Chapter 13 - Process intensification of treatment of inorganic water pollutants

Abstract

Inorganic pollutants are one of the major classes of pollutants discharged by chemical and allied industries such as refineries, fertilizers, and pharmaceuticals. Heavy metal and other inorganic pollutants such as trace elements, mineral acids, metals, metals compounds, inorganic salts, metals with organic compounds as complexes, sulfates, and cyanides, having higher concentration than permissible limits can pollute water. These inorganic pollutants may be nonbiodegradable and they persist in the surrounding environment. Many inorganic pollutants have disruptive effect on public health and also on aquatic flora and fauna. In the past few years, increased attention has been focused on the environmental impacts of such type of inorganic contaminants. High standards of wastewater treatment are needed due to stringent environmental regulations. This will force to treat and recover more water for reuse. Space and energy requirements are major concerns in developing the efficient wastewater treatment technologies. Process intensification (PI) can be exploited to deal with such issues. PI is the development that incorporates sustainability, clean and safe manufacturing, and less energy-intensive processing. Present chapter focuses on the intensified wastewater treatment technologies for inorganic water pollutants.