How to isopropyl alcohol wastewater harmless treatment?

Isopropyl alcohol wastewater widely exists in the production process of chemical, pharmaceutical, electronic and other industries, if not treated, it may pose a serious threat to the environment and human health. Therefore, how to carry out harmless treatment of isopropanol wastewater has become an urgent problem to be solved in many industries. This paper will analyze the characteristics of wastewater, common treatment methods and the technical path of harmless treatment in detail.

Isopropyl alcohol wastewater characteristics and hazards

Before discussing how to treat isopropanol wastewater innocuously, we need to understand the basic properties of the wastewater. Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) wastewater typically has the following characteristics:

1. High volatility: isopropyl alcohol has a low boiling point, at room temperature is easy to volatilize, the processing system design put forward higher requirements.
2. Toxic: Although the toxicity of isopropyl alcohol itself is relatively low, but when its concentration is high, it may be toxic to water and organisms, especially to aquatic organisms.
3. Biodegradability: Isopropanol has a certain degree of biodegradability, but in high concentrations of biodegradation efficiency is low, easy to cause environmental pollution.

Therefore, in the treatment of isopropyl alcohol wastewater, in addition to the removal of isopropyl alcohol itself, we should also pay attention to other pollutants in the wastewater to ensure the harmless discharge of the final treated wastewater.

Isopropyl alcohol wastewater treatment methods

Physical Methods: Adsorption and Evaporation

Physical methods are the most direct means of wastewater treatment. Common physical treatment methods are adsorption and evaporation:

1. Adsorption method: the use of activated carbon, bentonite and other adsorption materials, adsorption of harmful substances in isopropanol wastewater. The adsorption method is suitable for the treatment of wastewater with high concentration of isopropanol, but its adsorption capacity is limited, the treatment efficiency is low, and the adsorption material needs to be replaced regularly.

2. Evaporation method: evaporation method is suitable for volatile substances, isopropyl alcohol due to its low boiling point, can be removed by evaporation method. Isopropyl alcohol in the waste water is evaporated by heating, and is recovered by condensation. This method has high energy consumption and is difficult to deal with other soluble pollutants.

Chemical Methods: Oxidation and Reduction

Chemical methods are often used to treat isopropanol wastewater with higher concentrations, especially when its concentration reaches a certain level, chemical methods can more effectively reduce the concentration of pollutants in wastewater.

1. Oxidation method: the use of strong oxidants (such as ozone, potassium permanganate, etc.) to oxidize isopropanol in wastewater to generate harmless substances. Oxidation method can quickly degrade isopropanol, especially for high-concentration wastewater, but its by-products may sometimes cause secondary pollution to the environment.

2. Reduction method: through reduction reaction, some pollutants in wastewater are reduced to low toxic or even non-toxic substances. Although this method can treat some toxic substances, it is less used in isopropanol wastewater.

Biological Methods: Biodegradation and Activated Sludge

Biological method is a common and effective method for isopropanol wastewater treatment, especially for low concentration wastewater treatment.

1. Biodegradation method: the organic pollutants in wastewater (such as isopropanol) are degraded into harmless substances such as water and carbon dioxide by the action of microorganisms. This method is environmentally friendly and low cost, but it takes a long time to process and requires a specific microbial population to effectively degrade isopropanol.

2. Activated sludge process: the degradation of organic pollutants in wastewater by the microbial community of activated sludge. The activated sludge process is suitable for large-scale wastewater treatment, and can effectively reduce COD (chemical oxygen demand) in wastewater and improve water quality.

Harmless treatment technology path

Integrated treatment: multiple methods combined

Because a single treatment method often has some limitations in the treatment of isopropanol wastewater, comprehensive treatment has become an effective way to improve the treatment efficiency. In general, a combination of physical and biological methods enables the removal of the remaining organics by further microbial degradation after the removal of most of the isopropanol. For example, most of the isopropanol in the wastewater is initially removed by adsorption or evaporation, and the remaining organics are further processed by biodegradation.

Energy Recovery: Isopropanol Recovery and Utilization

Another important direction of harmless treatment is the recovery of isopropanol from wastewater. Through evaporation, condensation and other methods, the isopropanol in the wastewater is recovered and reused, which not only helps to reduce pollutant emissions, but also reduces the production cost of enterprises. The recovered isopropanol can be used for re-production or other industrial uses to form resource recycling.

Conclusion

How to treat isopropanol wastewater innocuously is a multi-faceted problem, involving the characteristics of wastewater, treatment methods and the choice of technical path. The comprehensive treatment method of physical method, chemical method and biological method, combined with energy recovery and resource utilization, is an effective solution at present. By continuously optimizing the treatment process and technology, the harmless treatment of isopropanol wastewater will be more efficient and environmentally friendly in the future.