of COD and 96% of color at above mentioned conditions except at a coagulant dose of 1 kg/m(3). The amount of inorganic sludge generated gets drastically reduced (almost 25%) due to the reduced amount of coagulant. The COD and color of the final effluent were found to be 98.6 mg/l and 2.67 PCU, respectively, and the COD/BOD(3) ratio was 1.36. The settling rate of the slurry was found to be strongly influenced by treatment pH. The slurry obtained after treatment at pH 12 settled faster in comparison to slurry obtained at pH 4. The filterability of the treated effluent is also strongly dependent on pH. pH 12 was adjudged to be the best in giving highest filtration rate.

Absorbance spectra of fractions of natural organic matter (NOM) with varying apparent molecular weights (AMWs) were examined in this study. Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) was employed to obtain AMW distributions for three Australian water sources which represented low- and high-dissolved organic carbon (DOC) surface waters and a source with highly degraded NOM. These waters were coagulated with alum and other coagulants. Effects of coagulation on AMW distributions were quantified based on an absorbance slope index (ASI) calculated using NOM absorbance measured at 220, 230, 254 and 272 nm, This index can be calculated for any AMW fraction of NOM. Similarly to SUVA(254), ASI values decrease consistently in coagulated waters and are correlated with trihalomethane yields. Comparison of ASI indexes in different water sources indicates the presence of both common trends and differences indicative of NOM site-specificity. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Laboratory studies were carried out on model solutions prepared on a tap-water base. The content of humic substances was 20 mg l(-1). Hardness and pH parameters of these solutions were altered using appropriate reagents. The coagulation process was run in a conventional manner using the two most popular coagulants, i.e. aluminium sulphate and iron chloride III. Optimum doses of coagulants, as well as the effect of hardness and pH of the purified solutions on coagulation process effectiveness, were determined. The efficacy of coagulation using the optimum doses of coagulants was the greatest for solutions having the highest hardness. The coagulation process progressed most efficiently in the pH range from 5 to 6. In order to describe a coagulation process with a mathematical model, the concentration of humic substances was changed from 5 to 30 mg l(-1). The results of these experiments served as a basis for the determination of the dependence of coagulant dose on the initial concentration of solutions.

The aim of this study was to detect and characterise melanoidin in sewage treatment plant (STP) effluent, and to study the ability of alum coagulation to remove the colour and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) associated with melanoidin. The melanoidin is non-biodegradable due to the complex cyclic based structure and thus it directly contributes to effluent nitrogen concentrations from the sewage treatment plant (STP). Lowering of effluent total nitrogen limits and the link between colour and chlorinated disinfection by-products have therefore driven a need to understand the structure, properties and treatability of DON species found in STP effluent. The focus of this paper is the refractory coloured, organic nitrogen compound melanoidin. Wetalla STP effluent has relatively high colour (170mg-PtCoL(-1)) and DON (2.5mgL(-1)) for a biological nutrient removal STP, owing to an industrial supply of melanoidin containing molasses fermentation wastewater. Alum coagulation jar tests were performed on synthetic melanoidin solution, STP effluent containing melanoidin (Wetalla, Toowoomba, Australia) and STP effluent free of melanoidin (Merrimac, Gold Coast, Australia) to examine the treatability of melanoidin and its associated colour and DON content when present in STP effluent. The removal of melanoidin from STP effluent resulted in significant colour and DON reduction. An alum dose of 30mgL(-1) as aluminium was sufficient to reach maximum removal of colour (75%), DON (42%) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) (30%) present in melanoidin containing STP effluent. Alum was shown to preferentially remove DON with a molecular weight >10kDa over small molecular weight DON. Fluorescence excitation-emission matrix examination of the humic compounds present in the STP effluent indicated that melanoidin type humic compounds were more readily removed by alum coagulation than other humic compounds.

Surface water from Guangzhou to which standard polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) were added was treated by coagulation with ferric chloride (FC), polyaluminium chloride (PAC), and aluminium sulfate (AS) at optimum removal dosages for nature organic matter (NOM) to assess the polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) removal efficiencies. PCDD/Fs in suspended particulate matter (SPM) and treated water (TW) after coagulation were analysed. Low residual levels of PCDD/Fs were found in treated water after coagulation: 0.8% for FC, 0.9% for PAC, and 3.1% for AS. The removal efficiency calculated using these results was >99% for FC and PAC and 97-98% for AS. Most PCDD/Fs congeners could be removed by the three coagulation processes; the removal efficiency of FC and PAC was similar, and slightly higher than that of AS. The results also demonstrate that coagulation with FC preferentially removed tetra- and penta-substituted PCDD/Fs from raw water.

This paper presents results of an experimental study of coagulation/flocculation process of wastewater generated from a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant. The wastewater contains fine chlorine-based solid materials (i.e. latex). Experiments were carried out using a model wastewater which is chemically identical to the actual plant but is more consistent. Inorganic ions (Al2(SO4)3, FeCl3 and CaCl2) and a water soluble commercial polyelectrolyte (PE) were added to the wastewater sample. Coagulation efficiency was determined by measuring both the turbidity of the supernatants and the relative settlement of the flocs in the jar test. It was found that aluminum and ferric ions were more efficient than calcium ions as coagulants. The addition of polyelectrolyte was found to improve substantially the coagulation/flocculation process. It was found that the (Al2(SO4)3) combined with the polyelectrolyte at certain pH and agitation speed gave the best results compared to calcium chloride or ferric chloride when combined with the same concentration of polyelectrolyte. Only 0.0375g of a solution of (0.5% Al2(SO4)3) was required to coagulate the model wastewater. Ferric chloride (2.5% FeCl3) combined with the polyelectrolyte, on the other hand, required 0.1g while the optimum turbidity is almost the same. As for calcium chloride (2.5% CaCl2) it was found to be the least effective. The coagulation/flocculation process was found to be dependent on both pH and the agitation speed.

The priority pollutant lists of both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) and the European Union (EU) include diphenylamine (DPA), a contaminant found in wastewater of various industries. This work demonstrates the potential of using enzymatic treatment to remove DPA from buffered synthetic wastewater. This treatment method includes oxidative polymerization of DPA using laccase from Trametes villosa, followed by removal of those polymers via adsorptive micellar flocculation (AMF) using sodium lauryl sulfate (SDS) and alum. Researchers investigated the effects of pH, laccase concentration, molecular mass, and concentration of polyethylene glycol (PEG) in continuously stirred batch reactors to achieve 95% substrate conversion in three hours. Treatment of 0.19 mM DPA was best at pH 7 and an enzyme concentration from 0.0025 to 0.0075 standard activity unit/mL. Except for PEG 400, optimum enzyme and PEG concentrations decreased with an increase in PEG molecular mass. Optimum AMF conditions were pH 3.0 to 6.5, 200 mg/L of SDS, and 150 mg/L of alum.

In this work, the coagulation-flocculation process was used as pretreatment for purified terephthalic acid (PTA) wastewater with the objective of improving its overall biodegradability. PTA production generates wastewaters with toxicants p-xylene [1,4-dimethyl-benzene (C8H10)], a major raw material used in the production process, along with some of the intermediates, viz., p-toluic acid, benzoic acid, 4-carboxybenzaldehyde, phthalic acid and terephthalic acid. These compounds affect the bio-oxidation process of wastewater treatment; hence removal of these constituents is necessary, prior to conventional aerobic treatment. This paper addresses the application of coagulation-flocculation process using chemical coagulants, viz., aluminium sulphate (alum), polyaluminium chloride (PAC), ferrous sulphate and ferric chloride in combination with anionic polyelectrolyte. Polyaluminium chloride (PAC) in conjunction with lime and polyelectrolyte removed about 63.1% chemical oxygen demand (COD) and 45.2% biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) from PTA wastewater. Coagulation-flocculation process coupled with aerobic bio-oxidation treatment of PTA wastewater achieved, COD & BOD removals of 97.4% and 99.4%, respectively. The biodegradability enhancement evaluated in terms of the BOD5/COD ratio, increased from 0.45 to 0.67 at the optimum conditions. The results obtained from these studies indicate that the coagulation-flocculation process could be a suitable pretreatment method in reducing toxicity of PTA wastewater whilst enhancing biodegradability for aerobic biological treatment scheme.

The goal of this study was to determine the removal efficiencies of chromium, copper, lead, nickel, and zinc from raw wastewater by chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT) and to attain a total suspended solids removal goal of 80%. Operating parameters and chemical doses were optimized by bench-scale tests. Locally obtained raw wastewater samples were spiked with heavy metal solutions to obtain representative concentrations of metals in wastewater. Jar tests were conducted to compare the metals removal efficiencies of the chemical treatment options using ferric chloride, alum, and anionic polymer. The results obtained were compared with those from other studies. It was concluded that CEPT using ferric chloride and anionic polymer is more effective than CEPT using alum for metals removal. The CEPT dosing of 40 mg/L ferric chloride and 0.5 mg/L polymer enhanced heavy metals removal efficiencies by over 200% for chromium, copper, zinc, and nickel and 475% for lead, compared with traditional primary treatment. Efficient metals capture during CEPT can result in increased allowable headworks loadings or lower metal levels in the outfall.

The decolorization and reduction of COD of dyeing wastewater from a cotton textile mill was conducted using catalytic thermal treatment (thermolysis) accompanied with/without coagulation. Thermolysis in presence of a homogeneous copper sulphate catalyst was found to be the most effective in comparison to other catalysts (FeCl(3), FeSO(4), CuO, ZnO and PAC) used. A maximum reduction of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and color of dyeing wastewater of 66.85% and 71.4%, respectively, was observed with a catalyst concentration of 5 kg/m(3) at pH 8. Commercial alum was found most effective coagulant among various coagulants (aluminum potassium sulphate, PAC, FeCl(3) and FeSO(4)) tested during coagulation operations, resulting in 58.57% COD and 74% color reduction at pH 4 and coagulant dose of 5 kg/m(3). Coagulation of the clear fluid (supernatant) obtained after treatment by thermolysis at the conditions previously used resulted in an overall reduction of 89.91% COD and 94.4% color at pH 4 and a coagulant dose of 2 kg/m(3). The application of thermolysis followed by coagulation, thus, is the most effective treatment method in removing nearly 90% COD and 95% color at a lower dose of coagulant (2 kg/m(3)). The sludge thus produced would contain lower inorganic mass coagulant and, therefore, less amount of inorganic sludge.

Conventional coagulation is not an effective treatment option to remove natural organic matter (NOM) in water with high alkalinity/pH. For this type of water, enhanced coagulation is currently proposed as one of the available treatment options and is implemented by acidifying the raw water and applying increased doses of hydrolyzing coagulants. Both of these methods have some disadvantages such as increasing the corrosive tendency of water and increasing cost of treatment. In this paper, an improved version of enhanced coagulation through coagulant optimization to treat this kind of water is demonstrated. A novel coagulant, a composite polyaluminum chloride (HPAC), was developed with both the advantages of polyaluminum chloride (PACl) and the additive coagulant aids: PACl contains significant amounts of highly charged and stable polynuclear aluminum hydrolysis products, which is less affected by the pH of the raw water than traditional coagulants (alum and ferric salts); the additives can enhance both the charge neutralization and bridging abilities of PACl. HPAC exhibited 30% more efficiency than alum and ferric salts in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) removal and was very effective in turbidity removal. This result was confirmed by pilot-scale testing, where particles and organic matter were removed synergistically with HPAC as coagulant by sequential water treatment steps including pre-ozonation, coagulation, flotation and sand filtration. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Electrocoagulation (EC) using aluminum (Al) and stainless steel (SS) electrodes was investigated for color and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal from a simulated spent disperse dyebath. EC was optimized for electrolyte (NaCl) concentration (750–3000 mg/L), current density (9–87 mA/cm2), and initial pH (3.5–11.5). Optimum EC conditions were established as 2,500 mg/L NaCl, pHo = 7.0 and 44 mA/cm2 for 100% color and 58% COD removals using Al electrodes (total treatment time = 30 min), whereas 100% color and 45% COD removals were obtained for 2,000 mg/L NaCl, pHo = 7.3 and a current density of 44 mA/cm2 when SS electrodes were employed for a 60-min treatment. EC results were compared with color and COD removals achieved via coagulation with alum, ferrous sulfate, and ferric chloride at varying doses (200–2,000 mg/L). Alum was more effective in color (100%) and COD (64%) removals than ferrous sulfate and ferric chloride. The amount of sludge formed during EC using SS electrodes was approximately 10 times le...

Combustion of sewage sludge with subsequent recovery of phosphorus is a relatively new sludge treatment option. In the work described in this paper, recovery of phosphorus by acid leaching of fly ashes from co-combustion of sewage sludge with wood in a circulating fluidized bed combustor was investigated. The results showed that it is possible to find a pH range (0.5-1) in which one can extract a significant fraction of the phosphorus from these ashes without precipitation of secondary phosphates. The type of flocculation agent used in the waste water treatment plant where the sludge is formed has a significant effect on the phosphorus recovery. Ashes from combustion of sewage sludge that was formed using aluminium sulphate as flocculating agent released nearly all phosphorus at a pH value of 1. When iron sulphate was used as flocculating agent, this affected the chemistry of the resulting ashes, making phosphorus recovery more difficult. The yield of phosphorus from those ashes was 50-80%. In Part II of the project [Pettersson et al. Leaching of ashes from co-combustion of sewage sludge and wood. Part II: The mobility of metals during phosphorus extraction. Biomass and Bioenergy 2007 in press, doi:10.1016/j.biombioe.2007.09.006 [1].] focus is on the trace element release to the leachate. This determines if the leachate can be used directly as a fertilizer or if further removal of trace elements is necessary. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using a shear-cell/flow-cell combination integrated with an inverted microscope, the behaviour of Hamilton Harbour sediments was studied mixed with three different amendments: alum, chitosan (both coagulants) and a polyacrylamide (a flocculant). Samples from the shear cell were drawn into the flow cell, where floc structure and size were assessed throughout the floc formation and breakage stages using computer image analysis. Settling velocity, density and porosity were also assessed, with results suggesting that amendment addition may be an effective method for the management of high-turbidity environments, provided there are no toxicological effects. In an assessment of performance, it was found that the polyacrylamide flocculant showed the greatest promise in reducing turbidity levels as it produced the largest flocs with the highest settling velocity. Although more prone to break-up, these flocs still remained larger than those formed with alum or chitosan at the same shear. All flocs, regardless of amendment, broke up due to a fracture mechanism rather than by microscale erosion. By improving our understanding of how these amendments may influence floc properties and behaviours, more effective management tools may be developed for the remediation and control of high-turbidity aquatic environments.