Complex Treatment for the Disposal and Utilization of Process Wastewaters of the Pharmaceutical Industry

Authors

  • Erika Szabados
    Affiliation

    Department of Surface Chemistry and Catalysis, Centre for Energy Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

  • Andrea Jobbágy
    Affiliation

    Department of Biotechnology and Food Science, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary

  • András József Tóth
    Affiliation

    Department of Chemical and Environmental Process Engineering, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary

  • Péter Mizsey
    Affiliation

    Department of Chemical and Environmental Process Engineering, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary; University of Miskolc, Hungary

  • Gábor Tardy
    Affiliation

    Department of Biotechnology and Food Science, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary

  • Cesar Pulgarin
    Affiliation

    Institut des Sciences et Ingénierie Chimiques, GGEC, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland

  • Stefanos Giannakis
    Affiliation

    Institut des Sciences et Ingénierie Chimiques, GGEC, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland

  • Erzsébet Takács
    Affiliation

    Department of Radiation Chemistry, Centre for Energy Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

  • László Wojnárovits
    Affiliation

    Department of Radiation Chemistry, Centre for Energy Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

  • Magdolna Makó
    Affiliation

    Budapest Sewage Works, Budapest, Hungary

  • Zénó Trócsányi
    Affiliation

    Geosan Ltd., Budapest, Hungary

  • Antal Tungler
    Affiliation

    Department of Surface Chemistry and Catalysis, Centre for Energy Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

https://doi.org/10.3311/PPch.10543

Abstract

A complex treatment of process wastewaters (PWW) of the pharmaceutical industry has been elaborated, the objective was their common disposal and utilization. The biodegradability of polluting components is concentration dependent, the mixing of PWWs with domestic wastewater at WWTP is possible, if no toxic and/or non-biodegradable components are present. So the organic content can serve as carbon source in the denitrification step. The characterization and the proper treatment methods of PWWs have been developed. Only 20-30 % of PWWs required pretreatment. The majority can be mixed directly with the domestic wastewater and send to the WWTP. The characterization includes COD, TOC, BOD, AOX, volatile content, toxicity, metal ion content measurements. The pretreatment methods could be: distillation, WO or catalytic WO. After the activated sludge treatment the degradation of emergent pollutants and the disinfection can be performed by UV-Fenton or high energy irradiation. The design of a complex treatment plant attached to a WWTP of 100000 m3/day capacity and its life-cycle analysis to determine the environmental benefits were carried out also.

Keywords:

pharmaceutical process wastewater, disposal, utilization, distillation, WAO, activated sludge treatment

Published Online

2017-07-24

How to Cite

Szabados, E., Jobbágy, A., Tóth, A. J., Mizsey, P., Tardy, G., Pulgarin, C. “Complex Treatment for the Disposal and Utilization of Process Wastewaters of the Pharmaceutical Industry”, Periodica Polytechnica Chemical Engineering, 62(1), pp. 76–90, 2018. https://doi.org/10.3311/PPch.10543

Issue

Vol. 62 No. 1 (2018)

Section

Articles