Coke Oven Wastewater Treatment Research Articles

Coke oven wastewater treatment using polymeric and ceramic membranes.

This research is aimed to investigate the efficacy of membrane separation technology in treating coke oven wastewater (COW). A comparative study was conducted using three types of membranes: commercial polymeric (CP) membrane, commercial ceramic (CC) membrane, and synthesized ceramic (SC) membrane. The potential of the SC membrane in COW treatment was assessed in comparison to the CC membrane, which had a molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) of 1 Kilo-Dalton. The experiments were conducted under various trans-membrane pressure (TMP) conditions ranging from 1 to 4bar. Additionally, the effect of the CP membrane on COW treatment was examined at TMP levels ranging from 5 to 25bar. The research findings revealed that the SC membrane exhibited promising results in terms of permeability and flux compared to the CC membrane. Also, a significant reduction was observed in various water parameters such as TSS decreased by 89.74%, chlorides by 8.24%, nitrogen by 10%, and hardness by 22%. Moreover, the study was carried out by implementing an anti-fouling mechanism to mitigate fouling effects on membrane performance.

Tertiary treatment of coke-oven wastewater using suspended and immobilized whole live cells of constructed bacterial-microalgal consortium: modeling and optimization using ANN-GA hybrid methodology.

Coke-oven wastewater (CW), containing an array of toxic pollutants above permissible limits even after conventional primary and secondary treatment, needs a tertiary (polishing) step to meet the statutory limit. In the present study, a suitable bacterial-microalgal consortium (Culture C) was constructed using bacterial (Culture B: Bacillus sp. NITD 19) and microalgal (Culture A: a consortium of Chlorella sp. and Synechococcus sp.) cultures at different ratios (v/v) and the potential of these cultures for tertiary treatment of CW was assessed. Culture C4 (Culture B:Culture A = 1:4) with inoculum size: 10% (v/v) was selected for the treatment of wastewater since the maximum growth (3.08 ± 0.57 g/L) and maximum chlorophyll content (4.05 ± 0.66 mg/L) were achieved for such culture in PLE-enriched BG-11 medium. During treatment of real secondary treated coke-oven effluent using Culture C4 in a closed photobioreactor, the removal of phenol (80.32 ± 2.76%), ammonium ions (47.85 ± 1.83%), fluoride (65.0 ± 4.12%), and nitrate (39.45 ± 3.42%) was observed after 24 h. In a packed bed bioreactor containing immobilized C4 culture, the maximum removal was obtained at the lowest flow rate (20 mL/h) and highest column bed height (20 cm). Artificial intelligence-based techniques were used for modeling and optimization of the process.

Coke-oven wastewater treatment in a dual-chamber microbial fuel cell with thiocyanate-degrading biofilm enriched at the air cathode

Abstract Coke-oven wastewater is usually treated with the activated sludge process, which requires large amounts of electrical energy for aeration and sludge disposal. A more sustainable treatment is strongly required. Recently, microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are focused as a technology for the production of electricity from wastewaters with simultaneous removal of organic matter. However, no MFC has been reported that can remove phenol, thiosulfate and thiocyanate simultaneously without aeration. Phenol can generally be removed well, whereas thiocyanate is relatively difficult to degrade. In this study, a dual-chamber MFC (D-MFC) was designed and equipped with a thiocyanate-degrading biofilm enriched on an air cathode. The D-MFC degraded phenol and thiosulfate in the anode chamber at the rate of 104 and 331 mg/L/day, respectively and subsequently degraded thiocyanate in the cathode chamber at the rate of 250 mg/L/day. The D-MFC showed high thiocyanate degradation rate. This suggests that pre-enrichment could accelerate thiocyanate degradation in MFC. In addition, thiocyanate degradation was not inhibited by phenol as thiocyanate was removed in the cathode chamber after phenol was removed in the anode chamber. This study demonstrated the feasibility of treating coke-oven wastewater by a D-MFC with a thiocyanate-degrading biofilm enriched at the air cathode.

Concept of Flocks Fragmentation and Averaging Method for the Application of Electrocoagulation in Process for Coke Oven Wastewater Treatment.

The main objective of the article is to develop the concept of flock fragmentation and the averaging method for the application of electrocoagulation in the process of treating wastewater from coke ovens. The designed solution was part of an innovative system for the coke oven wastewater treatment process. The system is dedicated to removing the hazardous elements and compounds from wastewater from leaching ashes in municipal waste incineration plants. The design of the process and its automatization was based on a quantitative simulation method. The balance equations of mass, energy, and momentum of transport, complemented by the kinetics of the related reaction, are used during the calculation of the process. The main result achieved is a practical solution—the reactor’s scheme, classified due to a patent procedure in the Polish Patent Office.

Regeneration methods of the ultrafiltration membranes applied in coke oven wastewater treatment

Regeneration methods of the ultrafiltration membranes applied in coke oven wastewater treatment

Phycoremediation of pollutants from coke-oven wastewater using Tetraspora sp. NITD 18 and estimation of macromolecules from spent biomass

Coke-oven wastewater contains an array of hazardous pollutants like cyanide, phenol, ammoniacal-N, etc. The main objective of the present study is to assess the effectiveness of phycoremediation technique as tertiary treatment for simultaneous removal of three model pollutants such as phenol, ammoniacal-N, and cyanide from secondary treated coke-oven wastewater. A green route was employed for the treatment of coke-oven wastewater via the use of Tetraspora sp. NITD 18, collected from a contaminated site. Strain susceptibility was tested for the growth in the simulated solution of phenol (10−300 mg/L), ammoniacal-N (100−800 mg/L), and cyanide (1−10 mg/L), and subsequently, optimum concentration was assessed as 100 mg/L, 400 mg/L, and 2 mg/L, respectively. pH 7 and inoculum concentration 10 % was found suitable for the removal of phenol (79.02 ± 6.93 %), ammoniacal-N (74.7 ± 5.07 %), and cyanide (80.4 ± 0.015 %) from their individual solution at optimal initial concentrations after 14 days. For solutions of individual pollutants, preferred pollutants were examined on the basis of production of biomass with respect to time, and found the following order: ammoniacal-N > phenol > cyanide. The solution of mixed pollutants was prepared by mixing the said pollutants at their optimal level of initial concentrations at a suitable pH (7). Such a solution was termed as simulated coke-oven wastewater (SCOW). While the present investigation deals with co-current removal of pollutants from simulated coke-oven wastewater (SCOW) and real secondary treated coke-oven wastewater at laboratory scale, the continuous study on real wastewater at industrial scale with the isolated algal strain is the scope of the future work.

Reduction of chemical oxygen demand in a conventional activated sludge system treating coke oven wastewater

The best available techniques reference document for iron and steel production sets a strict limit value for the treated effluent of coke oven wastewater treatment plants regarding Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD). The objective was to find options to decrease residual COD, in order to safely meet the threshold for a specific plant. Membrane filtration experiments showed that the remaining COD can only be reduced by 6–27%, indicating that the majority of compounds are dissolved, not suspended. Inert COD measurements of the effluent showed that 82–96% of the residual COD is non-biodegradable. Of the approximately 30 different organic substances found in the influent, Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis detected, two-thirds were also present in the biologically treated wastewater. These results proved that the activated sludge treatment step is operating at its maximum achievable efficiency, thus further polishing steps had to be investigated to achieve the required COD. A combined physico-chemical post-treatment of the biologically treated effluent showed outstanding results and managed to decrease the COD to below 220 mg/l in all tested samples. This solution could be used universally in those coke oven wastewater treatment plants that are experiencing issues with levels of residual COD in their discharge.

Kinetics of Phenol Biodegradation by an Indigenous Pseudomonas citronellolis NS1 Isolated from Coke Oven Wastewater

Coke oven wastewater from the iron and steel plant industry is composed of highly refractory and recalcitrant phenolic pollutants. To overcome the process instability, inhibition, and poor performance of coke oven wastewater treatment plants an efficient phenol degrading bacterial culture was isolated from the coke oven wastewater of a local steel plant industry in Odisha, India. In this study, the kinetics of phenol biodegradation by a newly isolated Pseudomonas citronellolis NS1 was carried out using batch shake flasks. The results revealed that the culture could degrade 1,500 mg/L−1 of phenol almost completely within 90 h as the sole source of carbon and energy. In addition, under these conditions, approximately 95.5% of the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and 98.5% of toxicity removal were achieved by the indigenous P. citronellolis NS1. The growth and biodegradation kinetics of the isolated Pseudomonas species were evaluated at phenol concentrations pf 50–1,500 mg/L−1. The specific growth rate of the culture followed the substrate inhibition kinetic pattern and the estimated biokinetic parameters were; μ = 0.246 h−1, Ksi = 890 mg/L−1, and Ks = 14.85 mg/L−1. Further, the effects of temperature on the biodegradation of phenol were carried out. The estimated values of maximum phenol biodegradation rate and the activation energy (Ea) of the enzyme-catalyzed reactions were 0.0152 h−1 and 47.21 kJ · mol−1 respectively at 36°C.

Optimization of Culture Condition of An Indigenous Culture of Pseudomonas Citronellolis N1 Isolated from Coke Oven Wastewater

Phenolic compounds are listed under priority pollutants by US EPA, and their concentration in effluent of several industries reached to 1000 mg l-1. However, investigation on biodegradation of phenolics from coke oven wastewater is found to be scanty. Therefore, an indigenous pseudomonas species with high toxicity tolerance and phenolic degradation abilities is isolated from coke oven wastewater. In order to enhance the rate of cresol biodegradation efficiency various culture conditions; such as pH, agitation speed (RPM) and inoculums size (OD600nm) is optimized by using response surface methodology (RSM) and central composite design (CCD) . Result revealed that agitation speed and inoculums size (OD600nm) played considerable influence on phenol degradation by the indigenous pseudomonas species. Further, among the three independent variables, interaction effect between pH and agitation speed (RPM) found to be significant on degradation of phenol. At the RSM optimized settings of pH 7.5, agitation speed 168 rpm, and inoculums size 1.3 (OD600nm), almost completely biodegradation of phenol is achieved at 700 mgl-1 of phenol within a short time period of 12h. Further, at this optimized culture condition more than 99 % of phenol degradation along with 95% of toxicity removal was attained at an initial phenol concentration of 1500 mgl-1 within a shorter time period of 94h. Thus, indigenous pseudomonas species can be possible used for the treatment of coke oven wastewater.

Utilization of innovative system for coke oven wastewater treatment as an element of stabilization technology for post-process waste from municipal incineration plants

The article discuss the possibility of using the system for coke oven wastewater treatment process that has been developed within the framework of the project: The innovative system for coke oven wastewater treatment and water recovery with the use of clean technologies — INNOWATREAT that has received funding from the Research Fund for Coal and Steel under Grant Agreement No. 710078 and from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education Poland from financial resources on science in 2016-2019, for the removing the hazardous elements and compounds from wastewater from leaching ashes from municipal waste incineration plants. The results achieved in the project are compared with analysis provided for two different sources of ash from Poland and one Lithuania. The article discuss predicted effectiveness of the method and possibility their use in wider method of post-process waste stabilization technology as well as potential risk connected with implementation this solution into practice.

Utilization of a Silicone Rubber Membrane for Passive Oxygen Supply in a Microbial Fuel Cell Treating Carbon and Nitrogen from Synthetic Coke-Oven Wastewater.

This study firstly introduced a silicone rubber membrane (SRM) into microbial fuel cell (MFC) for passive oxygen supply to simultaneously remove phenol and nitrogen from synthetic coke-oven wastewater diluted with seawater. Passive oxygen transport with biofilm on the membrane was improved by ~ 18-fold in comparison with the one without a biofilm. In addition, although the oxygen supply was passive, nitrification accounted for 34% of those aeration conditions. It was also found that silicone rubber membrane can control NO2--N and/or NO3--N production. A dual-chamber MFC treating the synthetic coke-oven wastewater achieved a maximum power density of 54mWm-2 with a coulombic efficiency of 2.7%. We conclude that silicone rubber membrane is effective for sustainable coke-oven wastewater treatment in MFCs.

INNOWATREAT - The innovative system for coke oven wastewater treatment and water recovery with the use of clean technologies - RFCS

INNOWATREAT - The innovative system for coke oven wastewater treatment and water recovery with the use of clean technologies - RFCS

Evaluation of MCM-41 Nanoparticles for Removal of Phenol Contents from Coke-Oven Wastewater

AbstractCoke oven wastewater containing high concentrations of phenol and chemical oxygen demand (COD) was collected from a local steel plant of Odisha. The treatment of coke oven wastewater was ca...

The use of ultrafiltration in enhancement of chemical coke oven wastewater treatment

The use of ultrafiltration in enhancement of chemical coke oven wastewater treatment

Treatment of coke oven wastewater using ozone with hydrogen peroxide and activated carbon

Treatment of coke oven wastewater using ozone with hydrogen peroxide and activated carbon

Modeling of phenol and cyanide removal in a full-scale coke-oven wastewater treatment plant

The BioWin general activated sludge (AS) model (EnviroSim Associates, Ltd, Canada) was extended to predict the kinetics of phenol and cyanide removal from coke-oven wastewater mixed with sewage. To apply the modeling for this type of wastewater, a different model structure and an accurate estimation of the stoichiometric and kinetic parameters are required. In this study, additional processes for the phenol and cyanide were added to the BioWin AS model. Due to the inhibitory effect phenol and cyanide have on biological processes, the Haldane equation was used rather than the Monod equation that is typically used in wastewater modeling. A sensitivity analysis was performed to select the most sensitive parameter in the extended model. The model was calibrated under steady-state conditions and validated under dynamic-flow conditions. Adjustments were made only to the most sensitive parameters of the extended model processes related to phenol and cyanide. The new calibrated parameters were compared to the existing parameters from the literature, which were based on batch lab-scale experiments with synthetic wastewater. The extended model was capable of describing COD, ammonium, phenol, and cyanide removal in a full-scale coke-oven wastewater treatment plant under dynamic conditions.

Treatment of coke oven wastewater in an anaerobic–anoxic–aerobic moving bed bioreactor system

In this work, sequential moving bed bioreactor (MBBR) system with mixed heterogeneous biomass was selected for the treatment of coke oven wastewater (CW). The reactors were arranged in anaerobic (R1)–anoxic (R2)–aerobic (R3) sequence. CW was collected from an industrial site which contains phenol, ammonia, sulfate, iron, oil, and grease. Few heavy metals (cadmium, lead, and cobalt) were also detected in CW at low concentrations. Raw CW was pretreated by primary settling process to remove high solid concentrations. Thereafter, CW was spiked with synthetic pollutants to make the picture of model industrial wastewater. Phenol (1,350 mg/L), ammonia-N (500 mg/L), thiocyanate (800 mg/L), pyridine (50 mg/L), m-, o-, and p-cresols (50 mg/L each) were added as synthetic pollutants in CW. The system was operated at 6 d hydraulic retention time. R1 showed only less phenol (2–5%) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) (~2%) removal. However, R2 and R3 removed significant amount of thiocyanate (>85%), cresols (~88%), and pyridine (>48%) along with the residual phenol (R2: 88%; R3: 98%) and COD (R2: 58%; R3: 79%). Also, denitrification efficiency of R2 was ~94% throughout the study. Ammonia-N removal by R3 was 64–71% comprising 75–77% of total nitrogen removal. Hence, three stage sequential MBBR could be successfully used to treat high strength CW to achieve the discharge limit of effluent.

Comparison of MBR/RO and UF/RO hybrid systems for the treatment of coke-oven effluents

The toxic industrial coke-oven effluent treatability using ultrafiltration (UF) and membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology with reverse osmosis (RO) was tested through pilot studies due to the inherent advantages of the membrane processes over conventional systems in treatment of high-strength wastewaters. The treatment was analyzed for the removal of cyanide, phenol, and chemical oxygen demand. Pre-treatment of the wastewater before RO was tested using MBR and UF. The MBR was chosen for the pre-treatment as it showed a higher treatment efficiency through aeration-enhanced biodegradation and also as the SDI was below 2.3. The final rejection of cyanide in the RO permeate was above 90%, phenol above 95%, and total suspended solids was 100%. Thus, the permeate quality was found satisfactory and the process may be adopted at full-scale for treatment of coke-oven wastewater at the industry.

Membrane-integrated physico-chemical treatment of coke-oven wastewater: transport modelling and economic evaluation.

A modelling and simulation study with economic evaluation was carried out for an advanced membrane-integrated hybrid treatment process that ensures reuse of water with recovery of ammoniacal nitrogen as struvite from coke-oven wastewater. Linearized transport model was developed based on extended Nernst-Plank and concentration polarization modulus equation. Effects of pH, transmembrane pressure and cross-flow rate of interest on membrane charge density, solute rejection and solvent flux were investigated. The membrane module was successful in yielding a pure water flux as high as 120 L m(-2) h(-1) removing more than 95 and 96% of the cyanide and phenol, respectively, while permeating more than 90% NH4 (+)-N at a transmembrane pressure of only 15 × 10(2) KPa and at a pH of 10 for a volumetric cross-flow rate of 800 L h(-1). The Fenton's reagents were used to degrade more than 99% of pollutants present in the concentrated stream. The developed model could successfully predict the plant performance as reflected in the very low relative error (0.01-0.12) and overall high correlation coefficient (R(2) > 0.96). Economic analysis indicated that such a membrane-integrated hybrid system could be quite promising in coke wastewater treatment at low cost i.e. $0.934/m(2) of wastewater.

Coke oven wastewater treatment by two activated sludge systems

In this study two bench scale activated sludge systems were used, a CSTR and an SBR for the treatment of coke – oven wastewater. Both reactors were inoculated with activated sludge from a municipal wastewater treatment plant. At the first stages of operation, reactors were feed by a mixture of municipal wastewater and synthetic wastewater. Full acclimatization of the microorganisms to synthetic wastewater was achieved in 60 days. The operation of the reactors was divided into three distinct periods. The first period was characterized by the treatment of high organic but non-toxic synthetic wastewater. During this period COD and BOD5 removal efficiencies reached 95 and 98% respectively, in both reactors. Nutrient removal was better in the SBR reactor rather than in the CSTR. In the second period phenol was added in concentrations up to 300 mg l-1. Degradation of phenol started about the 20th day after its introduction to the reactors. In this period no effects of phenol to nutrient removal were observed, whereas the removal efficiency of organic matter in both reactors was slightly decreased. During the third period phenol concentrations of the influent were gradually increased to 1000 mg l-1, while cyanide and thiocyanite were added to the influent composition to concentrations reaching concentrations of 20 and 250 mg l-1 respectively. The composition of the influent of this period was a full assimilation of coke oven wastewater. Introduction of increased phenol concentrations along with cyanide compounds initiated irreversible effects on the activated sludge microfauna of the CSTR causing inherent problems to the treatment process, while SBR showed greater capacity to withstand and degrade toxic compounds. The beginning of this period was characterized by decreased settleability of the suspended solids as well as decrease of organic matter and nutrient removal efficiencies. Monitoring of the effluent characteristics during this period reported over 90% for organic load, 85% of nutrient removal and over 90% of phenol and cyanide removal in SBR, while the removal efficiencies for the CSTR were 75, 65 and 80% respectively.