Research on physico-chemical pretreatment of wastewater from the production of wood coating materials

This paper presents the results of the research conducted on the installation designed for physico-chemical pretreatment of technological wastewater in the volume of up to 5.0 m³/day discharged from the production of protective and decorative coating materials used for wooden surfaces. The subject-matter installation constructed on a mobile pallet, consisted of a storage-averaging tank where concentrations were equalised with the use of circulation aeration and mixing. A variant, preliminary pre-oxidation with the use of hydrogen peroxide was conducted in this tank. A substantial installation set for the wastewater treatment plant consisted of two preliminary tube reactors, one cylindrical-conical processing reactor, stations for preparing and dispensing reagents and the sediment dewatering station. Considerable reductions in main chemical indicators of water pollution were obtained in the installation: both total suspended solids (TSS) and ether extract (EE) - more than 98%, chemical oxygen demand (COD) - 46-54%, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD₅) - 39-46%, and free formaldehyde (HCHO) - 14-27% due to the use of pre-oxidation and the acid - alkaine double coagulation by applying the ALCAT 105 - SAX 25 system. The use of pre-oxidation with hydrogen peroxide in doses 250.0-450.0 mg/l and then two-stage coagulation resulted in an increase in the reduction of: COD and BOD₅ by ca 10-15%, and HCHO by ca 58-66% with reference to the water pretreatment without pre-oxidation. The assessment of sediments formed during the process of pretreatment was made determining the leachable forms of metals (Cu, Ni and Ti) according to methodology of TCLP in compliance with the US EPA Method 1311.