Effluent conditioning of biodiesel production for biological treatment using clay as a separation coadjutant

Authors

  • Lívia Caroline Correia Departamento de Engenharia Química, Universidade Federal de Sergipe
  • Romário Ribeiro Silva Departamento de Engenharia de Petróleo, Universidade Federal de Sergipe
  • Fernanda Rocha Morais França Departamento de Engenharia de Petróleo, Universidade Federal de Sergipe
  • Gabriel Francisco da Silva Departamento de Engenharia de Petróleo, Universidade Federal de Sergipe
  • Diego F. Coêlho Departamento de Engenharia Química, Universidade Federal de Sergipe https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2123-5891
  • José Jailton Marques Departamento de Engenharia Ambiental, Universidade Federal de Sergipe

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14808/sci.plena.2020.044201

Keywords:

biodiesel wastewater, dissolved air flotation, coagulation-flocculation

Abstract

Biodiesel is a renewable, non-toxic and sustainable biofuel, considered to be the main candidate for a fossil fuel alternative in many countries. However, its manufacturing process results in about 0.2 to 3 L of effluent per litre of biodiesel produced. In addition to an inherently high organic load, its composition includes by-products, traces of unreacted chemicals and catalysts, which inhibit microorganism growth and prevent its direct treatment by tertiary methods. In this context, this work aims to evaluate the combination of the coagulation-flocculation technique with dissolved air flotation (DAF). Real wastewater samples were obtained by synthesising biodiesel from soybean oil in-loco and performing the required washing procedures. The highest turbidity reduction efficiency (92.03%) was obtained using 1200  of clay. By using response surface methodology, it was possible to analyse the effect of the chosen experimental factors and show that the best results (81.28%, 58.95% and 89.34% for turbidity, oil and grease and chemical oxygen demand  - respectively) were obtained using 925  of clay and 1000  of coagulant. Ultimately, clay proved to be an efficient coadjutant in the removal of organic matter, oils, grease, suspended solids and soluble organic matter from the biodiesel wastewater. Moreover, its low cost over traditional flocculants makes it an attractive alternative to industrial wastewater treatment processes.

Published

2020-05-25

How to Cite

Correia, L. C., Silva, R. R., França, F. R. M., da Silva, G. F., Coêlho, D. F., & Marques, J. J. (2020). Effluent conditioning of biodiesel production for biological treatment using clay as a separation coadjutant. Scientia Plena, 16(4). https://doi.org/10.14808/sci.plena.2020.044201

Most read articles by the same author(s)