The Effects of Various Factors on Ballast Water Treatment Using Crumb Rubber Filtration: Statistic Analysis

Abstract

Removal of turbidity, phytoplankton, and zooplankton from ballast water with waste-tire-made crumb rubber filtration was evaluated in this study. The influences of various design, operational, and water quality parameters (filter depth, media size, filtration rate, temperature, turbidity, running time, etc.) on filtration performance were investigated. Statistical approaches were used to develop empirical models, including a head loss model which partially resembles the Kozeny equation, to evaluate these factors. Regression models, validated with data from the field study, were used for predicting the influence of operational parameters on crumb rubber filtration. Sensitivity analyses of the significance of each factor were conducted. Results showed that media size played a very important role in the removal of suspended matter, while temperature, filter depth, influent turbidity, and running time did not have a significant influence. Head loss was most affected by filtration rate and media size. These results indicated that the behaviors of the crumb rubber filtration for ballast water treatment cannot be described by the theories and models for conventional granular media filtration without modification.