https://doi.org/10.15255/KUI.2010.020
Published: Kem. Ind. 60 (10) (2011) 491–496
Paper reference number: KUI-20/2010
Paper type: Professional paper
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Treatment of Wastewater from Backwashing Process Sand Filters

N. Zečević, V. Panjkret and S. Miletić

Abstract

In the process of raw water treatment for use in the petrochemical industry, one of the most important treatments is the filtration process with process sand filters. A by-product of the filtration process of raw water is wastewater. The wastewater results from the technological process of backwashing process sand filters. Wastewater from backwashing sand filters is unsuitable for further use, since it is contaminated with residual suspended matter and chemical compounds that are added in the process of raw water clarification. To reduce the environmental impact of such wastewater and improve overall system processing of raw water, this paper presents the technological treatment of wastewater from backwashing process sand filters. The selected technological process with subsequent sedimentation of suspended matter from the wastewater enables it to be returned into the process stream. This paper also presents a wastewater treatment system, which consists of a concrete sedimentation tank, pumps, pipelines, and flocculator for the final acceptance of the wastewater. The treatment system of wastewater from backwashing process sand filters includes the wastewater from backwashing sand filters for the filtration of the clarified water after clarification of the raw water, sand filters for the filtration of the cooling water and sand filters for filtration of clarified water prior to ion decarbonatisation. The overall technological process is efficiently sized and fully automated. The treatment of wastewater from backwashing process sand filters allows the successful and continuous return of the water in a volume flow, Q, from 80 m3 h–1 to 85 m3 h–1, with no negative impact on the clarification of raw water. The constructed technological solution resulted in 12-percent less use of raw water from the Pakra accumulation lake, as well as 50-percent less discharge of the wastewater into natural watercourses.

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Keywords

filtration, sand filters, wastewater treatment