Abstract:
A method and apparatus for treating effluent resulting from the manufacture of synthetic dyestuffs and related intermediate chemicals is provided. The effluent is subjected to equalization, chemical treatment, clarification to remove solids, further equalization and carbon adsorption to remove the color and toxic materials, followed by a secondary biological treatment which includes treatment with activated sludge and secondary clarification. The spent carbon used in the carbon adsorption is recycled to produce fresh carbon which is reused in the carbon adsorption process.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This application is a Continuation-in-Part of Application Ser. No. 396,694, filed Sept. 13, 1973, now abandoned. 
    
    
     Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a method for treating effluent resulting from the manufacture of synthetic dyestuffs and related intermediate chemicals, and in particular to a method and apparatus for reducing the color, TOC and BOD of the effluent to a predetermined level. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
     It has become an increasingly critical problem in contemporary society to provide close control over industrial processes, particularly in the chemical field, to take into account the ecological effects of such processes. This problem is particularly acute in the field of dyestuff manufacture, which produces a waste effluent containing toxic organic solvents and the by-products produced in the manufacture of chromophoric compounds. A gret deal of attention has been focused on this problem in recent years. However, the problem of finding an effluent treatment system capable of efficiently removing the ecologically dangerous waste materials remains. Certain research efforts have been reported in the literature whose aim has been to reduce the ecological waste problems, such as Chambers et al, Developments in Industrial Microbiology, Vol. 5, p. 85 (1964); Erskine et al, Chemical Engineering Progress, Vol. 67, no. 11, p. 41 (1971); Ludzack et al, 1960 Journal WPCF 1173 and Marks, ed., Waste Water Treatment (N.Y.: Power 1967). 
     In spite of the high degree of research activity exemplified by the above efforts, it has heretofore not been found possible to provide an effluent treatment system with the necessary degree of efficiency to meet the evermore rigid environmental standards. 
     In organic chemical manufacturing, sources of aqueous effluent are the process itself, a wash used during the process and cooling water used during the process. The process water includes water used as the reaction medium or the water that is used for isolation of the product. This water is in intimate contact with the reactive end products and may contain in the dissolved or suspended state any of the chemicals used in the reaction as well as their reaction products. This water, the mother liquor, has a high organic load. After the reaction is completed, the product is isolated from the mother liquor by filtration. The residual pressed cake containing the impure product is water washed, leaving water-soluble impurities in the wash water. Cooling water is circulated around reaction vessels when the chemical reaction is exothermic. This cooling keeps the temperature within a desired range. Cooling water is also required on stills used for solvent recovery operations. 
     When an effluent results from the composite manufacture of synthetic dyestuffs and their related intermediate chemicals, the problem of effluent treatment is further complicated by the necessity of removing the color from the effluent. I have now discovered a unique multistage process particularly suited for dyestuff waste water treatment overcoming the drawbacks of the prior art. 
     Various biological treatments of organic compounds to reduce the BOD is known in the art. This technique includes the treatment of the effluent with activated sludge and thereafter the clarification of the treated effluent. 
     The removal of color from textile dye waste by the use of carbon adsorption is also known in the art. This is accomplished by passing the waste material through activated carbon adsorption columns which will reduce the color to a predetermined level. 
     The prior art, however, does not teach a system which uses a pre-treatment including a chemical treatment of dyestuff wastes to reduce toxicity and reduce the color to predetermined levels. Furthermore, the prior art does not teach a system which combines pre-treatment including the chemical and carbon treatment of the dyestuff wastes with passing the effluent through a secondary biological treatment. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of this invention to provide a method for the treatment of effluent from the manufacture of synthetic dyestuffs and related intermediate chemicals which reduces the color, TOC and BOD to predetermined levels. 
     The invention is directed to a method for treating effluent resulting from the manufacture of synthetic dyestuffs and relates intermediate chemicals which includes a multistage treatment process. The process includes equalization of the effluent followed by the chemical treatment of the effluent with a material such as lime to reduce levels of heavy metals. The chemically treated effluent is then subjected to clarification to remove the solids and then to further equalization. The further equalized effluent is then passed through carbon adsorption columns to reduce levels of nitrobenzene and the color of the effluent to a predetermined level. The thus treated effluent is then subjected to further treatment which contemplates biological treatment wherein the BOD is reduced using activated sludge; the treater effluent is thereafter subjected to further clarification, whereby the original aqueous effluent has been restored to a relatively pure and ecologically safe level, permitting discharge of the thus-purified water back into the ecological system. 
     In accordance with a preferred aspect of the invention, the spent carbon used in the carbon adsorption is recycled using a carbon regeneration furnace to produce fresh carbon which may then be used in the carbon adsorbers. 
     In this manner, the color, TOC and BOD of the effluent are reduced to predetermined acceptable levels prior to being discharged into the natural water supply. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
     FIGS. 1A and 1B are a schematic diagram illustrating the method and apparatus of the present invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to the figure, raw waste such as that set forth in Table 1 below, flows into basin 2. 
     
                       TABLE 1______________________________________RAW WASTE CHARACTERISTICS______________________________________Waste temperature            40-150Color-APHA units 5000pH               1.2-12.0TOC              700 Mg/lSuspended Solids 300 Mg/lDissolved Solids 6000 Mg/lNitrogen, as ammonia            122 Mg/lSulfates         2500 Mg/lArsenic          2 Mg/lChromium         2 Mg/lCopper           20 Mg/lIron             20 Mg/lLead             1 Mg/lMercury          1 Mg/lZinc             30 Mg/l______________________________________ 
    
     In basin 2, the effluent is subjected to equalization, to avoid sudden changes in the effluent make-up. The flow of effluent from basin 2 is controlled by adjustable weir 4 and flows into neutralization basin 6 where chemical treatment takes place to in part stabilize the pH of the effluent. In neutralization basin 6, the effluent is mixed with a lime solution using a flash mixer 8. Lime is stored in a silo 10 and is put into solution in mixers 12. The lime solution is then pumped to a sludge reaction tank 14 where the lime solution is mixed with sludge. The lime and sludge solution is then put into neutralization basin 6 to be mixed with the effluent from basin 2. The chemically treated effluent is pumped by pump 16 to flocculation tank 18. In tank 18, the chemically treated effluent is mixed with a polymer flocculating agent from polymer source 20. The effluent is then transferred to clarifier 22 to remove solid matter from the effluent and the clear effluent is taken from the top of the clarifier and transferred to basin 24. A portion of the sludge from clarifier 22 is a waste product while another portion is used to provide the sludge for sludge reaction tank 14. Within basin 24, the clarified effluent undergoes a further equalization process. 
     After the further equalization in basin 24, the effluent is transferred to carbon adsorbers 26 through pump sump 28. The carbon adsorber includes a plurality of activated carbon columns which are used to remove color and toxic materials. 
     After passing through the carbon adsorption means, the treated effluent is pumped to a biological treatment system which includes treatment with activated sludge, followed by clarification. The activated sludge contemplated according to the invention is based upon microorganisms capable of biodegrading the organic waste materials in the effluent, particularly aromatic compounds such as aromatic amines. Microorganisms which have been found suitable for such biodegradation include the Pseudomonas, Achromobacter, Xanthomonas and Flavobacterium series. 
     After this treatment, the effluent which is placed in a natural water supply contains the following elements: 
     
                       TABLE 2______________________________________EFFLUENT REQUIREMENTS______________________________________Temperature   150° F max., not under 32° F min.Color         500 APHA UnitspH                 6.5     to 9.0Solids, Suspended  150     Mg/lNitrobenzene       10      Mg/lArsenic            .01     Mg/lMercury            .001    Mg/lChlorine Demand    150     Mg/lPhenolic Compounds:AS C.sub.5 H.sub.6 OH              1       Mg/lCyanides AS CN     1       Mg/lCyanides AS CNO    1       Mg/lIron AS Fe         10      Mg/lChromium           2       Mg/lNickel AS Ni       1       Mg/lCopper Cu          2       Mg/lLead AS Pb         1       Mg/lZinc AS Zn         2       Mg/lBOD                20      Mg/l______________________________________ 
    
     In order to improve the efficiency of the overall system, it is desirable to recover the spent carbon from the carbon adsorbers. Spent carbon is transferred to spent carbon tank 30. The carbon from tank 30 is then transferred to carbon regeneration furnace 32 by means of dewatering screw conveyor 34. Fuel supply 36 supplies the fuel necessary to incinerate the carbon in the carbon regeneration furnace. Fresh carbon from the furnace is transferred to a quench tank 38, and from there to fresh carbon tank 40. The carbon in fresh carbon tank 40 is transferred to the carbon adsorber 26 as it is needed. Additionally, the carbon may be transferred directly from quench tank 38 to the carbon adsorbers 26 without passing through fresh carbon tank 40. The exhausts from carbon regeneration furnace 36 are released from a stack 42 and are also transferred to after burner 44. The output of after burner 44 is cooled in process cooler 46 and then ejected through stack 42. 
     As previously indicated, it is imperative to the present invention that the required procedures be carried out in the proper sequence. Therefore, the chemical neutrilization must be carried our, prior to both the carbon adsorption and biological treatment steps and the carbon adsorption must preceed the biological treatment. The significance of this feature of the invention will be further appreciated by considering the following data: 
     Table 3 gives the composition of a typical effluent before treatment according to the present invention. 
     
                       Table 3______________________________________Item           Maximum        Average______________________________________Volume        1.69 Million Gallons                         1.33 MillionColor         8000 APHA Units 6350 APHApH            1.6             2.3TOC (includes nitro-  benzene)    585 PPM         377 PPMBOD           540             364COD           1648            1047Suspended Solids         170             64Dissolved Solids         4248            3022Mercury       1.23            0.22Iron          21.5            9.0Chromium      1.9             0.9Nickel        1.1             0.8Copper        8.1             3.0Lead          0.7             0.5Zinc          61.0            24______________________________________ 
    
     The effluent of Table 3 was first chemically treated with lime in accordance with the practice of this invention to reduce the levels of heavy metals to below toxic levels since these heavy metals are toxic to microorganisms used during the subsequent biological treatment. Results of the lime treatment are shown in Table 4. 
     
                       Table 4______________________________________AVERAGE LIME TREATMENT DISCHARGE         Maximum       Yearly AverageItem         Concentration  Concentration______________________________________Volumn.sup.1               1.38 Million GallonsColor.sup.1  6780 APHA Units                      3350 APHA UnitspH.sup.1                   8.5TOC.sup.2                  .178 PPMBOD.sup.1    1410 PPM      419COD.sup.1    2861          806Suspended Solids.sup.1        470           54Dissolved Solids.sup.1        4295          3873Mercury.sup.2              0.10Iron.sup.2                 0.6Chromium.sup.2             Less than 0.4Nickel.sup.2               Less than 0.4Copper.sup.2               Less than 0.02Lead.sup.2                 Less than 0.5Zinc.sup.2                 0.2______________________________________ .sup.1 Yearly average .sup.2 Data from 10-48 hour composite samples 
    
     After the chemical lime treatment to reduce heavy metals, the effluent was treated in a carbon adsorbtion column to remove nitrobenzene. While very low levels of nitrobenzene increase the respiration rate of bacteria, above nitrobenzene concentrations of 12.0 mg/l the respiration rate begins to decline and falls to below 80% of the base rate at concentrations above 29.4 mg/l. Therefore, it is important that nitrobenzene levels be reduced in the effluent prior to the biological treatment. Table 6 compares nitrobenzene levels in the effluent entering the carbon adsorbtion columns with levels in the effluent exiting from the carbon adsorbtion columns. 
     
                       Table 5______________________________________NITROBENZENE LEVELS mg/lDate of Test       In            Out______________________________________6/14/70     8.0           3.06/15/70     9.0           3.56/17/70     17.0          5.06/18/70     6.0           3.56/19/70     36.5          5.06/20/70     23.5          1.56/21/70     13.5          7.56/22/70     8.0           4.06/23/70     7.5           4.0______________________________________ 
    
     It can be seen that carbon adsorbtion treatment reduces the nitrobenzene in the effluent to a level below that which is toxic to the microorganisms to be used in a subsequent biological treatment, when the levels are higher than the toxic level. 
     By way of comparison, typical daily measurement of column pressure as a function of time carbon adsorbtion columns having chemically untreated effluent of Table 3 applied thereto is shown below in Table 6. Table 6 shows that when chemically untreated effluent is processed in carbon adsorption columns, there is excessive pressure due to sludge buildup. 
     
                       Table 6______________________________________                          Pressure AfterTime   Column No.  Pressure (psi)                          Backwash______________________________________ 8:30  1             17  2             17  3             16  4             1610:00  1             30+       17  2             30+       12  3             30+       11  4             30        1111:50  1             20  2              9  3              8  4              82:00   1             25        13  2             26        13  3             24        13  4             23.5      132:30   1             24        14  2             25        15  3             23        13  4             23        133:00   1             25        15  2             25        15  3             25        15  4             25        153:45   1             25        15  2             25        15  3             25        15  4             25        154:00   1             17  2             16  3             16  4             16        SHUTDOWN______________________________________ 
    
     The data above shows that when chemically untreated effluent is processed by carbon adsorbtion columns, there are significant pressure increases during relatively short periods of time, and to reduce pressure, it is necessary to frequently backwash the carbon adsorbtion columns. After backwashing, the pressure increases again upon further processing of effluent. 
     The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The presently disclosed embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.