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The temperature is raised to 65C under 3bar to prevent the loss of methanol
vapour and facilitate rapid transesterification. The mixture of biodiesel and
glycerol is purged from the reactor. Separation is done using centrifuges or
settling tanks.
The biodiesel is transferred to a washing station where it is passed through a
centrifuge or filter press to remove dissolved contaminants like soap or
glycerol. Then passed through a filtration unit to purify the biodiesel.
Feedstock purity: Free fatty acid (FFA) requires more catalyst resulting in a
higher salt and soap formation. Higher water content creates soap and higher
phosphorous increases the difficulty in separating the biodiesel from the
glycerol.
1st Generation Fuels: corn, rapeseed oil, sugar cane, palm oil, wheat.
Advantages: familiar feedstocks, well established production, scalable
processed, compatibility with fossil fuels, commercial production and use in
several countries.
Disadvantages: competition with food crops, high cost feedstocks lead to high
production costs, modest reduction in fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas
emissions, production of by products exceeds demand.
Second generation fuels: from energy crops such as poplar, switchgrass, willow,
food wastes, manure, straw, waste wood. Advantages: similar process to the
petrol/chemical/bio industry, no competition issues with food, reduction in the
amount of waste that needs to be treated/disposed of.
Disadvantages: unfamiliar feedstock and the available is fluctuating/uncertain.
High capital and energy costs, competition for land and water, only a fraction of
waste can be used.
Third generation fuels: microalgae. Advantages: high oil content, can be
cultivated in a range of systems, a wide spectrum of processing routes and
biofuels.
Disadvantages: not commercially available yet, high initial costs, high water
content, could require large areas, could impact on marine life if exploited from
oceans.
Some sustainability issues:
Environmental: global warming potential, land availability, biodiversity.
Economic: feedstock costs, investment costs, biofuel price, local income
generation.
Social: human health, labour rights, land ownerships, impact on food
security, community development and the impact on indigenous people.
Ethanol as fuel: less energy compared to petrol but a higher octane level.
Second Gen Biochemical: uses cellulase (that produce bacteria) and it is
capable of breaking down cellulose. Cellulose is difficult to breakdown and
therefore the fermentation process is quite slow.
Second Gen Thermochemical: uses any ligno-cellulosic as feedstock Heat is
supplied by circulating hot synthetic olivine sand. Gasification occurs and
produces syngas, tars, solid char. The solid char is burned to regenerate sand.
The syngas can be used to produce alcohols and electricity.
PLA Lifecycle: atmospheric CO2, corn production, dextrose production, lactic
acid production, lactide production and polymerisation, packaging
manufacture, comsumption, landfill
PP Lifecycle: natural gas extraction, natural gas liquids, ethylene and propylene
production, pp polymerisation, packaging manufacture, consumption, landfill
Recycling for white paper: deinking is the main process, based on mineral
flotation. Measure of recycled paper quality is the brightness, visible ink specs
and stickies.
Recycling for brown paper: generally poor quality, simpler process.
Dual Separation process: separation of fibres from contaminants, removal of
said contaminants using screens, washing, etc.
Recycling unit operations:
1.Hydrapulper: adding water to the dry fibres. Mechanical action with
suspension separation. The fibres separate from each other and
contaminants (plastics, inks, toner) are removed. The force applied by the
rotor must be enough to defibre the paper but not break down the
contaminants as they will be much harder to remove.
2.Screens: coarse and fine screens to remove different sized flakes.
3.Cleaners - the pulp is fed tangentially. Separation is based on density and
shape of the flakes.
4.Flotation Cells: main purpose is to remove ink.
Flotation Mechanism:
The air bubble approaches the particle and there is contact. The particle slides
over the surface of the liquid film separating the bubble from the particle. The
film ruptures which brings the particle and the bubble in contact. The particle,
bubble and fluid form a quick three phase contact. The bubble stabilises and
the particle can only be removed by severe turbulence.
Sodium Hydroxide - adjusts the pH level to alkaline which hydrolyses the ink
resins. The fibres are able to absorb water which causes swelling and cracks
the ink off the fibres.
Hydrogen Peroxide - used to decolourise wood or paper pulp.
Chelating agents - form soluble complaxes with metal ions in order to avoid the
hydrogen peroxide breaking down eg. Sodium Silicate
Surfactants - form chain molecules with the hydrophobic or hydrophilic parts.
Dispersants cover particles with the hydrophilic layer. This helps when
separating inks from the fibres.
Collectors anionic molecules are added to aid flotation.
Displectors are a combination of dispersant and collector. They adhere to air
bubbles and prevent the redeposition of hydrogen peroxide.
Chemical Pulping: liberation of fibres from ligno-cellulosic wood and non-wood
materials. The process can be mechanical by grounding the wood into fibres
Recovery of Liquor:
White liquor - fresh pulping liquor for the kraft process
Black liquor - waste liquor from the kraft process. Contains most of the
organic inorganic components and a high concentration of dissolved organics.
Green liquor - partially recovered kraft liquor
Recovery Cycle: burns the black liquor in a recovery boiler. Filter out the smelt
and separate calcium and carbonate. Regenerate original chemicals.
Papermaking:
1.
Forming: jet of fibre suspension (usually 5kg of solids per 1000kg of
suspension). Consists of gravity dewatering. The fibres deposit themselves
on a continuously moving filter mat. This mat drains the water. The mats
need to be cleaned using high pressure showers for continuous mats and
washing with acid for batch processing. This process requires the right
amount of draining (not too much or the sheet will start to seal) and the
right amount of agitation to keep the fibres dispersed.
2.
Pressing: the sheet is still very weak and wet (around 20%). Mechanical
pressure is used to remove the remaining water.
3.
Drying
4.
Additional
Wastewater Treatment
Wastewater sources:
Storm water and urban runoff: oil, heavy metals, low concentration of
pollutants
Physical Characteristics of waste water consist of solids (suspended or
dissolved), odour, colour, temperature, turbidity
Chemical Characteristics of waste water consist of organic material, nutrients,
chlorides, micro pollutants, metals and acidity
Organic Matters:
Total Organic Carbon (TOC): the total amount of carbon that is
bound to an organic compound. The organics are oxidized by heating
to a high temperature and measuring the production of carbon
dioxide.
Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD): the oxygen demand of polluted
water caused by microorganism under aerobic conditions. The BOD
is normally measured for 5 days, units mgO2/L
Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD): the oxygen demand caused by
oxidising polluted water by chemical oxidants such as potassium
permanganate or dichromate)
Recycling
Could be used for cooling water, process water and other things such as
car washing, grass watering, etc. The target pollutants are salts, pathogens and
micro pollutants. An advanced treatment process must be used.
Factors for
To prevent the introduction of pollutants into the next process that will
interfere with their operation and pass through the treatment works
Type III (Zone or hindered settling): particles interfere with each other
forming a lattice which settles. This happens are a high solid
concentration. eg. secondary sedimentation
distribution over the surface, thus reducing the tendency to clog and also
reduce filter flies. Prevents biological slime.
Design considerations: the filter has to be low cost and high durability +
porosity. Needs to have adequate airflow. Loading criteria.
Rotating Biological Contactors (RBSs): advantages include the simplicity of the
process and low energy costs, BOD removal is comparable to well operated
activated sludge process and denitrification could be achieved if the process is
well designed.
Combined aerobic treatment processes:
Integrated Fixed-Film activated Sludge (IFAS): an activated sludge system
that has a fixed film media in a suspended growth reactor. The purpose of
the film media is to increase the biomass in the reactor. Media types
include a sponge, plastic carriers or honeycomb polyester fabrics.
Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR): this process uses small plastic
elements (7-22mm) to support the growth of biofilm in the reactor. The
suspended growth portion of the hybrid is designed as a complete mix
reactor.
Attached growth vs activated sludge: activated sludge is more economical,
flexible and easy to operate/maintain.
Secondary Clarifier: in the upper, discrete floc particles start to settle (Type I),
as the particles start to sink, they begin to flocculate (Type II) and in the lower
zones, hindered settling occurs and compression settling (Type III).
If too much sludge builds up, there is poor settling and a low separation
efficiency.
Membrane bioreactor (MBR): biological process in which the secondary clarifier
is replaces by a membrane filtration unit. Advantages include a high quality of
permeate, longer SRT, less sludge production, higher sludge concentration,
shorter HRT, small footprint and a higher hydraulic loading. The effluent of the
MBR is low in BOD, COD, Ammonia, total nitrogen and turbidity. The smaller
plant size means less sludge and high quality of water. Lower production cost
and longer membrane life makes MBR a more competitive option.
Disadvantages include high capital cost, high replacement cost, high energy
cost and possible maintenance issues.
Types of MBR include the side stream MBR and the immerged MBR.
MBR Process:
1. Preliminary Treatment removal of grit and materials that can be
screened.
2. Primary Treatment generally not required for a MBR.
3. Solids Retention Time (SRT): benefits nitrification
4. Mixed Liquor Suspended Solids (MLSS): immersed MBRs have mixed
liquor concentrations.
Types of membrane fouling:
Biofouling formed due to deposition and growth of microorganisms on
membrane surfaces.
Organic fouling caused by the deposition of proteins, polysaccharides,
acids and other organic substances (soluble or colloidal) that originates
from feed water or microbial secretion.
Inorganic fouling results from chemical precipitation of inorganic
crystals and/or biological precipitation of inorganic complexes.
Disinfections: purpose is to reduce pathogen concentrations to acceptable
levels, rather than completely remove them.
Chemical methods:
1. Chlorination using free chlorine, sodium hypochlorite or chlorine dioxide
The chlorine (which forms hydrochloric acid and hypochlorous acid) must
penetrate into the bacterial cell to cause cell inactivation. The chlorine
dioxide causes the disruption of protein synthesis which leads to
inactivation. Sodium hypochlorite or calcium hypochlorite is less toxic
and only available in the liquid phase. This method is expensive and
requires special handling.
2. Ozonation causes physical damage to DNA which leads to inactivation.
Free radicals are formed, hydroxyl superoxide and ozone itself.
Physical methods: ultraviolet radiation. The DNA absorbs the light (200-300nm)
which causes damages
Mechanical methods: membrane filtration
Factors that influence disinfection: contact time, concentration of the
disinfectant and the characteristics of the water.
Formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs):
Trihalomethanes are a group of four chemicals that are formed when
chlorine and other disinfectants are used to control microbial
contaminants in drinking water with naturally occurring organic matter.
The four chemicals are chloroform, bromodichloromethane,
dibromocloromethane and bromoform.
Haloacetic acids
Chlorite is a byproduct of chlorine dioxide