Complete process line of a closed system of water supply for sugar plants

Abstract

Sugar plants are large consumers of fresh water and they also represent a major source of environmentalpoliution because of the considerable volumes of highly contaminated waste water formed during the processing of sugar beet. The most effective methods of solving the problems of environmental protection are the development and introduction of waste-free technologies and recyclable water supply systems. At the Prodtekhin Engineering Innovation Center (Kiev) technology has been developed that makes use of the purification of press water, deammoniation of the ammoniacal condensates, and intensive purification of the waste process water, so that it is possible to create a closed cycle of process water supply at sugar beet plants. Design documentation has been developed at the M. V. Frunze Production Association, and this association has produced prototypes of the process equipment and carried out construction, assembly, and commissioning studies. The technology for a closed system of water supply is being developed at the Pivnenko Sugar Combine. The introduction of the complete process line of a closed system of water supply at sugar plants assumes that the consumption of water from external sources is reduced to a minimum, the minimal disposal of waste water into water bodies wi~ah the maximum utilization of biologically purified waste water in the industrial processes, and an improvement in the systems of water consumption at a sugar plant. The complete process line is made up by lines for the purification of waste water and for water consmption at the sugar plant (the latter serves for the preparation of the press water and deammoniation of the condensates). Process Line for Purification of Waste Water. The purification of waste process water at sugar beet plants presents a serious problem because of the considerable volumes of waste water, the irregularity in its formation, and the high degree of contamination. At the present time the principal method of purification is biological purification on filtration beds and in biological ponds. Because of the increase in capacity of the sugar plants while the area of land occupied by the filter beds has remained unchanged, the plants have had to increase the load on the filter beds to an excessive degree by raising the embankments and making the outlines of the filter beds deeper. As a result of this the filter beds in many cases have been turned into deep reservoir ponds where the natural biological purification of waste water occurs slowly and is not sufficiently effective. The use of waste water for irrigation can increase the yield of agricultural crops, but.the application of this method is limited and requires the construction of expensive irrigation systems.