Plant experience using hydrogen peroxide for enhanced fat flotation and bod removal

Abstract

AbstractHydrogen peroxide (H2O2), is known in the food processing industry to reduce COD, BOD, to prevent anaerobic conditions in pipes, tanks and lagoons and to remove malodorous sulfides in effluents from anaerobic wastewater treatment. It has recently been shown to also provide effective solids removal from food processing wastewater. The wastewater of food processing plants often contains a very high loading of organic material consisting of fat, oil and grease (FOG), resulting in unacceptable BOD and COD levels. Since many wastewater treatment systems are being pushed to the limit of their capacity or are already overloaded, the high FOG loading cannot be removed well by the conventional means of treating the wastewater with dissolved air flotation or grease traps. As a result, many food processors are paying surcharges for not being in compliance with the tight discharge limits. To overcome these problems, a process has been developed using H2O2 for enhanced FOG recovery and BOD removal. The process is based on the formation of microbubles which attach themselves to the FOG particles and float them to the surface where they can be easily skimmed off. In addition to meeting effluent standards, the process has been able to yield a material that is very renderable and suitable for reuse. Technical and operational data of several industrial applications in the U.S. and Canada are presented, together with process costs. H2O2 treatment will generally be most applicable when improvement of solids removal is required without major investment costs, e.g. emergency situations, during seasonal peaks or increased production.