Industrial Wastewater Treatment of Steel Plant by Combining Two Systems
of Adsorption Column and Membrane Filtration of Reverse Osmosis
Abstract
Freshwater resources are limited and economically worthwhile with
socioeconomic and environmental impact. Due to the extension of cities,
industrial extension, and population growth, environmental pollution has
become noteworthy. Heavy metals are pollutants that are produced by the
industrial factory. Therefore, wastewater should be purified and treated
and then be returned to natural water circulation. In this research, the
removal of heavy metal Zinc at high concentrations in steel plant and
the performance of the integrated system including activated carbon
adsorption column (as pretreatment) and reverse osmosis (RO) membrane
system under different operating conditions are investigated. The
variable parameters studied are pH (4.5, 6.5, 7, and 9), pressure (5, 7,
9, and 11 bar), and Zinc concentration (30, 50, 70 mg/l) to obtain Zinc
removal efficiency, turbidity dissolved solids (TDS), electrocoagulation
(EC), and turbidity (TU) at constant temperature and flow rate. The
results show that the efficiency of the integrated system at 9 bar
pressure and the pH of 7.5 is considered to be optimal in terms of water
outlet quality. At optimal conditions, the removal efficiency recorded
for TDS is 98.1%, 97.4% for EC, 100% for Zinc and the turbidity
removal efficiency is 95.3%, which are desirable. Moreover, the
efficiency of this system at a high concentration of Zinc is evaluated.
According to the results, it can be seen that the integrated system is
resistant to probable shocks, high concentration and has a desirable
efficiency since the efficiencies of all parameters are almost above
90%.