Forest industry wastewaters are difficult to clean: hydraulic and organic load variations, filamentous bulking or pin-point flocs negatively impact depollution processes. The addition of a fine, mineral, talc-based powder, Aquatal, into the aeration tanks of wastewater treatment plants connected to pulp and paper factories has been successfully tested since end of '97. The first case-study presents full results obtained over a period of 18 months in a 20,000 p.e. plant connected to a paper factory. The mineral powder was regularly added to control sludge volume index, thereby ensuring low suspended solids concentration in the outfluent. Plant operators could easily adapt biomass concentration to match organic load variation, thereby maintaining pollution micro-organisms ratio constant. In a second case study, a trouble-shooting strategy was implemented to counteract filamentous bulking. A one-off, large dosage enabled the plant operator to deal effectively with poor settleability sludge and rapidly control sludge blanket expansion. In both cases, the main common characteristics observed were an increase in floc aggregation and the production of heavier and well-structured flocs. The sludge settling velocity increased and an efficient solid/liquid separation was obtained. After a few days, the mineral particles of Aquatal were progressively integrated into the sludge floc structure. When the mineral powder was added to the activated sludge in the aeration basin, chemical interactions frequently encountered with other wastewater treatment additives did not pose a problem. Moreover, with this mineral additive, the biological excess sludge displayed good thickening properties and dewatering was improved. Despite the addition of the insoluble mineral particles, the amount of wet sludge expelled did not increase. Aquatal offers a rapid solution to floc settleability problems which so frequently arise when physical or biological disorders appear in forest industry wastewater treatment plants.
The effluent quality of a sewage plant using the activated sludge process depends upon the flocculation efficiency. Intensive research work has been devoted to understanding flocculation phenomena and to correct biological disorders. The addition of very fine but dense mineral particles to the aeration tank immediately improves floc formation and increases the weight of the new flocs created. The first consequence is an effective separation between the solid and the liquid phases in the secondary clarifier. In the longer term, the fine particles improve floc structuring and form stable and strong flocs. This has been demonstrated by sending a modified activated sludge through the high shear strength of pumps and hydrocyclones. The mineral of choice is a natural blend of talc and related minerals. These fine talc particles offer a solution to solve floc settleability problems which so frequently arise when biological disorders appear in waste water treatment plants. Despite the addition of insoluble particles the amount of sludge expelled does not increase. The thickening and dewatering properties are improved.
The addition of mineral talc, Aquatal®(Toulouse, France), to activated sludge treating paper mill effluents and its effect on settlement characteristics has been investigated. One laboratory study and a full‐scale investigation on a large waste water treatment plant (WWTP) with a capacity of 500.000 population equivalent (p.e.) have been carried out using this mineral. The sludge in the full‐scale plant was filamentous and had specific sludge volume index (SSVI) values in excess of 250. The talc dosing which was adapted to sludge settleability reduced SSVI values by 38%, improved the total suspended solids' concentrations by 86% and reduced the specific sludge load by 34%. In the laboratory‐scale plant, the sludge had SSVI values of 200–260 before treatment and was hydrophilic. The use of Aquatal® at a dose of 0.7 g/g mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) took 2 weeks to reduce the SSVI to 78. It also increased the hydrophobicity to a balanced 50%. The use of mineral converted the somewhat diffuse flocs into a compact structure.
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