THE PROJECT
A leading Oleo chemicals manufacturer having their headquarters in Europe and multiple production facilities worldwide has full-fledged wastewater treatment facilities at their European production site. The plant comprises of chemical pre-treatment with a Dissolved Air flotation unit followed by a suspended growth biological reactor with a lamella clarifier.
THE PROBLEM
Due to the planned expansion of the production facilities, the plant was expecting higher wastewater flows which required to be treated in the same existing infrastructure due to space restrictions. The plant is required to achieve a total treatment of 1440 m3/day after full expansions.
- Plant Required to treat higher flows to the tune of 1440 m3/day in the same plant.
- Inlet COD values fluctuate between 2500-3500 ppm.
- Outlet COD requirement for treated effluent is 80-100 ppm.
Major Problems Faced:
- Shock loads disturbing the process
- Reduced COD reduction
- Poor process recovery after the shock load disturbance
The Solution of Oleochemical wastewater treatment
Based on our initial consideration and after pilot runs at the site, it was decided to convert the existing suspended growth Aerobic reactor into a Levapor-based IFAS reactor by adding Levapor media at 15 % filling.
After modification, the plant was expected to achieve a total treatment capacity of 1440 m3/day.
THE RESULTS
After the successful commissioning and implementation of Levapor-based modification of the plant, the plant is consistently achieving the required treatment goals of COD at the secondary clarifier outlet.
| Parameter | Value |
| Wastewater flow | 1440 m3/day |
| Inlet COD | 2500 – 3000 ppm |
| Outlet COD | 60 – 180 ppm |
THE BENEFITS
The project offered the following benefits to the client.
- Achieving higher treatment capacity for the same existing infrastructure by doing oleochemical wastewater treatment.
- Minimal modification of existing infrastructure.
- Remarkable process stability achieving consistent COD at the outlet within the 60-180 ppm range as per the client’s requirement.
- No additional space or civil construction requirement for further upgradation.
Amit Christian is a MSc graduate in Environment Science from Middlesex University, London, UK. He has been active in the field of water and wastewater treatment since 1998. He specializes in design, engineering, and management of various biological wastewater treatments such as Activated Sludge Process (ASP), Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR), Moving Bed Bio Reactor (MBBR), Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge (IFAS). He has helped various Industrial and Municipal clients in troubleshooting , optimizing their biological wastewater treatment processes to achieve latest Stringent norms for Ammonia Removal.
