Preparation and characterization of CuO catalyst for the thermolysis treatment of distillery wastewater

Optimization of electrocoagulation process for treatment of rice grain-based biodigester distillery effluent using surface response methodology approach

Distillery industries are the most water-consuming industries discharging a large amount of wastewater that contain a high organic load. Hence it is first treated in biodigester where significant organics reduces (50–60%) and the outcome of biodigester is commonly known as biodigester effluent (BDE). The present study is an attempt to treat BDE in terms of COD and color removal using a batch electrocoagulation reactor (ECR) where stainless steel (SS) is used as an electrode. To optimize the four independent parameters namely initial pH (pHi: 3.5–9.5), current density (j: 49.5–247 A/m2), electrode gap (g: 1.2–3.2 cm), and reaction time (t: 20–100 min) on the color and COD reduction efficiency, a central composite design (CCD) experiment is applied to evaluate the individual and interactive effects of these parameters. The high coefficients of determination for color (R 2 = 0.9989) and COD (R 2 = 0.9981) were obtained by analysis of variance (ANOVA) between the experimental data and the predicted data using a second-order regression model. At the optimum condition color and COD removal of 81.4 and 91.9%, respectively, were observed. A material balance of SS has also been incorporated.

Hydrogen peroxide assisted electrocoagulation treatment of rice gain based biodigester effluent: mechanism, performance, and cost analysis

In the current scenario treatment of industrial waste water is big challenge especially waste water that contain high organic load. Hydrogen peroxide assisted electrocoagulation (EC) process provides better result to treat highly polluted wastewater as compared to EC alone. However, hydrogen peroxide is well known as a strong oxidant, which cast a potential threat to human health. To overcome this problem hydrogen peroxide has been used here for treatment of wastewater in small quantity, and that consume during the process. Therefore the harmful effect of hydrogen peroxide in human and aquatic life could be minimized. This work is an attempt to treat biodigester effluent (BDE) using H2O2 assisted EC processes with respect to chemical oxygen demand (COD) and color reductions. To perform this experiment both iron and aluminum electrodes are used as an electrode material in the presence of H2O2. In case of iron electrode the maximum COD and color reduction efficiency of 98.3 and 83.6% was achieved at the cost of 1.5 Wh/dm3 energy consumption while maximum COD and color removal efficiency of 96.8 and 77.1% with 1.7 Wh/dm3 of energy consumption was observed in the aluminum electrode based EC process. A part from this conventional biological process (i.e., activated sludge treatment, ponds, and lagoon etc.) and physiochemical treatment process (i.e., coagulation, adsorption) provided treatment efficiency of 40–80% hence hydrogen peroxide assisted EC process should a better choice to treat distillery effluent. Furthermore, hybrid EC process was also performed with iron used as anode and aluminum as cathode in the presence of H2O2. Iron electrode based peroxi-EC process provided better result at optimum operating conditions; current density of 114 A/m2, initial COD concentration of 12,000 mg/dm3, initial pH of 7.3, H2O2 concentration of 120 mg/dm3, stirring speed of 120 rpm and electrolysis time of 90 min. The cost estimated for operation is 1.56 US $/m3. Finally, sludge analysis and cost optimization are also incorporated in this article.

Current trends for distillery wastewater management and its emerging applications for sustainable environment

Ethanol distillation generates a huge volume of unwanted chemical liquid known as distillery wastewater. Distillery wastewater is acidic, dark brown having high biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, contains various salt contents, and heavy metals. Inadequate and indiscriminate disposal of distillery wastewater deteriorates the quality of the soil, water, and ultimately groundwater. Its direct exposure via food web shows toxic, carcinogenic, and mutagenic effects on aquatic-terrestrial organisms including humans. So, there is an urgent need for its proper management. For this purpose, a group of researchers applied distillery wastewater for fertigation while others focused on its physico-chemical, biological treatment approaches. But until now no cutting-edge technology has been proposed for its effective management. So, it becomes imperative to comprehend its toxicity, treatment methods, and implication for environmental sustainability. This paper reviews the last decade's research data on advanced physico-chemical, biological, and combined (physico-chemical and biological) methods to treat distillery wastewater and its reuse aspects. Finally, it revealed that the combined methods along with the production of value-added products are one of the best options for distillery wastewater management.