In this article, we shall be talking about the different industrial wastewater treatment technologies that are currently being used in industrial wastewater treatment plants all over the world for the treatment of industrial wastewater.
Industrial wastewater treatment is defined as the industrial process of treating wastewater that is obtained from industries as unwanted waste products in other to make them healthy to be re-used or put back into the surface waters in the environment.
Industrial wastewater treatment technologies are defined as the techniques, methods, or processes that are used by industries in the treatment of industrial wastewater.
industrial wastewater treatment processes include primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary wastewater treatment; quaternary wastewater treatment is applied in order to purify the water in the highest possible way and making it fit for drinking.
Table of Contents
7 Industrial Wastewater Treatment Technologies
The industrial wastewater treatment technologies are; solid bowl centrifuge, tramp oil separation, vacuum filtration, ultrafiltration, vacuum evaporation and distillation, reverse osmosis, and paper bed filtration technologies.
Industrial wastewater treatment technologies have efficiently helped to reduce environmental pollution, most especially; water pollution.
Solid Bowl Centrifuge Technology
The solid bowl centrifuge technology is the technology that involves the use of centrifuge in the separation of solid impurities from industrial wastewater, the technology is efficient for separating all kinds of solid from wastewater; including metallic, non-metallic, ferrous and non-ferrous particles.
The solid bowl centrifuge technology has two main types and they are the manually cleaned rotor style; which has a re-usable liner and fully automatic self-cleaning designs.
In this industrial wastewater treatment technology, the liquid to be treated is either gravity-fed or pumped into the centrifuge inlet, the liquid is then spun around at a very high speed in the usually cylinder-shaped inlet which results in the separation of solids from the liquid.
After this stage, the liquid is then collected in the liner, the clear liquid then overflows the liner and then flows into the outer case and it is then returned into the centrifuge inlet and then the process begins again. The solid bowl centrifuge technology is one of the primary wastewater treatment processes.
Tramp Oil Separation Technology
Tramp oil separation is among the most popular industrial wastewater treatment technologies and it involves the separation of oil from industrial wastewater, it is a primary wastewater treatment process.
In this technology, the wastewater is made to flow through a length of bed that is constructed out of porous substances; this nature of construction makes the water flow through the porous substances thereby leaving the mechanically dispersed and free oil particles behind.
Succeding this stage, the clear liquid then flows through the outlet tube and back into the water reservoir to be used again. The oil particles and other waste materials left behind are automatically collected and disposed of by the machine.
This technology is over 99 percent efficient in oil separation, about 75 percent cost-efficient, and about 89 percent environmentally friendly.
Vacuum Filtration Technology
Vacuum filtration technology has rapidly become one of the most adopted industrial wastewater treatment technologies in the world as it is usually adopted for wastewater treatment plants, it is a secondary wastewater treatment process.
The vacuum filtration technology plants have a much-reduced downtime as they are able to work continuously for an incredibly long period of time.
Vacuum filtration plants have a very high level of efficiency as they can process and treat up to 2,000 gallons per minute in industrial wastewater treatment, this makes them the fastest of all industrial wastewater treatment technologies.
In this type of wastewater treatment technology; the wastewater is sucked up by the vacuum through a semi-permeable structure, as a result of the law of optimal filtration; the contaminants are packed on the top of the semi-permeable structure.
Virtually maintenance-free and delivering high sludge volume elimination, these technology systems will also deliver lower production costs, it also has high cost-efficiency especially because it doesn’t need disposable filters. They also need less space and are easy to maintain compared to other technologies.
This technology system also uses the back-flush technology to flush away the solid contaminants away from the filter into a specially designed tank, from where they are automatically disposed of by a chain drag-out technology without the need for large air volumes.
Ultrafiltration Technology
The ultrafiltration technology is also one of the best industrial wastewater treatment technologies in vogue, this technology is designed to be capable of removing oil from industrial wastewater with an efficiency of up to 98 percent, without the use of chemical additives.
The ultrafiltration technology makes use of pressure and a specially constructed membrane to remove emulsified oils, suspended solids, synthetic coolants, emulsions, and other contaminants from industrial wastewater therefore it is classified among the secondary wastewater treatment processes.
Compared to other industrial wastewater treatment technologies, ultrafiltration technology is very efficient in removing suspended solids, oil, bacteria, and macromolecules. It is also highly efficient in treating soap solutions for re-use as it is capable of removing small-sized contaminants during tumbling and deburring operations.
Ultrafiltration industrial wastewater treatment technology has an overall efficiency rating of 85 – 90 percent and for this reason, it is quickly becoming the choice method over conventional filtration methods.
Vacuum Evaporation and Distillation Technology
The vacuum evaporation and distillation technology is classified as a quaternary wastewater treatment process and is also one of the newest inventions among the industrial wastewater treatment technologies, they can remove residual solids from wastewater with up to 85 percent water-recovery efficiency.
The vacuum evaporation and distillation technology have a big difference from other industrial wastewater treatment technologies as it removes or takes the water out, away from the contaminants rather than taking the contaminants out of the water.
This technology has high efficiency in wastewater treatment as industrial wastewater treatment plants made with this technology can treat and recycle up to 120,000 liters of water daily using evaporation and distillation processes.
Evaporation, which is a natural phenomenon and a clean wastewater treatment technology is recognized as the best available natural process in wastewater treatment.
Vacuum evaporators have the highest water concentration and recovery rates compared to other wastewater treatment plants, thus giving these plants an advantage over others.
The 3 main features( parts/types of vacuum operators) are:
- Heat pumps: The heat pumps are versatile, flexible, and have a low electric consumption rate; thereby having minimal effects on the environment and its components.
- Mechanical vapor compression: This feature makes them have low energy consumption and also capable to handle the treatment of large wastewater flow rates with low boiling temperatures.
- Use of hot/cold water: With this feature, vacuum operators reduce operating costs as they use the excess hot water, cold water and steam in them to work as catalysts to fasten the processes of evaporation and distillation.
Reverse Osmosis Technology
The reverse osmosis industrial wastewater treatment technology is a quaternary industrial wastewater treatment process and it is one of the overall best of the list of industrial wastewater treatment technologies in the world.
A reverse osmosis industrial wastewater plant has an efficiency of up to 99.5 percent in removing impurities and dissolved salts and up to 99.9 percent efficiency in removing suspended contaminants from wastewater, this technology is usually used after Ulfiltration or chemical wastewater treatment.
The reverse osmosis technology needs a high water pressure and a pressure greater than the osmotic pressure in order to function properly, this technology removes dissolved solids and impurities from water by using a semipermeable membrane, which allows water to pass while leaving behind the impurities, this is one of the factors that keep it among the best industrial wastewater treatment technologies.
The treated water that passes through the reverse osmosis membrane is called the permeate, and the dissolved salts and other contaminants that are held back by the membrane are called the concentrate.
Paper Bed Filtration Technology
Paper bed filtration technology is one of the cheapest to operate among the industrial wastewater treatment technologies, industrial wastewater treatment plants made with this technology have the capability of extending the lifespan of coolants by an average of 27 percent and also increases the quality of the surface finish.
Paper bed filtration technology plants work with or without magnetic separation, they work with gravity and have filters that are either disposable paper constructions or permanent filters which function in the removal of solids from industrial wastewater and other industrial liquids.
Standard paper bed filtration plants can treat up to 130 gallons of industrial waste liquids per minute, but a drum-type model of this technology can process up to 500 gallons per minute while occupying approximately 33.33 percent of floor space compared to the other types.
Paper bed industrial wastewater filtration plants are also suitable for applications that involve low medium-stock removal of ferrous and nonferrous metals, as well as organic and inorganic from industrial wastewater.
Conclusion
This is a comprehensive list and explanations regarding the various industrial wastewater treatment technologies that are used now in building industrial wastewater treatment plants and we hope you found the information you were after.
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