Performance of an Integrated Membrane Process with Electrochemical Pre-Treatment on Poultry Slaughterhouse Wastewater Purification.

Mikhail Zhumagulov,Saida Marzanova,Davud Devrishov,Sholpan Arystanova,Aliya Kydyrbekova,Jianxin Li,Timoth Mkilima,Zhaskhaiyr Karagoishin,Kulyash Meiramkulova

doi:10.3390/membranes10100256

Abstract

Industrial activities produce a variety of pollutants that may not be easily treated using centralized wastewater treatment systems based on a single treatment unit. The variability of the pollutants brings the importance of industrial-specific integrated wastewater treatment plants such as integrated membrane filtration systems. However, the performance of a membrane filtration process can be highly affected by the presence of high amounts of suspended particles in the raw wastewater. Therefore, proper selection of a pre-treatment unit prior to a membrane filtration wastewater treatment system is a key aspect of its performance. This study investigated the performance of an integrated membrane filtration treatment system connected to an electrochemical process (pre-treatment) on the purification of a poultry slaughterhouse wastewater toward achieving a high-quality effluent. The industrial-scale treatment plant installed at the Izhevsk Production Corporative (PC) poultry farm in Kazakhstan is composed of an electrochemical, ultrafiltration (UF), and reverse osmosis (RO) as the main treatment units. From the analysis results, the electrochemical pre-treatment unit was observed to be highly effective for the removal of some physicochemical parameters such as turbidity, color, total suspended solids, total iron, aluminum, chemical oxygen demand, and biochemical oxygen demand; with removal efficiency ranging from 71 to 85%. The low removal efficiency of the pre-treatment system was also observed from free and total chlorine, nitrites, nitrates, phosphates, and ammonium nitrogen; with removal efficiency ranging from 4 to 45%. While in general, the overall treatment train was observed to be highly efficient for some physicochemical parameters such as turbidity, color, total suspended solids, as well as chemical and biochemical oxygen demand; maintaining almost 100% removal efficiency throughout the study period. Also, the high removal efficiency of the electrochemical pre-treatment processes led to a relatively low rate of cake formation on the membrane filters.

Highlights

The affordability of poultry products makes the poultry industry one of the highly growing industrial sectors in the world
From the average turbidity concentration, the integrated membrane filtration (IMF) treatment system is of high potential to further reduce the concentration of turbidity to acceptable levels
The performance of an IMF treatment system connected to an electrochemical (EC) process on the purification of a poultry slaughterhouse wastewater toward achieving a high-quality effluent has been studied

Summary

Introduction

The affordability of poultry products makes the poultry industry one of the highly growing industrial sectors in the world. The whole process from growing birds to meat production is water-demanding [1]. The more water is consumed, the more wastewater is generated; the phenomenon makes the poultry industrial sector one of the high wastewater generators [3]. The challenge of poultry production wastewater is on the quantity of the wastewater and the high pollution strength of the generated wastewater, characterized by the richness in organic matter, nitrogen, and phosphorus [4]. Because of the potential risks posed by such highly polluted wastewater to human health and the environment in general, the treatment of poultry production wastewater before discharge or reuse has been of major concern [5]

Methods

Results

Conclusion