Treatment of Wastewater Containing Aromatic Compounds Using a Pulsed-Sieve-Plate Extraction Column

Aromatic compounds are widely encountered in petroleum and petro-chemical industries where they can be present in wastewater streams in varying amounts. The presence of these compounds is considered a serious threat to environment and is often regulated by environmental laws. Phenol is among the common pollutants present in wastewater streams from a number of industries e.g. petroleum refineries, coal conversion processes, production of phenolic resins, dyes, and pesticides, etc. They are toxic and non-degradable at high concentrations (> 200 mg/L) [1]. Therefore, separation and recovery of phenol from industrial wastewater streams are of great interest from environmental protection perspectives. In this work, we will present the recent results obtained from an on-going work related to the treatment of wastewater containing aromatic components including phenol using a pilot scale pulsed sieve-plate extraction column. Present study includes aspects related to thermodynamics, mass transfer, and hydrodynamics which will be presented.

References [1] X. Hao, M. Pritzker, and X. Feng, “Use of pervaporation for the separation of phenol from dilute aqueous solutions,” Journal of Membrane Science, vol. 335, Jun. 2009, pp. 96-102.