Tag Archives: projektowanie instalacji

Vortex layer device for decontamination of liquid pig and cow manure

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Livestock production generates large amounts of liquid manure, which may contain a variety of pathogenic microorganisms and helminth eggs. If such manure falls into the environment without preliminary treatment, it will cause epidemics among the local population. If there is no prompt response, the epidemics can spread to the neighboring towns and villages.

The microorganisms in liquid manure that can cause the greatest danger are infectious agents such as:

  • Salmonellosis;
  • Leptospirosis;
  • Brucellosis;
  • Anthrax and others.

Now the livestock farms use the following method for deteсting pathogenic microorganisms in liquid manure. The manure is kept in special containers for the incubation period (5 days) of the most dangerous pathogens. If during this time there was no outbreak, the manure can be placed in permanent storage, and used for composting. Otherwise it goes through a decontamination process.

The traditional methods do not always give the desired results. Therefore, GlobeCore offers the equipment for decontamination of liquid pig and cow manure: a vortex layer device (AVS).

The AVS regrinds manure particles to less than than 1 mm, destroys weed seeds, pathogens and helminths and their eggs.

Experimental studies confirm that the use of vortex layer device for disinfection of liquid manure:

  • Achieves complete decontamination and cancels manure quarantine period;
  • The manure can be used as fertilizer straight after treatment;
  • Ensures a high level of manure homogenization, reducing the costs of storage, and ease of loading and further use.

Cement Grinding in Ball Mills and Vortex Layer Devices

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Cement and concrete are the second most used substances in the world, after water. On average, the per capita consumption of cement is one ton. This material is widely used as a binder in the production of concrete, reinforced concrete and various construction mixes. The demand for cement in construction of new buildings, repairs and reconstruction is always high.

The process of cement production includes several stages and concludes by grinding clinker with the addition of gypsum. Grinding precision is an important characteristic of cement, since it defines the amount of material capable of hydration. The rate of hydration and strength increase also depends on this parameter. Grinding processes are quite energy intensive, with up to 20% of the world’s energy production consumed by grinding equipment. Clinker grinding accounts for approximately 70% of energy costs in cement production. The objectives of the cement production industry at the modern stage are therefore as follows:

  1. Improvement of material grinding precision.
  2. Implementation of simple and reliable grinding machinery.
  3. Reduction of energy costs.

Grinding cement in ball mills

The principle of the ball mill operation is simple: it consists of a rotating drum and grinding media (cylinders, balls etc). The material is placed into the drum which starts rotating. The grinding media and the substance both come in circular motion and at a certain point drop from the walls the bottom of the drum. The grinding is achieved by attrition (particles of the ground substance and the grinding media move relative to each other) and impacts. Ball mills are most commonly used in cement factories to grind the raw material and finely grind the cement.

The use of ball mills in cement grinding is due to several factors, among which are relatively simple design and high processing rate. However, these machines have certain limitations as well. It is known that only 2 to 20% of the energy is consumed by the grinding proper, while the rest is expanded on overcoming friction, on vibrations and is dissipated as heat. Ball mills also are material-intensive due to high wear of the components. These mills are also very noisy.

Is there an alternative to ball mills? In this article we will look at one of the possible options: the vortex layer device.

The principles of vortex layer

The vortex layer device is, in a sense, similar to the ball mill, but the effect on the processed material is different in principle. The first similarity is the chamber, where the material is ground. However, the chamber of the vortex layer device is stationary, smaller than a drum and is always made of a non-magnetic material. The second similarity is the presence of grinding media (which, in the case of the vortex layer device, are cylindrical and made of ferromagnetic material). While the grinding media in the ball mill is put into motion by the motion of the drum, in the case of the vortex layer device, the grinding media moves along complex trajectories under the influence of a rotating electromagnetic field. This field is generated inside the chamber by electromagnetic induction coils. In fact, the design of the machine is similar to a short-circuited cage motor without the rotor (the rotor being replaced with a tube, i.e. the processing chamber).

Vortex layer device

The primary electromagnetic field created by the external power source, interacts with the electromagnetic fields of the ferromagnetic particles, creating several beneficial effects:

  • direct action of the grinding media on cement;
  • magnetostriction (mechanostriction);
  • electrophysical phenomena etc.

Mean power of these effects is such that not only cement is ground and activated, but the process is sharply intensified as well. Every ferromagtnetic particle is both a grinding and mixing medium. Moving along complex trajectories, these particles cover the entire volume of the chamber – another important distinction of the vortex layer device from a ball mill. If the process takes tens of minutes and hours in other mills, the required retention time in vortex layer devices is measured in seconds or minutes.

There are several parameters that affect the efficiency of the grinding  and activation process in the vortex layer device:

  • the strength and the rate of rotation of the magnetic field;
  • process chamber volume;
  • process chamber filling ratio (with both the ferromagnetic particles and the material);
  • the ratio of the particle length to diameter.

These parameters can be optimized experimentally, depending on the types of the processed material.

Comparing the performance of the vortex layer device and the ball mill

Vortex layer devices are superior to ball mills in several respects. Specifically, vortex layer devices are multifunctional. Unlike the ball mills, they can grind cement extremely fine without loss of efficiency, while at the same time activating the material with the electromagnetic field. All the processes occur a lot faster. E.g., increasing the mean surface area from 2800 to 6800 cm2/g is achieved as soon as within 120 seconds of processing. The noise output of the device is negligible, as compared to the ball mill. Cement can be activated even without ferromagnetic particles, simply passing it through process chamber.  In this case, the processing capacity increases severalfold.

Brief processing of cement in the vortex layer device ensures a reduction of concrete hardening time under natural conditions, a reduction of cement consumption or improved concrete grade, as well as achievement of high mix plasticity. The use of activated cement in all cement compounds ensures high physical and mechanical characteristics of the products.

The vortex layer device can also magnetize water for concrete mixes. Using magnetic water for mixing significantly improves the product strength. Regular water involves a lengthy period of cement crystallization, whereas in the case of magnetic water, the plastic strength starts growing almost immediately after mixing.

Probably the most important benefit of the vortex layer device is high efficiency of energy use. Mean energy consumption per 1 ton of ground cement is several fold less than that in the ball mill.

A comparison of the vortex layer device and the ball mill in cement grinding

Parameter

Ball mill

Vortex layer

Effects on ground material

Attrition, impact

Rotating EM field, direct impacts of ferromagnetic particles, magnetostriction etc

Possible grinding methods

Wet, dry

Wet, dry

Mean surface area of cement, cm2/g

Up to 5000

8000 and above

Projected means energy costs of final grinding, kW·h/t (depending on required grinding fineness)

40-70

4-10

The conclusion is that the vortex layer device used for cement grinding addresses three main issues of the cement production industry: it increases grinding fineness and reduces the energy costs of the process, while at the same time remaining simple and reliable in operation.

GlobeCore in the Press: Water & Wastewater Asia Magazine

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The next issue of Water & Wastewater Asia magazine, published with the support of the Singapore Water Association, out in June.

The magazine publishes the first part of an article titled Using the Vortex Layer of Ferromagnetic Particles in Wastewater Treatment article by GlobeCore’s service manager Frank May.

The first part of the article deals with the principle of the electromagnetic vortex layer device. The piece includes the results of testing the technology in treatment of wastewater by reduction of hexavalent chrome, sedimentation of heavy metals, neutralization of acidic and basic wastewater and oxidation reactions. These results confirm the ability of the vortex layer machines to improve the efficiency of the existing wastewater treatment facilities.

See the first part of the article in the original. The second part is to be published in the next issue of Water & Wastewater Asia, expected to be out in September this year.

Vortex Layer Devices in Gold Production

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Gold is used in several fields:

  • as part of national reserves;
  • in medicine (dentistry, pharmaceuticals and cosmetology). In this case gold is used in implants, medicines and cosmetics. The amount of gold used in this field is relatively small and remains below 2% of the total demand;
  • electronics (information technologies and telecommunications). In this field gold is used as a superconductor, in electroplating, as a connector in integrated boards, in wiring and cables. This field consumes about 8% of total gold demand;
  • chemical industry (as a catalyst);
  • construction industry (gold plating, decorations);
  • jewelry. This field consumes up to 87% of the total world production of gold.

The costs of gold production has been rising in recent decades. In 2014, the cost of producing one troy ounce of gold was 1200 dollars. This tendency is due to the reduction of the large deposits and mines. The number of new deposits discovered remains the same. The mean content of the metal in ore decreased from 1.5 to 0.8 g/ton, which makes it necessary for the producers to research ways to increase ore processing efficiency.

Using the vortex layer devices in gold ore processing

Extraction of gold and silver from the ore where the metals are rather thinly distributed in arsenic pyrite and pyrite requires decomposition of sulfides (roasting, bacterial leaching or pressure reduction).

To reduce the amount of material for roasting and increase the concentration of gold (in most cases gold is associated with arsenic pyrite), the concentrate is separated by flotation into arsenic and pyritic fractions.

All methods of concentrate separation are based on different oxidability of arsenic pyrite and pyrite surfaces under the influence of oxidation agents (pyrolusite, potassium permanganate, lime etc). However, all chemical separation methods have the following limitations: the process is very sensitive to slight changes of conditions; the collection and removal of the collecting agent from the concentrate requires multiple washes and involves partial loss of the solid matter with drains, as well as the need to constantly add new agent and extra measures to neutralize the waste stream to minimize the environmental impact.

The processes of dispersion and surface activation of the processed materials can be enhanced with the vortex layer devices (AVS). The processed material (dry or pulp) is intensively mixed by ferromagnetic particles, under the influence of electromagnetic fields, induced currents and discharges, acoustic shock waves and heat.

For experimental purposes, an airtight non-magnetic steel container was placed into the operating chamber. The subject of the experiment was flotation concentrate of the following composition: 89 g/t Au; 15 g/t As; 20,32 g/t S; 1,43 g/t FeO; 32,11 g/t Fe2O3; 8,1 g/t Al2O3; 23,8 g/t SiO2; 1,43 g/t TiO2.

Multiple experiments to separate the bulk concentrate without prior processing in the AVS yielded no positive results. In the best case scenario, flotation in basic medium using lime and copper sulfide reduces arsenic content in the pyrite product from 12-13% to 5%.

Subsequently, flotation separation was performed after pre-treatment of the concentrate in the AVS. A 200 gram concentrate sample (solid to liquid phase ratio 1:1) was processed at рН=7.8 for a certain amount of time (container diameter 100 mm). The weight of ferromagnetic particles was 30 grams, the ratio of length to diameter was 8.3. Immediately after treatment, the concentrate was transported into a 1-liter flotation machine and was subjected to flotation with butyl xanthate (50 g/t).

The data received show that the content of arsenic in pyrite product is reduced from 16 to 4% with 10-11 minute treatment. Approximately 89-90% of As and 90-91% of Au was extracted into arsenic concentrate with a yield of approximately 62% (As and Au content was 23-24% and 125-130 g/t).

An important factor defining the efficiency of the vortex layer processing of various materials is the amount of processed material per weight of the ferromagnetic particles.

Research shows that in a closed system the optimal ratio of concentrate mass to the mass of the particles is 8 to 12. Pretreatment of the concentrate at the ratio of 10 and subsequent flotation ensure production of arsenic concentrate with arsenic content of 2.4% with extraction of arsenic to pyrite concentrate 5-5,5%.

During the pre-treatment of the concentrate in the AVS, the surface of the minerals, covered with a xanthate film, is influenced by a number of factors, such as induced currents, electric discharges, local pressures, heat, abrasion etc, which causes the collecting agent to desorb from the minerals and partially decompose.

At the same time, after the process the pulp contains part of the collecting agent, which can again be adsorbed by the mineral surface and reduce the efficiency of the subsequent selective flotation. Adding activated charcoal (up to 1 kg/t) to the AVS process improves these parameters.

The resulting pyrite concentrate contains 1,7-1,8% As, which makes it possible to process it at copper mills. Arsenic concentrate contains 26-27% As, 130 g/t Au if 95-95,5% and 92-93% respectively are extracted into it.

Apparently, a brief pretreatment process of gold, arsenic and pyrite concentrates in the vortex layer device significantly improves the results of the following selective flotation and ensures a higher gold concentration of gold in the arsenic concentrate.

The Forces in the Vortex Layer Device Chamber Which Impact Biodiesel Production

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The action, motion and energy of the ferromagnetic particles are the decisive influences on the methanolysis process. In turn, these factors are defined by the shape of the particles, their diameter, the ratio of length to diameter, the amount of particles in the chamber and a few other things.

The amount of particles in the operating chamber of a rotating electromagnetic layer device is directly linked to the efficiency of their influence on the reaction mass.

According to theory, the entire layer rotates as a whole. The motion of the particles in a rotating electromagnetic field is possible only up to a certain amount of particles, at which point all particles stop moving.

Large cylindrical particles rotate relative to the axis of the unit, but also move relative ot each other. In other words, the original idea was that the effect of the ferromagnetic particles boiled down to regular mechanical stirring and grinding.

If there are few particles, all of them should move mostly on circular trajectories. If there are a lot of particles, they collide between each other and the walls of the chamber, which causes the particles to turn and tumble, changing their trajectories.

Later experiments revealed new effects, occurring with the steel cylindrical ferromagnetic particles in a rotating electromagnetic field.

The forces and momentum cause the particles to move in a complex manner: forward motion with frequent and sharp changes of velocity and direction and rotational motion with alternating angular speed. Each particle moves independently of the others. Experiments show that the motion begins with the induction in the chamber exceeds 0.09 tesla.

There are two distinct tendencies of motion here. First, the entire layer of particles (due to centrifugal forces) moves at a certain distance from the induction coil axis in the direction of EM field rotation (the induction coil is vertical). Second, the motion of most particles combines the motion along a circle with complex large amplitude oscillations (the amplitude approximates half of the particle length) relative to their centerpoints.

If would seem that local electromagnetic fields are generated around each particle, which change the structure of the magnetic field in the induction coil in a pulsatile manner.

With complex mechanical and magnetostrictive oscillations (due to the delay of the motion relative to EM field rotation, as well as magnetoelastic effect during collisions), each particle becomes a source of cavitation. The processed liquid ingredients (a mixture of vegetable oil and the solution of methanol and base) have a very small compression coefficient, which means that large pressure changes are accompanied by small changes of volume.

The oscillations of the ferromagnetic particles in a fluid generate negative pressures. These negative pressure cause the formation of vapor-filled caverns, which expand and reduce the negative pressure. The continuity of the liquid is disrupted, and it is necessary to define the position of the caverns and the motion of the caverns’ boundaries. The tendency to form caverns in a liquid in idle state shows that in the presence of cavitation cores (microscopic inclusions of air with some vapor), the pressure is reduced to zero.

The pressure created at the boundary of a small spherical bubble due to the interfacial tension, is so high that it cannot be balanced by the vapor pressure, while the air under such pressure should rapidly dissolve in the fluid.

The intensive motion of the particles cause the gas bubbles to almost immediately disperse and fill with saturated vapor of the processed liquid, creating the conditions for acoustic cavitation. Particle motion drives the intensive motion of the fluid, creating the conditions for discontinuity of the fluid, i.e. stream cavitation.

We assume that the process efficiency of the devices with a rotating EM field is due to several factors which influence the processed fluid together:

  • the rotating EM field magnetizes the particles, which interact with each other, the fluid and the chamber’s walls;
  • acoustic shock waves are generated by the cavitation in the chamber, intensifying mass exchange processes;
  • the motion of a large amount of ferromagnetic particles in the induction chamber is accompanied by intensive collisions and release of energy;
  • each particle is, in a sense, a mini electrolysis devices, which saturates the chamber with ions, accelerating chemical processes;
  • magnetic polarity reversals of the magnetized particles generates magnetostriction. The number of reversals seems to significantly exceed the number of particle collisions. The change of linear dimensions are very rapid. The result is a force impulse. It is probably that each particle radiates strong impulses as it moves, significantly intensifying the chemical and diffusion processes;
  • the particles contact each other, forming a short circuit, with strong induced currents and micro-arcs. The released heat also facilitates process intensification and direct diffusion of matter;
  • the magnetostriction impulses, cavitation, induced currents and micro-arcs increase the area of interaction (phase boundary) by several orders of magnitude, increasing the “surface energy” and the rate of vegetable oil methanolysis.

All the forces and factors are synergistic and create previously unknown phenomena in the vortex layer devices, improving the efficiency and intensity of the chemical processes.

Vortex Layer Device Design Features

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Operation of the rotating magnetic field devices is based on one of the most characteristic features of multiphase currents, that is, generation of a rotating magnetic field, which serves as a driving force for the intensive chaotic motion of ferromagnetic particles. The particles carry and transform the energy of the field.

The most common practical use of these systems are various grinding and mixing processes. The vortex layer systems have proven to be quite efficient in this field, compared to the traditional vibration or ball mills, as well as other mechanical mixing devices. The benefits include sharp intensification of the processes and reduction of power consumption, reducing product costs, as well as design and manufacturing simplicity, which do not involve complex technologies, and reliability in operation.

Regardless of the process in the vortex layer, the main components in the systems, which maximize the effects of the vortex layer, are the same (Figure 1).

Vortex Layer Device

Figure 1 – A rotating magnetic field system: 1- enclosure; 2 – induction coil; 3 – cooling jacket; 4 – operating chamber; 5 – ferromagnetic particles.

The main components are the electromagnetic system (the induction mechanism generating the rotating field), the ferromagnetic particles and the operating chamber that contains them.

Other component depend on the specific requirements for the process the system is used for. The machine can run a batch process or a continuous process, where the ingredients are supplied into the operating chamber from one end and the product leaves the chamber from the other end. The strong magnetic field holds the ferromagnetic particles so they are not carried out of the chamber by a liquid or gas flow. An important feature of a rotating electromagnetic field device is the absence of dynamic seals and the possibility to make the operating chamber completely airtight.

Let us take a look at the components of the machine. The rotating field can be created by either internal or external cylindrical induction coils.

However, with the identical number of pole pairs, the magnetic field of an internal induction coil dissipates much faster with distance, than in the bore of an external induction coil. This makes external cylindrical induction coils much more practical for the rotating field devices. In this case the electromagnetic system is a circular multiphase system of coils installed in the groves of the magnetic core.

An important condition for the efficient operation of the vortex layer and the entire system is the uniformity of the field in the cross section normal to the induction coil axis. In such field, the ferromagnetic particles, which rotatie with alternating angular velocities, are evenly distributed in the operating chamber, ensuring that the entire ingredient flow is involved in the process. Two-pole inductors generate the most uniform field.

One of the most important parameters of a vortex layer device is the magnetic induction in the center of the induction coil bore at idle, i.e. without the ferromagnetic particles. Induction defines the rate of ingredient mixing and dispersion, as well as the rate of chemical reactions in the vortex layer. For most vortex layer devices designed for the production of emulsions, suspensions and various chemical processes, the induction is in the range from 0.07 to 0.20 tesla. The length and internal diameter of the bore are also important parameters, defining the processing capacity of the devices.

Three AVS-100 machines commissioned in China

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The ferromagnetic vortex layer devices are applied for intensification and improving efficiency of wastewater purification.

One of the latest orders for this equipment was filled by GlobeCore for a large factory in China. Three AVS-100 units are already operated in China, in cyanide and fluoride removal from wastewater.

In the case of two stage chemical neutralization of wastewater with simple and complex cyanides, cyanides are first oxidized to cyanates at pH 10-11.5, then the latter are hydrolyzed to nitrogen and carbon dioxide at pH 7-7.5. The process is performed in batches. The decontamination agent is sodium hydrochloride.

The implementation of vortex layer units makes it possible to complete decontamination in one pass at рН 9-10. Oxidizer consumption (chlorinated lime, sodium or potassium hypochlorites) constitutes 110% of the theoretically required amount. The alkaline agents used are soda solution or a Ca(OH)2 suspension in water. With the initial content of cyan ions at 8000 mg/l, the number drops after the purification to 0.12 mg/liter, from 4320 the amount is reduced to 0.02 mg/l and to 0.002 mg/l from 50.

Using the vortex layer devices also improves efficiency of fluoride removal. Removal of fluorine and converting phosphates into insoluble compounds occurs in one stage. The content of fluorine in purified wastewater in optimal conditions (рН 10-11) does not exceed 1.5 mg/l, while the phosphates are absent. The commonly used reagent is lime with 5-10% excess of CaO.

GlobeCore In The Media: the Cement Americas Magazine

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The new issue of the Cement Americas Magazine came out in September 2018. The magazine published an article by Frank May, GlobeCore service engineer, titles The Promising Application of Vortex Layer Devices with Ferromagnetic Elements for Cement Improvement.

The article discusses one of the main reasons for cement deterioration which increases cement consumption and includes an analysis of equipment currently available in the industry for final pulverization of cement to improve its activity (such as various mills and dispersers). The author demonstrates how the currently existing mills are not always able to ensure the required results while consuming excessive amounts of electricity.

The alternative is the AVS vortex layer device. Mr. May describes the unit’s principle of operation and the results of practical trials for a concrete sample made from cement with and without AVS treatment. The results conclusively demonstrate the advantages of using these devices for activation and improvement of cement strength.

See the full article here (in the original language).

GlobeCore in the Press: Cemento Hormigón Magazine

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The May-June 2018 number of Cemento Hormigón Magazine of Spain features an article by GlobeCore electrical engineer José Mora, titled “Re-trituración y mejora del cemento portland en los sistemas de optención de la capa vórtex de particulas ferromagnéticas”.  

The article describes GlobeCore experience in application of the vortex layer devices with ferromagnetic elements in the construction industry, specifically, to improve the properties of concrete. The article lists the results of testing samples made from cement after pulverization and activation in vortex layer devices. It also includes a description of the unit and its operation.

The article (in the original language) follows.

GlobeCore in the press : “Industrial WaterWorld” magazine

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The fifth issue for 2017 of “Industrial WaterWorld” magazine published an article entitled “Decontamination of Oily Wastewater Using Electromagnetic Vortex Layer Devices”.

The article analyzed the main directions of cleaning and neutralization of wastewater containing oil, and the advantages and disadvantages of these methods. Also the article described  the principle of  operation of electromagnetic vortex layer devices with ferromagnetic particles, that have proven themselves in efficiently treating wastewater of various origins.

The article explored the possibility of using electromagnetic vortex layer devices for cleaning wastewater contaminated by petroleum products directly on ships and crafts. It established that the electromagnetic vortex layer device AVS produced by GlobeCore can easily be integrated into the existing ship systems. Wastewater treatment through the proposed technological scheme ensures the complete decontamination with the elimination of all possible waste.

New Method for Preparing Liquid Mixtures in Manufacture of Latex Articles Using Electromagnetic Field Energy

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Electromagnetic field energy unit

 

The new method belongs to manufacturing in­gredient dispersions for latex mixtures, preparing liquid strong-filled latex mixtures, introducing reinforcing fillers into latex film articles.

The method is widely used for preparing water dispersions of vulcanizing and gelatinating ingredients in the manufacture of latex foam.

The method is effected using the electromagnetic field energy.

Compared to the known methods, it has certain advantages:

  • possibility of continuous production; total elimination of ball, vibrating and colloid mills from the production;
  • reduction of process time hundreds of times;
  • 30—40 times reduction of electric energy consumption;
  • saving in expensive raw materials and floor area.

In the industrial realization of the new method, for example in the manufacture of latex foam, it becomes possible to continuously obtain dispersions of vulcanizing and gelatinating agents simultaneously introducing a cheap mineral filler (kaolin) into latex foam. The latex foam obtained by the new method contains 5—10 weight parts of kaolin, which permits the same amount of latex to be saved without im­pairing the quality of the finished product, the volume weight of latex foam being reduced by 10—20% with a 3—5 times decrease of residual strain after multiple compression which prolongs the article life 3—5 times.

Moreover, the new method may be used to introduce reinforcing fillers into latex film articles. Compared with the existing methods covering only some grades of lateces, the present method has certain valuable advantages:

possibility of introducing reinforcing fillers within 3—4 seconds with small amount of emulsifiers and at a high rate;

better quality of articles due to strength increase by 50—300%;

improved homogeneity and uniformity of the thickness of thin-walled articles with a reduced cost; reduced production expenditure.

COMPARATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OP CHLOROPRENE LATEX FILMS PILLED WITH AEROSILS DY DIPPERENT METHODS

Method for introducing filler Aerosil grade Amount of filler, weight parts per dry

weight of latex

 Physical and mechanical properties
elon­gation,

%

 tensile

strength,

kgf/cm2

 perma­nent elonga­tion, %
Ball mill Aerosil-175 15 746 180 18
Aerosil-300 10 805 185 22
New met­hod Aerosil-175 15 845 232 24
Aerosil^ 300 10 1,020 232 20

The existing methods for introducing reinforcing fillers into latex do not cover such fillers as kaolin and carbon black. The new method makes it possible to reinforce latex articles with these fillers.

COMPARATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OP CHLOROPRENE LATEX FILMS FILLED WITH KAOLIN AND CARBON BLACK BY THE NEW METHOD

Filler Amount of filler, weight parts per dry weight of latex Physical and mechanical pro­perties
elongation, % tensile

strength,

kgf/cm^

 permanent elongation, %
Kaolin 5 1,078 190 20
Carbon black 5 553 354 16
No filler 0 1,005 134 19

 

 

COMPARATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OBTAINED WHILE USING THE NEW METHOD AND BALL MILLS FOR INTRODUCING FILLERS INTO LATEX

Ball mills New method Improvement of characteristics, times
Specific energy consumption, kW/kg«h ^ 0.286 0.0019 150
Specific output, kg.h/m 230 515,000 2,240

It is possible to effect the method in special appa­ratuses using the electromagnetic field energy which are manufactured serially.

The new method is widely introduced at many compnies and is patented in a number of foreign countries including the USA, Italy, Great Britain, France, Germany and others.

The technology using the new method is mastered and may be shown to the interested firms in industrial operation.

GlobeCore in the press: published an article on electromagnetic vortex intensifier for wastewater treatment in “Water Today” magazine

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The scientific and research magazine “Water today” in its August issue 8’17 published an article “Electromagnetic Intensification of Heavy Metal Removal and Wastewater Decontamination”.

The article addresses the problem of wastewater pollution as a result of industrial activities. For wastewater purification from heavy metals (chrome, zinc, iron, nickel, copper, iron, cadmium), is proposed an electromagnetic vortex intensifier AVS produced by GlobeCore.

The article shows the results of testing the laboratory AVS. It also shows a scheme of simultaneous wastewater treatment containing chromium, acid and alkali.

Production of coal-water slurry fuel with AVS

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Electromagnetic field energy unit

A high price of traditional fuel (gas and heating oil) encourages to search for new cheaper fuel to reduce the cost of thermal energy. One of the most promising new products is coal water slurry fuel – a mixture of coal particles (fraction 1 … 70 μm), water and reagent. It is characterized by a good heating value and a high degree of combustion.

Advantages of coal-water slurry fuel

  • ignition temperature is 800-850 ° C;
  • combustion temperature – 950-1150 ° С;
  • calorific value – 3700-4700 kcal.
  • efficiency of carbon combustion  is 99%;
  • lower cost;
  • harmful emissions to the atmosphere are reduced;
  • fire and explosion-proof.

Preparation of water-coal fuel

Coal-water slurry fuel is produced from coal which has a high content of volatile substances. It is delivered to an open platform, then a front  loader feeds it into a receiving hopper of a grinder. Coal can be ground by ball mills, roller mills and hammer mills. Practically each of these mills is a complex and bulky equipment, that uses a lot of power. This calls for new and more efficient grinders for preparation of coal water slurry fuel.

Why AVS?

The design of the first AVS was proposed in the 60s of the last century. This device is an induction motor, that has an operating chamber instead of a rotor. The device is connected to a three-phase electric power that creates a rotating electromagnetic field of the industrial frequency. The material and  ferromagnetic elements are fed into the operating chamber. They begin to rotate and collide under the influence of electromagnetic field and other factors (high local pressure, electrolysis, acoustic impact, etc.), causing intensive dispersion and mixing of coal-water slurry fuel components.

An AVS unit doesn’t have the disadvantages of traditional industrial mills that have large overall dimensions and low energy efficiency. In addition, AVS can be integrated into existing lines for coal-water slurry fuel  production without significant changes and costs.

Test results of AVS-150

GlobeCore conducted studies of coal grinding and subsequent preparation of coal-water slurry fuel on AVS-150. The tests showed the following results:

  • re-grinding of 10-15 mm coal to coal dust not exceeding 300 μm;
  • re-grinding and mixing coal with water;
  • careful mixing eliminates a plasticizer;
  • AVS-150 approximate capacity for water-coal fuel production is 3 m3 / h;
  • energy consumption is 9 kW / h per metric ton. This indicator for a vibrating mill is 55 kW / h;
  • calorific value of produced fuel is 42,000 kcal.

Thus, it is possible to produce water-coal fuel on AVS-150 using cheap coal slurry, which is as good at heat transfer as gas or heating oil and more economical than they are.

AVS can be used in:

  • preparation of fuel for combustion;
  • preparation of coal-water slurry fuel;
  • co-combustion of coal and biomass.

Contact us to leave an application for purchase of AVS for the of coal-water slurry fuel production.

Physico-chemical methods of ceramic production wastewater treatment: coagulation and adsorption

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Water treatment process. Ceramic production forms two major streams of wastewater.

The first stream is formed at the stage of preparing the slip casting of ceramic products, their mandrel, filling and bonding of parts and includes, mainly, a large amount of suspended clay particles and glycerol. The second stream is formed in the preparation of ceramic colors and contains pigments, which are made from different metal oxides. Since the streams are different and require different cleaning methods, it is not recommended to mix the streams and use separate treatment plants for each of them instead.

The wastewater with suspended particles of clay needs coagulation and sorption treatments to return the purified water and sedimented clay into the production process. The stream containing pigments must pass through coagulation treatment. Since this mixture is not used in the ceramic industry, it can be added into molding mass in production of bricks.

Coagulation treatment is used for natural and industrial wastewater mainly to purify it from colloidal suspension contaminants. The essence of coagulation is adding special coagulants. In most cases they are aluminum and iron salts, as well as their mixtures, also used are the salts of other polyvalent cations such as magnesium and titanium. Since the coagulants are the salts of strong acids and weak alkalis, they are hydrolyzed to form hydroxide salts which have a developed surface and can absorb various impurities. These particles coagulate with colloidal substances. The most commonly used today are aluminum, steel, and mixed aluminium-iron coagulants, which are mixtures of aluminum and iron salts.

Aluminium compounds used as coagulants are aluminum sulfate, aluminum hydroxysulfate, aluminum chloride, aluminum sulphate, sodium aluminate.

Removal of Heavy Metals from Wastewater Using Vortex Layer Devices

Wastewater treatment, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Removal of heavy metals.. From the beginning of the 1970s, technological and scientific research has been increasingly directed towards protection and preservation of the environment, which is becoming more and more important around the world.

This is due to the irreversibility of negative anthropogenic impact, which is a real threat to the existence of mankind. It makes national conservation a number one priority.

The environment saturated with harmful substances, including toxic heavy metals, is becoming more dangerous to health and normal life of mankind. Adding to it is the increasing population, depletion of natural resources, an increase in industrial and agricultural production that creates worldwide shortage of fresh water. Besides, the development of industries such as optical, pharmaceutical and chemical, demands high quality treatment of wastewater. At the same time, the amount of wastewater increases, which, in turn, affects the environment and the state of water bodies. This demands the development of effective methods of water purification to remove undesired impurities.

By 1950s, wastewater was treated by distillation, but, unfortunately, this method requires bulky equipment and consumes a lot of energy. Since 1950, the deep wastewater treatment has been performed by ion exchange. The main disadvantage of this method is the chemical regeneration of sorbents with the use of significant amounts of corrosive reagents, as well as the complex design of equipment. From 1970, electrodialysis came into use, combined with reverse osmosis. However, large-scale development of this technology is limited by its high energy consumption and low productivity.

GlobeCore research shows that cleaning and neutralization of industrial wastewater could be seriously improved by the vortex layer device (AVS).

These devices were developed in the 1960s-1970s and have since been applied in many industries improving the efficiency and intensity of various processes. The great results of the AVS are due to a variety of phenomena and effects which occur in the chamber of the unit. These effects are electrolysis, electromagnetic treatment, intensive dispersion and others.

Table 1 shows the results of wastewater treatment from galvanizing plant contaminated by heavy metals with the AVS-100 vortex layer device, in comparison with the maximum permissible concentrations in the European Union standards.

Table 1

The results of treating wastewater from galvanizing plant removing heavy metals with the AVS-100 vortex layer device

№

Parameter

Value

Maximum

permissible concentration (European Union)

Before regeneration

After regeneration
1 рН

1,75

6,74

6,5-8,5
2 Fe, mg/l

9,7

2,77

2-20
3 Cu, mg/l

18,29

0,65

0,1-4
4 Ni, mg/l

5,8

<0,02 (not detected)

0,5-3
5 Cr+6, mg/l

19,08

<0,005 (not detected)

0,1-0,5

The data shows that the AVS -100 reduces heavy metal concentration in wastewater to values ​​not exceeding the maximum permissible concentrations specified by the European Union. Complete absence of nickel and hexavalent chromium in the water was achieved. The results demonstrate the efficiency of using the vortex layer devices in countries with more stringent requirements to hexavalent chromium and nickel concentrations.

It was also found that the vortex layer device saves on the reagents. The process of sedimentation occurs much faster than when using devices with a stirrer.

Fish Processing Wastewater Treatment

Wastewater treatment, , , , , , , , , , , ,

The food industry, including the fish industry, is a source of organic compounds and water solutions of inorganic salts. These organic substances contain proteins and fats. They are washed by hygienic washing equipment with different types of detergents, resulting in different amounts of pollutants in the wastewater.

Their daily flow of concentrated wastewater varies between 5-7% of the total amount of wastewater. At the same time, the concentration of  impurities in this flow exceeds the maximum permissible value by 10 times or more.

The problem of wastewater treatment with such composition is connected with the origin and composition of wastewater. It requires new design of wastewater treatment equipment.

The solution could be in using baromembrane methods. This membrane technology is easy to use but is limited in certain conditions.

Industrial wastewater from fish processing facilities is generated by:

  1. defrosting, salting, washing and processing of fish;
  2. washing of equipment and production facilities.

The problem of discharge of wastewater from fish processing into municipal treatment facilities is the excessive number of pollutants.

Biological treatment used at treatment plants is not enough to remove fat. Therefore, the solution lies in combining classical physicochemical and biological treatments, and also in reducing the amount of detergents that pollute wastewater with chlorides.

Biotechnology in dairy wastewater treatment

Wastewater treatment, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Dairy wastewater treatment. The technology of food preparation creates waste varying in quantity, pollution, state of aggregation, etc.

Wastewater of the food industry is considered concentrated by the level of contaminants. It contains a significant amount of organic substances.

The most contaminated is the wastewater from alcohol, meat, dairy and sugar industries. Since these enterprises are situated mainly in urban areas, some of their wastewater is dumped into central sewage system. However, urban wastewater treatment plants work inefficiently. Moreover, the wastewater of most food companies does not comply with the requirements of their discharge into the sewer on the concentration of contaminants, causing violations of the rules and regulations.

Over the years, the food industry has been trying to solve the problem of wastewater treatment in the outdated sewage treatment plants based on traditional biological treatment technology, which was used to clean domestic wastewater. But this technique is not suitable for purification of concentrated effluents.

To solve the problem of treating concentrated wastewater, the anaerobic-aerobic treatment technology was proposed .

First, this technology sharply reduces the concentration of contaminants by methane fermentation, then finally treats the wastewater in aeration tanks with aerobic fermentation.

The implementation of methane fermentation coincided with the search for new, alternative energy sources, since methane fermentation produces biogas, which could prove to be a cheap source of energy. Biogas could be produced from both liquid and solid waste of virtually all food production facilities.

The problem of treating wastewater containing pharmaceutical substances

Wastewater treatment, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Treating wastewater. The efficiency of wastewater treatment in sewage treatment plants depends on many factors, among them is the presence of toxic substances in wastewater which affect activated sludge.

Typically, a pharmaceutical substance (medicine) is a mixture prepared by treating natural materials by synthesis or chemical treatment. These chemicals are released into sewage in micro concentrations, but some of these chemicals have an extremely negative effect, which in many cases exceeds the effect of known contaminants entering the drains in large quantities. Traces of pharmaceutical drugs were found in wastewater, surface water, activated sludge, oceanic sediments and annual rainfall and also in filters in municipal landfills in countries such as France, Germany, Great Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United States.

Wastewater from residential areas, medical institutions and pharmaceutical companies are discharged into municipal sewage, and then into treatment plants for the biological treatment. But even after the treatment the purified water that goes into natural waterways contains pharmaceutical drugs or their derivatives. This is explained by the fact that biological wastewater treatment in most cases is not intended to remove micro contaminants.

Chemical drugs poison the activated sludge microorganisms of treatment plants. The examination of toxic effects of pharmaceuticals show the negative change in the  biological nature of the activated sludge organisms, which changes the results of wastewater treatment.

The negative effects of pharmaceutical pollutants on the active sludge are various. Some of the pollutants slow down oxygenation of activated sludge, reducing its productivity, while others become food.

The remains of pharmaceuticals, after passing through biological treatment are discharged into surface waters and accumulate in the natural environment. They reduce the quality of water, violate the life-cycle of organisms and cause their abnormal development.

Wastewater Treatment With Microorganisms

Wastewater treatment, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wastewater treatment. In the process of biological treatment of highly concentrated wastewater from industrial enterprises, food and light industries, the main role is played by microorganisms that colonize the treatment plants. These microorganisms use the substances contained in wastewater for their life-sustaining activity. These bacteria in the activated sludge are  Pseudomonas, Bacterium, Micrococcus, Bacillus, Corynebacterium, Thiobacillus. They perform the destruction of complex organic compounds and nitrogen compounds.

Biocenosis in a bioreactor occurs with the help of anoxic and aerobic technologies immobilizing microorganisms, hydrobionts and free-floating particles of activated sludge. These anaerobic-aerobic wastewater treatments are implemented in the food and light industries. They use Pseudomonas, oxidizing alcohols, fatty acids, waxes, aromatic hydrocarbons, carbohydrates and Nitrosomonas, Nitrobacter bacteria. In addition to bacteria, an important role is also played by invertebrates, algae, fungi, microscopic animals that form hydrobiocenoses in wastewater-treatment facilities.

The pollutants in wastewater and their concentrations and the place of their conglomeration, either  in the water or on its surface determine the treatment conditions: anaerobic, anoxic or aerobic.

The presence of rotifer, and worms (higher trophic level organisms in the food chain) in the aerobic bioreactor also improve wastewater treatment. These organisms eat away the detritus, bacteria and protozoa; they stop the increase of biomass, reduce the costs of recycling and disposal of sediment; mineralize biomass and improve sediment properties.

In bioreactors of wastewater treatment plants the immobilized  microorganisms form bio-conveyor of bacteria: small flagellates, ciliates, rotifers and worms effectively clean wastewater of contaminants, regulate the number of hydrobiont populations, which leads to a reduction of biomass.

Electrochemical treatment of industrial wastewater

Wastewater treatment, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Electrochemical treatment of wastewater. In recent years, the electrochemical methods of  industrial wastewater treatment became more popular than chemical treatment. It is due to a significant increase in prices of chemical reagents such as oxidizing agents, reducing agents, acids, alkalis, coagulants and flocculants. The other reasons to abandon chemical reagent treatment is the absence of secondary pollution of the treated water with anions and cations of salts, which makes the facilities environmentally safe; the purified water is reused in the production cycle, since its mineralization does not change, even reduced in some cases. The methods used for comprehensive treatment of multicomponent wastewater with different qualitative and quantitative composition are adsorption and sedimentation of impurities. The treatment plants are compact and easy to operate.

The most common method of electrochemical treatment of wastewater uses active coagulants of aluminum or iron cations in the solution for ionization (electrochemical dissolution) of metallic anodes with direct current. Metal cations react with water molecules and form hydroxides with high sorption properties for heavy metals, organic compounds and other components of wastewater, and also reduce the amount of chlorine anions and sulfates.

Electrocoagulation with iron electrodes forms ferrous iron, and by adding coagulant, it reduces the amount of hexavalent chromium and other contaminants, such as petroleum, oils, surfactants, other organic impurities.

Electrocoagulation is easily controlled by adjusting electric current and metal ions transition between electrodes.

Upgrading electrochemical treatment plants requires an inspection according  to safety standards and guides.

The main hazards of electrochemical treatment of wastewater, is the possibility of electric shock, electrolysis gas emissions, particularly chlorine, generation of fire and explosive dangerous mixtures of electrolysis gases (hydrogen) with oxygen and air, the possibility of generation of secondary hazardous substances by interaction of electrolysis components and wastewater.

Treatment of Wastewater From Galvanic Production

Wastewater treatment, , , , , , , , , , , ,
Wastewater system. The existing methods of electroplating wastewater treatment do not fully meet the requirements and regulations for wastewater discharge into waterways and the environment.

The reasons lie in the design and operation of wastewater treatment equipment. The difficulty is the comprehensive removal of the entire spectrum of pollutants used in industrial processes.

Furthermore, it is very important to strictly follow the environmental rules and requirements of wastewater discharge into waterways. These rules demand multi-stage treatment technologies and development of new and improvement of the already existing methods of treating wastewater from galvanic production.

At the moment, process equipment does not fully utilize the chemicals used for cleaning and neutralizing the heavy metal ions in wastewater, such as acids, alkaline and rinse water.

In addition, the increase in volume of sludge and sediment significantly complicates operation of wastewater treatment plants and leads to increase in energy costs.

Therefore, finding ways to improve the efficiency of wastewater treatment is always relevant. One of the ways to solve this problem is offered by GlobeCore with its vortex layer device (AVS). This equipment was developed in the 1960-1970s and is successfully used in many production lines for intensification of processes.

The  effects of electromagnetic treatment, dispersion phase, electrolysis and high local pressure in the chamber of the AVS significantly accelerate the process of wastewater treatment.

Research Department of GlobeCore performed experiments treating wastewater from galvanic production with the AVS-100 laboratory vortex layer device. The results of the experiment are shown in Table 1.

Table 1

The results of treatment of wastewater from galvanizing removing heavy metals with vortex layer device AVS 100

№

Parameter

Value

Maximum

permissible concentration (European Union)

Before treatment

After treatment
1

рН

1,75

6,74

6,5-8,5
2

Fe, mg/l

9,7

2,77

2-20
3

Cu, mg/l

18,29

0,65

0,1-4
4

Ni, mg/l

5,8

<0,02 (not detected)

0,5-3
5

Cr+6, mg/l

19,08

<0,005 (not detected)

0,1-0,5

The submitted data shows that the AVS reduces the concentration of heavy metals to values not exceeding the maximum permissible concentration for the European Union. The nickel and hexavalent chromium are completely absent in the treated water. It shows the possibilities of the future use of vortex layer devices in countries with more stringent regulations for hexavalent chromium and nickel concentrations.

Also worth noting is that the cleaning of wastewater samples was instant and the reagents were used in small amounts. In addition, there was a more intensive sedimentation of sludge compared to the units with conventional stirrers.

Meat Processing Wastewater Treatment

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Meat processing wastewater treatment. Rational use of raw materials and energy resources is a major problem of today. It is closely related to the protection of environment and, in particular, the protection and conservation of water resources.

In the 1980s the big meat processing complexes treated their wastewater mainly by mechanical methods. Now a significant number of small and medium enterprises release their practically untreated wastewater into the municipal sewers or into natural waterways.

Such waste dumping into the urban sewers raises the problem of  cleaning wastewater with high content of organic pollutants. These pollutants can not be eliminated by aerobic biological oxidation.

The main difficulty of treating this wastewater is its instability in volume and composition. This instability is caused, first of all, by the different raw animal materials (supplied meat is semi-finished or it is cattle for slaughter and subsequent processing), which, in turn, affects the stages of meat production, and consequently affects the wastewater. Secondly, the instability is caused by a range of products, including quantitative and qualitative composition of the ingredients in meat products. Thirdly, it is affected by the chemical composition of detergents which are used in compliance with sanitary and hygienic conditions in the workplace. Fourthly, the wastewater depends on seasonal fluctuations of demand for meat products in the market.

Traditional wastewater treatment by grease traps, sediment tanks and flotators does not always provide the necessary quality of wastewater treatment. Improving the treatment by using various filtering materials like flexible polyurethane, polystyrene and others, does not always give the expected results, besides, the filter material loses its properties after working for some time in the filtration-regeneration cycles and must be recycled, otherwise it may cause a negative impact on the environment.

High pH of wastewater (11,6-12,4) is unfavorable, and moreover, it is disastrous to the development of microorganisms, making biological methods unsuitable for cleaning such wastewater.

Furthermore, this wastewater is characterized by intense unpleasant odor, which requires prompt deodorizing and special anaerobic biological treatment to separate biogas.

The biogas contains hydrogen sulfide, which is a product of biochemical conversion of proteins. Also, the anaerobic wastewater treatment for meat processing plants takes longer than aerobic.

Wastewater treatment by electrochemical methods requires special equipment and skilled personnel, making it unavailable for small companies

Biological treatment of wastewater. Bioplatо

Wastewater treatment, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bioremediation is a promising treatment of wastewater of different origins. Generally, a wastewater treatment plant is a complex engineering structure. In this article we will examine one such plant: a floating bioplato.

A bioplato is used for post-treatment and treatment of industrial wastewater, utilities, and surface water run-offs. It almost doesn’t require chemical reagents; it involves minimal costs and minimal maintenance.

The “bioplato” technology uses natural processes of self-purification, which occur in aquatic and semi-aquatic systems and are performed  by higher aquatic plants: reed, cane, weed, mace and others.

These plants are responsible for the following functions:

  • Filtering and creating conditions for sedimentation of harmful impurities;
  • Absorption of biogenic elements and organic matter;
  • Accumulation of certain metals and non-biodegradable organic substances;
  • Oxygen saturation of water during photosynthesis;
  • Detoxification of toxic substances.

The main disadvantage of phytotechnologies is the need for large areas compared to the structures for mechanical and chemical-biological treatment, which occupy small areas. In autumn and winter the performance of bioplato is somewhat reduced, but the quality of treatment does not deteriorate and the treated water can be discharged into natural water bodies.

Monitoring the performance of an operating bioplato shows that natural shrubs and higher aquatic plants form a balanced ecosystem and do not require artificial control. The situation is different when using bioplato for industrial wastewater which contains heavy metals and toxins. There is a risk of secondary contamination of water there, and bioplato operation becomes much more complicated.

The main advantages of phytotechnologies are low cost, no electricity, ease of construction and virtually no need for maintenance by operating personnel.

Tannery Wastewater Treatment

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Tannery wastewater treatment.. Tannery wastewater is highly concentrated and contains contaminant particles of different size. This is due to a large variety of chemicals in leather industry: sulfuric acid, lime, soda ash, sodium sulfate, sodium sulfide, hypophosphite, ammonium sulfate, synthetic surfactants and finishing agents, kerosene, methyl esters, molasses etc. Synthetic surfactants are used in tanneries as solvents, wetting agents, detergents, emulsifiers, dispersants and accelerators of the processes.

During various operations associated with tanning and shaving hides in preparing leather, all these substances get into the wastewater and into the sewers. In addition, this wastewater contains components of skins, namely collagen proteins, fats and fat-like substances, some minerals containing sodium, potassium, calcium, and other elements. The specific amount of wastewater per 1,000 dm2 production is 2-9,5 m3 (lower values are characteristic for curing of hard skins, and higher are for chrome-tanned leather).

The conventional technologies for treatment of highly concentrated wastewater, particularly from tanneries, have several limitations. Therefore, it is appropriate to improve them using the vortex layer devices (AVS).

These devices were developed in the 1960s and became known as intensifiers of different processes, including tannery wastewater treatment.

In the chamber of the AVS various processes affect water purification:

  • Intensive mixing and dispersion;
  • Electrolysis;
  • Impact of electromagnetic fields;
  • High local pressure, etc.

Under other conditions these reactions last for minutes and hours, in the AVS they occurs within minutes, even seconds.The AVS used for wastewater treatment:

  • Reduces the consumption of reagents;
  • Reduces the production floor-space, allocated for a wastewater treatment plant;
  • Speeds up the cleaning process;
  • can be implemented into any technological process line.

Removal of Coke and Byproducts From Wastewater

Wastewater treatment, , , , , , , , , , , ,

The problem of industrial wastewater treatment to remove dissolved organic matter, such as phenols, is important and difficult at the same time, despite the large amount of domestic and imported equipment innovations.

First, deep purification of wastewater dictates special rules and conditions that are difficult to implement in practice. Second, many effective methods of deep purification require significant resources and costs, the the use of hard to find reagents with subsequent regeneration and recycling of waste. For most businesses this is difficult to perform. Therefore, the search for new effective methods of industrial wastewater treatment is ongoing.

Among the methods of destruction of organic pollutants in effluent the most common are electrochemical, electrocatalytic and reagent oxidation/reduction methods. These methods have certain advantages and disadvantages. The method most widely used is electrochemical destruction of organic substances in wastewater.

After considerable theoretical research, with the development of new low wear anode materials and new equipment designs, this method is quite promising. It uses micro-arc discharge for processing. The effectiveness of this treatment method is due to the high pressure and temperature of the discharge and significant power output.

The success of electrochemical wastewater treatment is based on the right choice of anode material, the design of the electrochemical reactor, energy consumption and the direction and selectivity of electrode processes. Most of anode materials are developed and produced specifically for electrolysis of concentrated sodium chloride solutions. These anode materials are based on RuO2 and IrO2. The platinum-titanium anodes are unsuitable for wastewater treatment. Another major group of anodes made of metal oxides (Co3O4, Fe2O3, PbO2) has high efficiency in the synthesis of sodium hypochlorite, but such anodes are not made industrially. Therefore, electrochemical treatment of wastewater from coke and by-product uses carbon, coke and carbon-graphite anodes. Their availability, ease of application and catalytic activity in low concentrations of chloride make them promising for decomposition of phenols in wastewater from coke and by-products process.

Sorbent wastewater treatment to remove heavy metals

Wastewater treatment, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Remove heavy metals. The presence of heavy metal ions such as copper, lead, iron, nickel, zinc in the water is a serious problem for the environment due to their high toxicity, and also due to the inability of microorganisms to process them. The main water pollutants with such metals are ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy and machine-building facilities.

As a result of outdated technologies, a large amount of industrial pollutants including toxic heavy metals (lead, cadmium, manganese, cobalt, nickel, copper, iron, zinc and others) are discharged into waterways. The total amount of pollution entering waterways and over the surface flow in urban areas is about 15-20%. During the 1990s, the concentration of copper, zinc and lead in waterways increased by 1.5-3 times compared with the 1980s. Even today, the ions of heavy metals pollute water from bottom sediment. Therefore, the problem of efficient extraction of heavy metals requires effective methods for wastewater treatment.

There are many methods of sewage treatment, but each has its own disadvantages. The disadvantage of the extraction method is its complex technological process. The majority of extractants dissolve in the treated water to a varying degree. The disadvantages of the reagent methods are the significant costs of reagents and contamination of wastewater with them, making the water unsuitable to return into the cycle due to its high salinity. The disadvantage of the settling method is a large number of Na+, K+ and Ca2+ ions. The disadvantage of the ion exchange method of wastewater treatment is a low exchange capacity of ion exchangers. For coagulation method it is the generation of non-recyclable waste and low quality of treatment.

Adsorption is widely used for the final deep cleaning of wastewater to remove dissolved organic substances as a post-treatment after biological treatment of wastewater, and also for local treatment if the concentration of organic substances in wastewater is negligible and they do not decompose biologically and are not highly toxic.

The advantages of adsorbers are:

  • Natural sorbents are available in many countries;
  • They are easily obtained;
  • Adsorption technologies provide a high degree of purification;
  • The used adsorbent is utilized in other productions;
  • They do not require regeneration;
  • They can be regenerated.

The efficiency of adsorption treatment is 80-95%, depending on the chemical nature of the adsorbents, their chemical structure and adsorption surface, and their adsorbing ability in water solution. The adsorbents used in  treatment are activated charcoal, synthetic adsorbents and some waste products (ash, sludge, etc.) Non-carbon sorbents of natural and synthetic origin such as clay rocks, zeolites and other materials are also commonly used. The wider use of such sorbents is due to their high exchange capacity, selectivity, ion exchange properties of some of them, relatively low cost and availability.

Each adsorbent has its individual characteristics. For example, glauconite ensures prolonged action and low desorption rate (2-8%), with no need for recycling.

Dairy wastewater treatment

Wastewater treatment, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Dairy wastewater treatment . Dairy production is the second largest sector in the food industry. Milk processing plants are spread across the country due to the widespread availability of feedstock. The technology of food production creates large amounts of waste with different contaminants and concentrations. This problem needs to be solved to make dairy industry environmentally clean. It will automatically improve the environmental conditions in the area, because in most cases dairy wastewater is discharged into the sewerage system without any treatment, which can lead to malfunctions of urban sewage treatment plants and reservoirs.

Dairy industry consumes water at approximately 5 m3  for 1 ton of feedstock. The water is used for various processes: for sanitary purposes, as a heating medium (steam), wet washing, etc.

The concentration of wastewater pollution at various dairy facilities varies considerably. The variation is due to a wide assortment of products and fluctuations in output and pollutant content in the wastewater during the day. Also, the pH of wastewater ranges from 5.5 to 8.5, at temperatures from 15 to 35 ° C.

The fat content in wastewater from butter, cream, sour cream factory cold rooms is 200-400 mg/l. Suspended particles are mainly fats and coagulated protein particles. Dissolved particles are organic acids and lactose.

Microbiological contamination of dairy wastewater is low and is represented mainly by microorganisms causing lactic, acidic and alcoholic fermentation.

Despite the significant fluctuations in concentration of pollutants, the wastewater should go through a bio-chemical treatment.

Dairy wastewater treatment should be implemented locally. The primary stage of treatment is biodegradation of organic substances by microorganisms. This method is extremely efficient because it does not leave any by-products, i.e. the compounds are oxidized to carbon dioxide and water.

This principle is traditionally used at urban (municipal) wastewater treatment plants. It can also be used for the treatment of industrial (dairy) wastewater with small amounts of pollutants.

The difficulty of using aerotanks for biological treatment of dairy wastewater is caused by slow metabolization of lactose. The solution to this problem could be an integrated anaerobic-aerobic purification process, which can remove a significant amount of pollutants.

Methane fermentation is used as a preliminary step of purifying concentrated wastewater, followed by a mandatory aerobic treatment. This produces large amounts of biogas (60-80% methane) that serves as an alternative energy source. In addition, methane fermentation of wastewater from food production (including milk) produces a substantial amount of B vitamins and other biologically active substances, which puts a high value on this sediment.

Wastewater treatment of baker’s yeast production plant

Wastewater treatment, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Baker’s yeast.. Rational use of water resources and the protection of waterways from wastewater pollution is of paramount importance. The only way to effectively clean the waterways from pollution is to properly treat wastewater (especially industrial), improving the existing physical, chemical and biological treatment methods and developing new methods.

Wastewater from plants producing bakery’s yeast contain organic and inorganic contaminants. They are suspended mineral matter and volatile components, nitrogen, ammonia, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, calcium, etc.

Such wastewater must be purified before it is discharged into waterways or sewage system (if the plant is located in an urban area).

Wastewater treatment now uses methane fermentation. This method is used in the UK, the USA and Japan. This treatment is effective, but it requires significant investment, a lot of chemicals and other industrial water. Therefore it is necessary to justify the cost to use this approach.

Another wastewater treatment for baker’s yeast production plants is aerobic fermentation which also requires expensive equipment. That’s why the wastewater should be first cleaned by methane fermentation, which removes a significant portion of organic contaminants and then by aerobic fermentation. If we combine these two methods, the cleaning effect will be 95%.

After treatment, the water can be used in fisheries, in water rotation system, for irrigation in agriculture, as well as for industrial purposes.

Treating wastewater from electroplating plants

Wastewater treatment, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Treating wastewater. Improving environmental safety through development of low-waste technologies, efficient treatment equipment, resource recovery wastewater treatment are the priority directions of the modern industry.

Natural water resources are becoming a critical problem of today, because of outdated industrial water supply processes, poor state of wastewater treatment plants and old wastewater treatment technologies. They all lead to aggravation of the environmental situation. While towns and settlements suffer from the lack of fresh water, industrial plants dump polluted industrial wastewater into the water bodies. One of the biggest sources of pollution are galvanic electroplating facilities. Their insufficiently treated galvanic wastewater pollutes waterways with thousands of tons of highly toxic heavy metals such as zinc, nickel, chromium, and others annually, considerably complicating the environmental situation.

One of the most dangerous is the wastewater containing toxic hexavalent chromium. Hexavalent chromium damages natural environment, poisons water, further contaminates the ecosystem, disrupting the ecological balance.

In order to protect the biosphere from chromium compounds electroplating wastewater is treated with electrocoagulation method, which simultaneously reduces the hexavalent chromium and sediments it in the form of hydroxides. The electrogenerated sediment sludge has a stable form that does not leak into the environment during prolonged storage or when used as a secondary raw material in construction, metallurgy and roadworks. Still, electrocoagulation method is rarely used because of its technological complexity and high cost.

Considering the abovementioned problem of treatment galvanic plant wastewater and the continuing search for new and more effective approaches, GlobeCore designed the AVS vortex layer devices that are successfully operated in production lines in various industries at the moment.

The intensifying factors in vortex layer devices are:

  • electrochemical factors, electromagnetic treatment with activation of substances;
  • dispersed phase;
  • geometric parameters and hydrodynamic factors that ensure intensive mixing of the processed media.

We conducted the experiment treating wastewater from an electroplating facility removing heavy metals with the AVS-100 (laboratory unit). The reducing agent used in the experiment was ferrous sulfate FeSO4. The reduction of trivalent and hexavalent chromium with the reagent was performed in an alkaline medium, introducing lime milk Ca(OH)2 into the water.

Because a reducing agent in an alkaline medium is iron(II) sulphate, there is no need to increase wastewater acidity. During the experiment, 10 mg of 10% iron sulfate solution was added into the  0.5 liters of wastewater.

The ferromagnetic particles for processing in the operating chamber of AVS were 20 mm long and 1.8 mm in diameter (total weight 200 g) The treatment duration was 3 seconds.

Table 1 shows the results of treating wastewater from an electroplating plant, removing heavy metals with the AVS-100 vortex layer device,  and comparing them with the maximum permissible concentrations according to the European Union standards.

Table 1

The results of removing heavy metals from electroplating wastewater with the AVS-100 vortex layer device.

№

Parameters

Value

Maximum

permissible concentration (European Union)

Before treatment

After treatment
1

рН

1,75

6,74

6,5-8,5
2

Fe, mg/l

9,7

2,77

2-20
3

Cu, mg/l

18,29

0,65

0,1-4
4

Ni, mg/l

5,8

<0,02 (not detected))

0,5-3
5

Cr+6, mg/l

19,08

<0,005 (not detected)

0,1-0,5

The research leads to the following conclusions

1) Treating wastewater from electroplating facilities with the AVS-100 vortex layer device reduces the concentration of heavy metals to values ​​not exceeding the maximum permissible concentration for the European Union. A complete absence of nickel and hexavalent chromium in the treated water was achieved. It shows the future perspectives for vortex layer devices in countries with more stringent regulations for concentrations of hexavalent chromium and nickel.

2) The treatment of wastewater is instant and does not overuse the reagents.

3) Sediment settles quicker than when using stirring devices.

Biological wastewater treatment to remove nitrogen and phosphorus compounds

Wastewater treatment, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Biological wastewater treatment. Wastewater treated with traditional biological methods contains large amounts of leftover biogenic substances (nitrogen and phosphorus compounds), which cause a lot of damage in natural water bodies.

The rapid growth of algae in the water causes secondary water pollution, intense coloration and reduction of oxygen concentration. Blooming water greatly complicates its use as drinking water for residences and industrial facilities. Therefore, the content of biogenic substances in wastewater is strictly limited.

There are many methods for wastewater treatment to remove biogenic substances: physico-chemical, biological, and chemical methods. The most efficient and inexpensive is the biological method for removing nitrogen and phosphorus compounds.

Biological purification of wastewater from nitrogen compounds is based on nitrification and denitrification. The essence of these processes is the oxidation of ammonia to nitrate (nitrification) and subsequent reduction of nitrates to nitrogen gas (denitrification). The nitrates containing oxygen reduce the amount of air needed for aeration of wastewater and, as a result, reduce the energy consumption.

The biological treatment of wastewater from phosphorus compounds is based on the ability of certain groups of bacteria (predominantly Acinetobacter) to remove significantly more phosphorus from the liquid phase in artificially created extreme temperature conditions (changing bacteria from anaerobic to aerobic). This process is also called “phosphorus absorption”.

Aerotanks can increase phosphorus removal rate by combining biological methods with chemical sedimentation.

Industrial wastewater treatment from lead

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Industrial wastewater. Wastewater containing lead is extremely toxic. This metal is hazardous and has toxic and mutagenic effects on living organisms.

It has an extremely negative effect on the human reproductive system. For these reasons, the presence of lead is strictly limited in the wastewater of industrial facilities. When industrial wastewater is discharged into municipal sewage systems, the maximum permissible discharge (MPD) of lead should not exceed 0.1-0.05 mg / dm3, and the discharge into waterways should be less than 0.03 mg / dm3.

Industrial wastewater does not always contain lead. Significant concentrations of lead come from the production of sliding bearings and crystal glass.

Such wastewater contains many different metals and pollutants that are difficult to extract. The wastewater from sliding bearings production contains heavy metals (copper, zinc, nickel, tin), a wide range of organic impurities, particularly alkylsulfonic acid and a mixture of surfactants. The wastewater from crystal glass manufacturing contains glass colloidal particles and glass grinding pastes, as well as zinc and organic compounds. Thus, the wastewater from these processes are characterized by significant fluctuations in the concentrations of contaminants and the pH value.

Lead ions could be precipitated with the help of reagents in water solution in the form of hydroxides, sulfides and carbonates. Since lead hydroxides have a significant solubility (S = 1,0-0,95 mg/dm3), it is recommended to precipitate them in less soluble compounds as basic carbonate or lead sulfide.

Modern chemical methods of wastewater treatment are characterized by high consumption of reagents, complex treatment facilities and long duration of the process.

GlobeCore offers the AVS vortex layer devices for the industrial wastewater purification from lead. They were developed in the 1960-1970s. Even then they showed excellent results in the intensification of different technological processes.

Experiments confirmed the efficiency of the AVS for purification of wastewaters of different origins, which was achieved due to a number of effects and processes occurring in the operating chamber of the unit: the impact of electromagnetic field, electrolysis, intensive mixing, acoustic impact etc. The chemical reactions, which in traditional equipment would last minutes or hours,  only last seconds or tens of seconds in the AVS.

The unit is compact and can be integrated into virtually any existing wastewater treatment line. With proper placement (serial or parallel) of multiple units, the processing rate is virtually unlimited.