Abstract
Performance Evaluation of Batch Reactor for Vinasse Wastewater Treatment Using Chemical and Natural Coagulants
Author(s): Thirugnanasambandham Karchiyappan*Vinasse, the liquid residue left in the distillation of ethanol from sugar cane derivates, frequently poses serious disposal challenges, when it discharged without/partial treatment. The aim of the present study was to investigate the efficiency of Chemical Coagulation (CC) and Natural Coagulation (NC) to treat the vinasse wastewater from sugarcane industry. Aluminium sulfate (Al2 (SO4 )3 .6H2O) was used as a chemical coagulant and Tanfloc, a cationic organic polymer was used as the natural coagulant. The effects of rotation speed, mass of coagulant and settling time on the removal of colour, turbidity and COD were investigated using Box-Behnken Design (BBD) of experiments. The results showed that NC could be effectively reduced the colour, turbidity and COD at the optimum conditions compared to CC. The operating cost were 0.9 US $/m3m3 and 1.2 US $/m3 for CC and NC, respectively. These results showed that, natural coagulation using Tanfloc is an effective technique compared to chemical coagulation for vinassse wastewater treatment.
