Flocculation of fine particles in ceramic wastewater by using polymers

Abstract

The clarification of industrial wastewaters by solid-liquid separation techniques and the removal of suspended particles are the problems of growing environmental consciousness. However, there appears to be very limited number of studies reported in the literature to investigate the flocculation and settling properties of ceramic wastewaters. The efficiency of solid/liquid separation may be greatly improved by the application of synthetic polymeric flocculants, particularly in mineral processing plant where sedimentation, filtration and centrifugation processes are extensively used. In ceramic plants, the water used in ceramic processing is contaminated with suspended quartz, feldspar and associated clay particles, which results in a so-called wastewater problem which have to be dealt with from an environmental point of view. In this study, sedimentation of ultrafine particles from ECE Ceramic Co. (Çorum/Turkey) ceramic wastewater sample was investigated using three anionic polymeric flocculants (Superfloc A-130, Superfloc A-100 and Enfloc 330A). The performances of the flocculant in the experimental studies were assessed with the change in the interfaces height during sedimentation resultant. The best performance was obtained Superfloc A-130. At the dose of 60 g/t for A-130, the settling rate was shorter than 60 seconds.