Treatment of industrial effluents

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WEHRLE’s industrial effluent treatment and wastewater treatment plants are engineered for particularly high process stability and reliability, especially in case of highly varying wastewater streams and compositions. Industrial effluents are a typical example for this kind of wastewater. By using slim, tall reactors and compact component skids or containers only a small footprint is required. WEHRLE plants are no conventional industrial treatment plants. They are typically covered and can be installed close to residential areas as well as workplaces without any problems.

With its wide range of technologies, WEHRLE is able to design the ideal plant for industrial effluent treatment by using intelligent process combinations, including water reuse by achieving process water qualities. This allows full management of the water path and contributes to reduce environmental pollution.

Especially for applications in the industry, factors beyond the used technology are important:

  • a reliable performance to cater for variations of wastewater volume and loading of industrial wastewater (e.g. caused by seasonal production or changes of product lines)
  • a safe operation, even in case of critical climate conditions
  • a low need of chemicals reduce the operation costs
  • a modular design for simple maintenance and cost-effective upgrades
  • a simple and largely automated operation to keep support costs low or to allow an easy outsourcing of the plant operation.

Definition of industrial effluents: what is it and how is it generated?

Industrial effluent is wastewater that is generated from a wide variety of production and processing processes. Depending on the industry, industrial wastewater can be composed of various components. Besides organic compounds like, for example, oils, fats, alcohols and flavorings, other substances such as heavy metals, acids and alkalis also combine with the water. This kind of wastewater must be pretreated before discharging it to public sewage treatment plants or the nature or reusing it for internal purposes.

This is how the treatment and disposal of industrial wastewater works

Industrial effluent is pretreated, for example, by means of a drum screen in order to remove or reduce solids. Via an equalizing tank, the water then enters the dissolved air flotation (DAF).

WEHRLE industrial effluents / industrial effluent treatment - This is how the treatment and disposal of industrial wastewater works

With this physical-chemical separation process, the water is further separated from suspended solids, oils and fats. In a high-performance Bioreactor (aerobic biology with ultrafiltration for biomass separation), organics are removed from the wastewater, which can now be further treated or reused by discharging it to a sewage treatment plant or by using further treatment steps. In short, the process can be divided into pretreatment, biological elimination and post-treatment (polishing).

What are the different technologies for the treatment of industrial effluents?

In a first step, the wastewater streams to be treated must be analyzed. Wastewater from the food industry, for example, contains many organic substances. These are biodegradable and can be used to generate energy by producing biogas, which can be converted into electricity or even heat. This technology is called anaerobic biology. Its counterpart is the aerobic biology. This technology is suitable for highly varying wastewater volumes and compositions. Another technology or system for the filtration of water and the separation of dissolved and undissolved substances is called membrane technology. The respective technologies are ultrafiltration, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis.

The stable high effluent quality of WEHRLE plants for the treatment of industrial wastewater also allows simple, optional extensions to prepare the treated water for reuse / recycling, saving thus costs for fresh water, wastewater, thermal energy and, if necessary, softening.

Pre-Sales Services of WEHRLE regarding Wastewater treatment