16FD602 WASTE MANAGEMENT IN
FOOD INDUSTRIES
UNIT III – LIQUID WASTE MANAGEMENT
IN FOOD INDUSTRIES
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Introduction - Liquid Waste management
• Proper handling, treatment and disposal of liquid
waste/wastewater or sewage.
• Classification of Liquid waste:
1. Sanitary sewage ƒor Domestic Sewage – 0.1% impurities
2. Industrial sewage ƒ- Toxic inducing
3. Storm sewage or ƒMixed sewage (a mixture of all) – Surface
runoff caused by rainfall (all suspended)
• Rainfall, Surface water & Ground water are the major sources
of drinking water.
• Surface water is the major source of irrigation (nearly 90%)
which is highly contaminated because of major food industries
(36-41.5%)
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Food industrial effluents
1.Ministry of urban development
Industrial & central pollution control board
wastes recent survey (2013) shows that,
75-80% nearly 80% of surface water is
contaminated.
Food industrial
waste
Other industrial
waste
2.Flowing of untreated sewage
36-41.5 % 39-38.5 % into surface water sources from
domestic and industrial waste is
doubled in recent times which
Slaughter house
waste water other food possess the major cause for the
contaminati--on industrial waste
21.4-29 %
water problem. (TOI,2015)
contamination
14.6 - 12.5 %
3.Inadequate sanitation facilities,
waste water management are the
major cause for these issues (TOI,
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2015).
Treatment of waste water
• The treatment of liquid waste mainly focus on
(a) Remove the suspended matters
(b) To reduce the organic matter through decomposition by
bacterial action.
(c) To produce germ free water safe for environment.
• Stages involved
a) Primary (or) Physical treatment – Mechanical removal of
Solid material
b) Secondary (or) Biological treatment – Biological oxidation
of organic material
c) Tertiary (or) Chemical Treatment – Treatment of Suspended
solids, Oxygen demand waste, Toxic waste, Nitrogen &
phosphorous waste from previous process
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Principles of Chemical Treatment
• Selective methods
COD – Chemical Oxygen Demand
BOD – Biochemical or Biological Oxygen Demand
VLSS – Volatile Suspended Solids
MLSS – Mixed Liquor Suspended Solids
ETP – Effluent Treatment Plant
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What is Dissolved Oxygen ?
• Dissolved Oxygen is the amount of gaseous oxygen (O2)
dissolved in the water which is required by aquatic organism.
• Oxygen enters the water by direct absorption from the
atmosphere, by rapid movement, or as a waste product of plant
photosynthesis.
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Cont…
• Water temperature and the volume of moving water can affect
dissolved oxygen levels. Oxygen dissolves easier in cooler
water than warmer water.
• Adequate dissolved oxygen is important for good water quality
and necessary to all forms of life.
• Dissolved oxygen levels that drop below 5.0 mg/L cause stress
to aquatic life. Lower concentrations cause greater stress.
Oxygen levels that go below 1-2 mg/L for a few hours may
result in large fish kills.
• Several Factors may influence the oxygen demand
1.Temperature (H-O2)
2. Impurities ( Pollutants)
3. Dissolved gas Concentrate (within 110%)
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Chemical Oxygen Demand
• Chemical oxygen demand (COD) is a critical waste
treatment measurement in everything from municipal
systems to food manufacturing waste streams.
• This determination is achieved by using a strong
oxidizing agent such as Potassium permanganate,
Potassium dichromate etc. under acidic conditions.
• The presence of COD facilitates rapid chemical oxidation
of organic matter without any additional equipment.
• This method that enables to determine the organic load in
heavy toxic sewage.
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Concept of Evaluation of COD
• Excess amount of the oxidizing agent is used, oxygen is
released, some is used to oxidize an equivalent amount of the
waste to carbon dioxide (CO2) and the unused is determine by
titration with reducing agent of known strength. The amount
used for the oxidation of the waste is known by difference.
• It is expressed as mg of oxygen per liter of water.
• It does not apply, however, to drinking water, as there is a low
content of oxidizable matter and the accuracy of the method
would not be appropriate.
• The limitation is that we can’t differentiate the oxidation of
organic and Inorganic matter.
• Required very less time than any other methods
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Biochemical Oxygen Demand
• Measure of Oxygen used by Microorganism to decompose the
waste.
• Polluted water – Organic pollutant (major)
• Breakdown of organic Pollutant – Microorganism
• Microorganism needs oxygen to breakdown & decompose
organic pollutants in water
• Leads to oxygen demand and makes water unfit for aquatic
organisms.
Oxygen Oxygen
CO2, H2O, NH3 etc Sediments
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Analysis…
Specified Time - 5 Days ( Organic matter needs 3 -5 days for total
decompose)
Decomposition – Stage 1: Oxidation of Carbonaceous
material
Stage 2: Oxidation of Nitrogenous
material (Protein, Fats etc.,)
Specified Temperature - 200 C
Specified Conditions - In the Dark & In the presence of bacteria
Step 1- Measured volume of waste water should be added to BOD
bottle (waste water contains Organics, Ammonia & bacteria)
Step 2 – Dilution ( Nutrient & Oxygen) Measure D.O
Step 3 – Oxygen used (after seeding -respiration & Nitrification - 5
days) Measure D.O
Step 4 – Compare initial and Final D.O
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Other effects…
• Nitrates and phosphates in a body of water can contribute to high
BOD levels.
• Nitrates and phosphates are plant nutrients and can cause plant life
and algae to grow quickly.
• When plants grow quickly, they also die quickly.
• This contributes to the organic waste in the water, which is then
decomposed by bacteria resulting in a high BOD level.
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Is Biochemical oxygen demand different from
Biological oxygen demand….???
• Biochemical oxygen demand measures the molecular
oxygen utilized for the biochemical degradation of organic
material (carbonaceous demand) and the oxygen used to
oxidize inorganic material such as sulfides and ferrous ion.
• It also may measure the amount of oxygen used to oxidize
reduced forms of nitrogen (nitrogenous demand).
• Biological oxygen demand only addresses the oxygen used up
by the bacteria to degrade organic substances.
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Eutrophication
Cont…
Eutrophication occurs due to oversupply of nutrients, which
causes explosive growth of plants and algae.
when such organisms die, consume the oxygen in the body of
water, thereby creating the state of hypoxia.
The primary limiting factor is phosphorus which promotes
excessive plant growth and decay, favouring simple algae and
plankton, and causes a severe reduction in water quality.
Phosphate adheres tightly to soil, so it is mainly transported
by erosion.
Once into the lakes, phosphate is extracted into water is slow,
hence the difficulty of reversing the effects of eutrophication
The source of this excess phosphate are detergents,
industrial/domestic run-off, and fertilizers.
At higher levels of BOD….
At high BOD levels, organisms such as macro invertebrates
that are more tolerant of lower dissolved oxygen (i.e. leeches
and sludge worms) may appear and become numerous.
Organisms needing higher oxygen levels (i.e. caddisfly larvae
and mayfly nymphs) will NOT survive.
Volatile Suspended Solids
• Biological solids are generated during the aerobic/anaerobic
treatment process and are termed Volatile Suspended Solids
(VSS)
• Total solids include both the suspended solids and
the dissolved solids which are obtained by separating the solid
and liquid phase by evaporation.
• Suspended solids are a combination of settleable solids (1
hour) and nonsettleable solids, which are usually determined
by filtering a wastewater sample.
• Solids remaining after evaporation or filtration are dried,
weighed, and then ignited. The loss of weight by ignition at
600°C is a measure of the volatile solids, which are classed as
organic material
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Conti…
• The remaining solids are the fixed solids, which are considered
as inorganic (mineral) matter.
• The suspended solids associated with volatile fraction are
termed volatile suspended solids (VSS), and the suspended
solids associated with the mineral fraction are termed fixed
suspended solids (FSS).
• The generation of biological solids, also referred to as sludge
yield, is a result of the organic material (BOD5) in the
wastewater being converted to biomass, water and carbon
dioxide.
• These excess bio-solids generated during treatment can be
thickened and ultimately hauled offsite, land applied or used as
a compost amendment.
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Mixed Liquor Suspended Solids
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Effluent Treatment Plant
• Designed to purify industrial waste water for its reuse and it’s
aim is to release safe water to environment from the harmful
effect caused by the effluent.
• Effluents from food and beverage factories contain degradable
organic pollutants. Since industrial waste water contains a
diversity of impurities and therefore specific treatment
technology called ETP. To put it simply, it is mandatory for
all the food processing industries to set up ETP effective
wastewater management.
• The ETP Plant works at various levels and involves various
physical, chemical, biological and membrane processes to
treat waste water from different industrial sectors like
chemicals, drugs, pharmaceutical, refineries, dairy, ready mix
plants & textile etc. (Note)
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ETP Process
Physical Treated
Physical & Biological Disinfectant
water
Chemical
Preliminary Primary Secondary Tertiary
Treatment Treatment Treatment Treatment
Fluoridation
Flotation Activated
Screening sludge Process Chemical
coagulation &
Sedimentation Flocculation Aerobic Sedimentation
process
Grit Coagulation Filtration
Chamber Trickling Filter
Clarifiers Reverse
Precipitation Osmosis
Anaerobic
digestion
UV
Disinfectant
Preliminary Treatment process..
• Its objective is physical separation of large sized
contaminants. For example cloth, paper, plastics, wood logs
etc
• Screening: This is the first unit operation that occurs in waste
water treatment plants. A screen is a device with uniform
openings and its purpose is to remove large floating solids.
Rotoscreening – widely used
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• Grit Chamber: The wastewater that moves into the grit
chamber removes the dense inorganic solids such as gravel,
metal fragments and sand which have made their way into the
sewers by slowing down water movement by allowing settling.
• Removal of grit can prevent damaging of pumps & operational
difficulties.
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• Sedimentation: It is a physical water treatment process using
gravity to remove suspended solids from water.
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• Clarifiers: These are tanks built with mechanical means for
continuous removal of solids being deposited by
sedimentation before biological treatment.
• https://youtu.be/s4rIT4z-cx8
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Primary Treatment
• Its aim is removal of floating and settleable materials such as
suspended solids and organic matter. In this treatment both
physical and chemical methods are used.
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Coagulants…
• Coagulants are a substance which cause particles in a liquid
to curdle and clot together.(e.g. for reducing water
turbidity)
• Particles stay suspended in water rather than settling
because they carry surface electrical charges that mutually
repel each other.
• Coagulants carry the opposite charge to the particles and
therefore cause the charge to ‘destabilize’ when added to the
water; resulting in the particles clinging together.
Types :
• Organic coagulants are generally used for solid & liquid
separation and sludge generation – E.g. – fat from dairy waste
• Inorganic coagulants are particularly effective on raw water
with low turbidity and will often treat this type of water when
organic coagulants cannot.
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Flocculants…
• Flocculants are substances that promote the agglomeration of fine
particles present in a solution, creating a floc, which then floats to
the surface (flotation) or settles to the bottom (sedimentation). This
can then be more easily removed from the liquid.
• Flocculants can be organic or inorganic, and come in various
charges, charge densities, molecular weights, and forms.
• Steps involved
STAGE 1
• Suspended solid particles in wastewater are negatively
charged. In the first stage of flocculation, a coagulant like
aluminium sulphate is added to the wastewater.
• The positively charged coagulant molecules neutralize the
negatively charged solid particles suspended in the water.
Neutralising these particles paves the way for them to
flocculate together into a larger mass.
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STAGE 2
• The wastewater must be agitated with mixers. High energy mixing is
required initially to ensure that the coagulant spreads throughout the water.
When flocculation is in progress the mixing energy is reduced to prevent
the mass of particles from separating again.
STAGE 3
• Once floc is beginning to form, a polymer chemical is added to the
wastewater. Polymers bridge the flocculant from micro to macro
flocculant, meaning that the mass of particles collecting together gets
bigger. This chemical also binds the collected mass together so that it does
not easily disintegrate even when the water is slightly agitated.
STAGE 4
• After flocculation is complete, the large solid masses can be removed
from the wastewater stream. This is done either through settling where
the floc drops to the bottom for removal or through the use of filters which
capture the floc in the filter material. Care must be taken when cleaning the
filters to ensure that the phosphorus rich floc is contained and treated.
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Flotation …
• Process involved in removing the compound shows difference
in wet ability.
• Mostly used to remove hydrophobic compounds in waste
water
• The floatation process operates by preparing a water
suspension of a mixture of relatively fine sized particles
(smaller than 150 micro meters) and by contacting the
suspension with a swarm of air bubbles of air in a suitably
designed process vessel.
• Particles that are not wetted by water (hydrophobic) tend to be
attached to air bubbles levitate (float) to the top of the process
vessel and collect in the forth layer.
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• Thus difference in the surface chemical properties of the solids
are the basis of separation by flotation. surfaces that do not
have strong surface chemical bonds that were broken tend to
be non-polar and are not readily wetted. e.g. Graphite and Talc.
These solids are naturally floatable.
• Wide application: Separation of proteins from milk &
Clarification of fruit juices
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Precipitation…
• Chemical process involves precipitate the chemical from
dissolved substances in the wastewater by adding a
reagent, which forms an insoluble compound with the to-be-
separated matter.
• Positive ions such as (heavy) metals, but also negative ions
like phosphates and sulphates, can be removed via
precipitation.
• In general, precipitation occurs in a 1 on 1 mole ratio; in other
words, one molecule of dissolved matter (for example SO42-
present in the form of well soluble natrium sulphate) with 1
molecule of reagent (for example, barium derived from soluble
barium chloride) forms an insoluble precipitate (barium
sulphate in this case).
• However, a certain amount of over-dosage is needed for
complete removal.
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Principles of Biological Treatment
• It is often called as Secondary Treatment process which is used
to remove any contaminants that left over after primary
treatment
• Chemical treatment of waste water makes use of chemicals to
react with pollutants present in the wastewater and where as
biological treatment uses microorganisms to degrade
wastewater contaminants.
• This treatment rely mostly on bacteria to break down unstable
organic wastes using normal cellular processes to stable
inorganic forms.
• Based on the process, biological treatment of waste water
methods are majorly classified into Aerobic and Anaerobic
process.
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Aerobic process…
• Aerobic wastewater treatment is a biological process that takes
place in the presence of oxygen. It is the rapid and the most
efficient biological waste treatment which remove up to 98%
of organic contaminants.
• This process causes effective breakdown of organic pollutants
and yields a cleaner water effluent than anaerobic treatment.
• Aerobic biological treatment processes include many
processes such as activated sludge process, trickling filter,
aerated lagoons and oxidation ponds etc.
• Activated sludge process is the most widely used process for
domestic and industrial wastewater. Aerobic biological
treatment will remain efficient and stable in all conditions
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Activated Sludge Process….
• The activated sludge process is the most widely used
biological waste treatment in secondary stage of wastewater
treatment.
• An activated sludge process refers to a multi-chamber reactor
unit that makes use of highly concentrated microorganisms to
degrade organics and remove nutrients from wastewater to
produce a high-quality effluent.
• In this method, the sewage containing organic matter with the
microorganisms is aerated (by a mechanical aerator) in an
aeration tank.
• This process speeds up waste decomposition.
• Aeration in an activated sludge process is based on pumping
air into a tank, which promotes the microbial growth in the
wastewater.
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• Trickling filters
• Trickling filters (TFs) are used to remove organic matter from
wastewater.
• The TF is an aerobic treatment system that utilizes
microorganisms attached to a medium to remove organic
matter from wastewater.
• This type of system is common to a number of technologies
such as rotating biological contactors and packed bed reactors
(biotowers).
• These systems are known as attached-growth processes.
• In contrast, systems in which microorganisms are sustained in
a liquid are known as suspended-growth processes
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Anaerobic process...
• This treatment process is effectively utilized to treat high
strength waste water and it employs organisms that
function in the absence of oxygen and it will typically
treat high-strength waste water to a level that will permit
discharge to a municipal sewer system.
• Here, the amount of sludge produced is very small when
we compared to aerobic treatment.
• Anaerobic treatment is a slow process and it occurs in
many different stages.
• Anaerobic digestion is biological process which is used in
wastewater treatment plants for sludge degradation and
stabilization.
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• Once the process is completed, the wastewater can undergo
many additional treatments.
• This process is accepted because it is able to stabilize the water
with little biomass production.
• Biogas is produced as the bacteria feed off the biodegradable
material in the anaerobic process.
• Overall, the process converts about 40% to 60% of the organic
solids to methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2).
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UASB Reactor...
• Upward Anaerobic Sludge Blanket reactor
• The sludge blanket is comprised of microbial granules (1 to 3
mm in diameter), i.e., small agglomerations of microorganisms
that, because of their weight, resist being washed out in the
upflow.
• The microorganisms in the sludge layer degrade organic
compounds.
• As a result, gases (methane and carbon dioxide) are released.
• The rising bubbles mix the sludge without the assistance of
any mechanical parts.
• Sloped walls deflect material that reaches the top of the tank
downwards.
• The clarified effluent is extracted from the top of the tank in an
area above the sloped walls.
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• After several weeks of use, larger granules of sludge form
which, in turn, act as filters for smaller particles as the effluent
rises through the cushion of sludge.
• Because of the up flow regime, granule-forming organisms are
preferentially accumulated as the others are washed out.
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