A Study on the Treatment of Wastewater Containing Surfactants

계면활성제를 함유한 폐수의 효율적 처리 방법에 관한 연구

  • Shin, Myoung-Ok (Department of Environmental Health, Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University) ;
  • Chung, Moonho (Department of Environmental Health, Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University)
  • Published : 1997.09.01

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of wastewater treatment containing surfactant. For that, comparative analysis of effectiveness of Featon Oxidation, Aluminum Sulfate, PAC (Poly Aluminum Chloride) on the treatment of the synthetic wastewater containing LAS (Linear Alkyl Sulfate), a main component of the commercial detergent was carried. Then, the optimum pH, the dosage of reagents, and the concentration of the LAS in each treatment were determined. The results of the study were summarized as following. 1. In Fenton Oxidation, optimal pH was 3 and 97.92% removal of LAS was achieved. However, the increase of the pH reduced the efficiency of LAS removal. The proper chemical dosages of FeSO$_4$ and $H_2O_2$ were 300 mg/l and the increase of dosages didn't affected the removal efficiency. Therefore, it was concluded that the economic chemical dosage was 300 mg/l of FeSO$_4$ and $H_2O_2$. 2. In case of Alum treatment, optimal pH was 11 with 61.13% removal efficiency. At other pH range, the removal efficiency was very low indicating that removal efficiency is greatly influenced by pH. The proper chemical dosage was 200 mg/l with the removal efficiency of 77.65%. The increase of chemical dosage, however, reduced the removal efficiency. 3. In case of using PAC, optimal pH was 6 with 97.99% removal efficiency. The result showed that wastewaters containing surfactant were almost completely removed at pH 6 by PAC. Removal efficiency was decreased by increasing PAC dosage higher than 400 mg/l and dosage over 700 mg/l of PAC abolished the treatment. 4. The comparative analysis of three methods revealed that the effective pH ranges were at pH 2-5 with Fenton oxidation, at pH 6-11 with PAC, and pH 11 with Alum. The removal efficiencies at these pH were 83.95-97.92%, 75.98-97.99% and 61.13%, respectively. 5. Increase in LAS concentration reduced the removal efficiencies of all three methods. In the case of PAC or Alum treatment, treatment abolished at LAS concentration higher than 700 mg/l.

Keywords