Computer simulation application for substantiation of industrial wastewater treatment technology

Abstract

The wastewater treatment of the mining industrial enterprises is implemented using mechanical, chemical, biological and physic-chemical methods. The mechanical treatment is used to prepare wastewater for biological, physicochemical and other methods of the deep treatment. In recent years, the field of the physicochemical treatment methods application has been expanding, and their share among other methods has increased. The Mining Institute of the Kola Science Centre of the RAS has been developed a technology of the industrial wastewater treatment based on the synergetic effect of the pollution concentrating in a multiphase medium with formed surface properties of the phases, tested at the mining enterprises of the Kola MMC (Lovozero GOK LLC and Kovdor GOK) and including coagulation, sorption and flotation in activated water dispersion of air. To substantially reduce the cost, duration and complexity of the process of the developing wastewater treatment methods at mining enterprises, an approach based on the use of the mathematical and computer simulation methods, the development of the virtual laboratory benches that fully reproduce the technological processes and devices used. The mathematical simulation of the fine particles coagulation and aggregation in the process of the industrial wastewater treatment from dissolved impurities was carried out. The simulation made it possible to reveal the kinetics of the adsorption process of the contaminants components by the surface of the formed iron hydroxide colloidal particles, which determines the size and lifetime of the floccules. A virtual laboratory stand was created to study the water treatment processes based on the ANSYS Fluent software. This stand simulates the operation of the Outotec radial thickener with a diameter of 30 meters, which made it possible to develop recommendations for the technological regimes optimization for the greater particle aggregation efficiency. The possibility of the application in the technology the column flotation machine – an analogue of the flotation machine of the Canadian Process Technologies Inc. CETCO, was considered.The authors appreciate participation of Junior Researcher A. S. Kitaeva A. S. in the work on the article’s material.