Sunday, 16 July 2017

Waste Management - by P.R. Sajikumar M.Tech, Chief Engineer, LSGD

Waste Management


  1. Introduction

            Waste is a byproduct of various human activities, which has lack of value or reuse.  There are three types of waste which are solid waste, liquid waste and gaseous waste.  Waste can be classified by various methods, on the basis of physical state (Solid, Liquid and gaseous) and within the solid waste according to the original use (package waste, food waste, etc), on the basis of material (glasses, paper etc) physical properties, (Compostable, combustible, recyclable) source of waste generation (domestic, commercial, industrial) or safety level (hazardous, non hazardous). The types of solid waste associated with these sources are
a)      Agriculture waste (waste generating from Agriculture practices including livestock production
b)        Mining Waste (mainly inert materials from coal mining metal mining and other mineral production industries).
c)      Energy production industry (waste mainly from coal burning & ash etc)
d)     Industrial waste:- Solid waste generated from various industries
e)      Dredging waste: - Organic and mineral waste from dredging operation.
f)       Construction and demolition waste:- Brickbat, concrete, asphaltic materials, pipes and other construction materials.
g)      Treatment plant waste,
h)      House hold or residential waste (garbage including food waste, paper, furniture, crockery, ashes in fire etc)
i)        Commercial waste – (similar to house hold wastes but produced from office, shop, restaurant etc)
j)        Institutional waste:- (similar to household waste plus hazardous, explosive, pathological and other wastes from hospital, research institutions etc.
k)      Market waste:- waste generation from market such as vegetable, fish etc.
l)        Slaughter house waste produced from slaughter, like blood, bare, etc

Quantity of Solid Waste Generated (Million tons per year).

Country
Agriculture
Mining
Construction  demolishing
Sewerage Sludge
Energy Production
Industry
Municipal 
UK
260
240
35
27
13
62
110
USA

1400
31.5
8.4
63
430
133
India

700.8
7.2

60
25
24

Quantity of Waste Generation in Different Countries

Country
KG / person / day
India
0.25 to 0.33
Srilanka
0.40
Singapore
0.85
UK
0.95 to 1.00
Japan
1.12
USA
1.25 to 2.25


  1. Management of Solid Wastes

            There are two fundamental objectives of solid waste management, to minimize waste and to effectively utilize the waste still produced.
            The activities associated with solid waste management involve processing of waste generated at source, collection, transportation, processing at a central facility and final disposal on land.  An effective and integrated solid waste management system examines the following options in an order of hierarchy for all type of waste generated.

  1. Waste reduction at source
  2. Resource recovery through separation and recycling
  3. Resource recovery through waste processing
  4. Waste transformation
  5. Environmentally sustainable disposal on land

1.   Waste reduction at source
            Source reduction is the most effective way to minimize waste.  Waste reduction may occur through proper design, manufacture and packing of product with minimum toxicity, minimum volume of material and longer useful life.  Waste reduction may also occur through selective reuse of productions and materials.

2.   Resource recovery through recycling
Recycling involves separation of waste material, preparation of these    separated fractions for reuse, reprocessing and remanufacture and the reuse of their prepared materials. Recycling is an important factor which reduces the amount of waste requiring disposal on land

3.   Resource recovery through waste  processing
Waste processing involves the physical, chemical or biological alteration of waste to recover conversion product for reuse.  The typical processing technique used for MSW include

(a) Biological treatment – composting (anaerobic digestion / bio gasification) and (b). Thermal treatment – incineration (with / without energy recovery).  The other processing techniques may include (a). Physical treatment to make building blocks, bricks from inert wastes such as ash, construction waste etc (b). Chemical treatment to recover compounds such as glucose, synthetic oil, cellulose acetate etc.

  1. Waste transformation
After recovery of various source from a waste, the residual materials may be subjected to a variety of processes to effectively reduce the volume of waste requiring disposal.  The treatment processes may involve size reduction (through shredding) size separation (through screening), volume reduction (through compaction or by thermal treatment) and encapsulation (to reduce toxicity). The waste transformation processes helps in reducing the final land area required for waste disposal.

  1. Environmentally sustainable disposal on land
            Despite all efforts to minimize waste, the requirement for storage / disposal of the following type of waste will continue to remain a). Solid wastes that cannot be recycled b). The residual waste after subjecting to all type of processing.

            The long term options available in this regard are (i) Dispersal on earth surface (ii) Dispersal on deep, below the earth’s surface.  (iii) Dispersal at the ocean bottom.  Dispersal on the earth surface is the most commonly adopted method of ultimate disposal of solid waste materials.





When waste is stored on land, it becomes a part of the hydrological cycle.  




Above diagram presents the hydrological cycle with the various paths that, water takes, as it circulate in nature.  During infiltration of water through waste, as well as during rain, numerous contaminants are removed from the waste to the adjacent areas as well as to the strata below the waste by the action of percolating water.  This action of water along with the action of wind as well as the reaction occurring within the waste, can have significant impact on the adjacent environment.  To minimize the impact of waste on the environments, the final disposal is done in engineered land fill which offer an environmentally sustainable methodology for disposing waste on land

Changes Occurring in a Waste Dump:-

(1)            Biological changes:- Biological reactions occurring in waste dumps are those involving  the organic materials that lead to the evolution of landfill gases and liquid. The biological decomposition of the waste process usually proceeds aerobically for some short period of time until it exasperates after decomposition. The oxygen initially present immediately after decomposition of the waste, becomes anaerobic. In the aerobic decomposition, available oxygen has been consumed and the organic matter converted to carbon dioxide, methane, ammonia, Hydrogen sulfide.
(2)            Chemical changes:-Important chemical reaction that occur within waste dump include dissolution and suspension of waste materials and biological conversion of products in the liquid (leachate) percolating through the waste, evaporation and vaporization of chemical compound.
(3)            Physical changes:- The important physical changes in waste dump are the lateral movements of gases in the waste and emission of gases to the surrounding environment, movement of leachate within the waste and in to underlying soils and settlement caused by consolidation and decomposition of the waste.
(4)            Impact on Environment: - The potential impacts are air pollution, surface water pollution, ground water pollution and subsoil pollution. The pathways of potential impact are (a) precipitation (b) infiltration (c) seepage (d) evaporation (e) surface run off (f) prevailing wind  (g) ground water flow (h) river and storm water drains (i) rodents and pests (j) vegetative growth on waste dumps.

Minimization of Environmental Impact through Waste Containment

The impact of a waste dump on the environment can be minimized by isolating the source or by eliminating the pathways. This can be achieved through containment of the waste dump.

The waste containment can be effected through engineered design,

(1)            Based on lining system as well as cover system to isolate the waste dump from the hydrological cycle.
(2)            Leachate collection system.
(3)            Gas collection system.

Engineered Landfills:-




Schematic Design of Engineered Land fill

The land fill is generally described as facility used for the disposal of solid waste on the surface of the earth. The term Engineered land fill, is used to denote a landfill designed and operated to minimize environmental impact. The various components of a modern engineered landfill are.
(1)   Liner system at base and sides of the landfill, which prevents migration of leachate or gas to the surrounding soil. The liner materials have more impermeability property and comprise of compacted clays or geo-membranes.
(2)   A Leachate collection facility which collects and extracts Leachate from within and from the base of the land fill and then treating the leachate.
(3)   A gas control facility which collect and extracts gas from within and from the top of the land fill and then treats it or uses it for energy recovery.
(4)   A final cover systems which enhances surface drainage, intercepts infiltrating water and support surface vegetation The final cover system comprises of multiple layers of soils and membrane materials 
(5)   A surface water drainage system which collect and removes all surface runoff from the land fill site.
(6)   An environmental monitoring system which periodically collect and analyses air, surface water and ground water samples around the landfill site.
(7)   A closure and post closure plan which list the steps that must be taken to close and secure a land fill site once the filling / dumping operations has been completed and the activities for long-term monitoring and maintenance of the completed land fill shall be ensured.


Geethakrishnan K.I,                                                     SAJIKUMAR P.R, MTech
Asst Exe Engineer, LSGD                                      Chief Engineer, LSGD




Tuesday, 4 July 2017

BIOSORPTION OF HEAVY METALS USING COIR PITH- Girly Mary George



M-TECH Thesis Abstract
The importance of heavy metal pollution control has increased significantly in recent decades. Unlike organic pollutants, metals are non-biodegradable and may enter the food chain from the environment hence removal of heavy metal ions becomes essential. A number of physio-chemical technologies are available for trace metal removal but these methods often involve high capital and operational costs and may also be associated with the generation of secondary wastes, which present treatment problems. Use of low cost adsorbents offers a potential alternative to existing methods for removal of metals from solutions.
Biosorption defined as the ability of biological materials to accumulate heavy metals from wastewater through metabolically mediated or physico-chemical pathways of uptake. Biosorption is a cost effective and excellent tool for the removal of heavy metals. The major advantages of biosorption over conventional treatment methods include low cost, high efficiency, minimization of chemical and/or biological sludge, no additional nutrient requirement, regeneration of biosorbent and possibility of metal recovery.
For the present work adsorptive properties of coir pith is been evaluated for heavy metal removal. The objectives of the study are to conduct batch studies for the optimization of parameters to obtain maximum removal efficiency, to determine the reaction kinetics and develop equilibrium model for the study and to perform continuous flow sorption studies. The effect of pH, contact time, adsorbent dosage, rate of mixing, size of adsorbent and metal ion concentration on the ability of biomass to remove metal from solution are investigated. Feasibility of coir pith for removal of metal ions such as Cu, Zn and Ni from synthetic effluents in single metal state and multi-metallic state was analyzed.

Girly Mary George,
Asst. Engineer, LSGD Section,
Okkal-Mudakkuzha GP

Friday, 30 June 2017

MTech Thesis: Sorption of Hexavalent Chromium by Iron Impregnated calcined Bauxite by Krishnadas P.

The adsorption of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) onto calcined bauxite modified with ferrous iron and ferric iron was investigated. Parameter optimization was conducted for both the adsorbents and a comparative analysis of their efficiency was performed under the same conditions. The optimum operating conditions for ferrous modified calcined bauxite (FEMCB) was found to be 3 g/L adsorbent dose and 60 minutes equilibrium time. pH and temperature had no significant impact on the removal efficiency. At optimum conditions, a removal efficiency of >99% was obtained. Ferric modified calcined bauxite (FRMCB) performed best (>99%) at 4 g/L adsorbent dose with an equilibrium time of 90 minutes. The optimum pH and temperature were observed as 5±0.2 and 30 OC. Freundlich isotherm fitted well for the adsorption of Cr(VI) using ferrous modified calcined bauxite while for adsorption with ferric modified calcined bauxite, better fit was obtained for Langmuir isotherm. FEMCB followed pseudo-second order kinetic model and pseudo-first order kinetic model fitted well for FRMCB. Iron leaching was observed in the effluent after adsorption with FEMCB. 
            The application of FRMCB as an adsorbent for Cr(VI) from real mine drainage was investigated and it showed good removal upto 98%. Optimized operational conditions were 2 g/L adsorbent dose for 120 minutes at pH 4 and 30 OC. The reaction fitted well to Langmuir isotherm and first order reversible kinetic model. The effluent was free from iron leaching.

            Fixed bed column study was performed using FRMCB for treating synthetic Cr(VI) wastewater with varying bed depths, flow rates and initial concentrations. The column study was carried out for real wastewater treatment also and a reduction in column efficiency was observed may be due to the interference of other ions and high pH. The column data was fitted to Bohart-Adams model and resulting parameters were calculated. 


Krishnadas P.
Assistant Engineer
LSGD Section
Kalliassery/Narath GP

M Tech Thesis -ANNIE K S

INTEGRATED - TWO STAGE ANAEROBIC DIGESTION FOR THE RECOVERY OF ENERGY FROM KITCHEN REFUSE

SYNOPSIS

In India there is a good sunshine for about 300 days in a year which encourages anaerobic digestion. Kitchen refuse and other similar garbage present a big disposal problem like bad odor, insects and rodents causing very dangerous diseases. The kitchen refuse from canteens, hostels, big hotels and similar garbage sources can be effectively used for anaerobic digestion to recover the fuel energy as well as good manure from exhausted slurry. The aim of the present study is to evaluate bio gas production from kitchen refuse using different seeding materials like cow dung and digested sludge of septic tank and an attempt has been made to work out the cost that could be benefited from the probable bio gas production using kitchen refuse. The two phase anaerobic digester bio gas plant of 20 liters capacity of each phase was operated at room temperature, using kitchen refuse of Thrissur Government Engineering College Canteen as feed stock material. The maximum bio gas produced was found to be as 0.301m³/kg VS added/day, at the rate of loading of 3.3kgVS/m³ slurry/day when digested sludge of septic tank is used as seeding material.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

Ø GENERAL

From the experiment it was seen that the bio gas plant using kitchen refuse from Thrissur Government Engineering College canteen, gave a maximum bio gas volume of 0.301m³/kg VS added/day at the rate of loading of 3.3kg/VS/m³ digested slurry/day with digested sludge of septic tank as seeding material. Since the experiment was carried out in a summer season in the temperature range of 27-32⁰C, the temperature would not affect appreciably for gas yield.
                       
                        As the plant was operated at room temperature, and got a biogas volume of 0.301m3/kg VS added/day, it is clear that if the temperature, stirring and uniform feeding are constantly maintained, the biomethanation  can be increased to 1.009m3/kg VS added/day.

Ø THE FEASIBILITY OF BIOGAS PLANT

It is also seen that the biogas plant is viable and economical if it is operated on large scale rather than small scale (i.e., for all hostel blocks of Government Engineering College, Thrissur).

Ø ENERGY RECOVERY AND ITS INTEGRATED USE

The exhausted slurry has good fertility value and this manure could be used for good yield of vegetables which in turn used for cooking in kitchen, which gives the kitchen refuse material as “feed stock” for digesters. So this is an integrated scheme of utilizing the waste material for energy recovery in an environmental friendly way.

Ø RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT AND STUDIES

The following recommendations are suggested for further development and for future studies.

1.   The digesters can be installed below the ground level for good temperature maintenance.
2.   A room may be constructed with “Green house effect” using solar energy for good temperature maintenance.
3.   Proper mixing arrangement, using motor pump sets or circulating the same biogas with pressure.
4.   Uniform feeding avoiding feast or fast conditions of microorganisms.
5.   Buffering of pH arrangements, especially for winter months to avoid souring of digester by much accumulation of volatile acids.
6.   The arrangements for bio gas cleaning (removing moisture) and utilising the bio gas within 10m of production source for proper pressure and without leakage.
7.   A cylindrical shape or egg shape digester will have lesser scum forming are. Hence it is suggested to design egg or cylindrical shaped digester.
8.   As far as possible, the plug flow condition should be maintained and also proper retention time should be given for digestion to be fully completed.
9.   The exhausted slurry can be dried on sand bed and mixed with other organic fractions of plant origin for aerobic composting to be used as manure.
10. The water requirements for the digester slurry can be met with by using waste water from Hostel blocks. The sewage or sullage water can be used for this purpose in the place of tap water.

ANNIE K S  ASSISTANT ENGINEER, LSGD SECTION, VAZHAYOOR, MALAPPURAM.