The Use of Spent Sorption Materials for the Treatment of Food Industry Wastewater

Abstract

A significant number of sorbents used in the food industry are not reused due to the complexity of their regeneration and significant material costs. They are often stored on the territory of the enterprise or taken to landfills, usually without authorization. Today, it is important to study the regeneration and reuse of sorbents used in food production. It is promising to use sorbents previously used at the stage of water treatment or preparation of technological solutions and regenerated in wastewater treatment, in particular, in the same food production facilities and in other industries where wastewater contains organic substances.
 The article investigates the reuse of a spent sorbent mixture consisting of activated carbon and kieselguhr for the treatment of wastewater from dairy processing enterprises. The results of experimental studies of the dynamics of ion exchange adsorption of lactic acid and alanine by mixed sorbent and spent sorbent under periodic conditions are given. According to the results of the study, the difference in cleaning efficiency for the two options is insignificant and amounts to about 3%, which is within the experimental error.
 It is shown that the sorption of pollutant components of wastewater of milk processing enterprises by cheap sorbents, which include regenerated sorbents, is one of the most promising because of their high efficiency, low cost of treatment, and the possibility of further use of spent sorbents in agriculture.