BLEACHING TECHNIQUES IN

PULP & PAPER AND ITS WASTE

WATER TREATMENT
In response to environmental concerns as well as to government regulations
one mission of chlorinated compounds the Nordic pulp and paper industry
has in recent decades acted by developing and introducing a number of new
processes and process modifications in order to minimize discharges of
chlorinated compounds. After cooking the Kraft pulp has a very brown color
and the sulfite pulp has a grey yellow color. So the strategy has been to
remove as much lignin as possible before the pulp enters the bleach plant by
improving the cooking process. Also in recent years replacing chlorine by
substitution with other bleaching agents (see below).Modified cooking
(extended delignification), oxygen delignification and better brown stock
washing can all be considered as pre-bleaching technologies. All three are
parts of the closed process system in modern Kraft mills. The organic
material dissolved in the waste water from these processes (lignin, resin
acids, fatty acids and other black liquor carry-over components) is returned
to the recovery furnace for incineration.
The process decreases the demand for bleaching chemicals and has thereby
contributed to the reduction of chlorinated organic substances as well as
other substances. Of course this also reduces the cost of chemicals used in
the process.
The combination of modified cooking and oxygen delignification has further
reduced the kappa number (measure for the amount of lignin remaining in
pulp after cooking) of the softwood pulp entering the bleaching plant to
around 10. It can be anticipated that this development will continue in the
near future with improvements of cooking and pre-bleaching delignification
processes, which may produce pulps with kappa numbers well below 10
before bleaching.
Today most modern craft mills producing softwood pulp uses oxygen
delignification. Modifies cooking is also rather common and several mills are
today producing softwood craft pulp with a kappa number about 10 after
oxygen delignification. These process modifications, which have lead to a
substantial reduction of residual lignin entering the bleaching plant, are also
favorable from the point of view that they reduce the demand, and thereby
the costs, for bleaching chemicals, which ease the burden on the
environment.
BLEACHING METHODS:
Finally the pulp is bleached (in 4-7 stages). Quality papers require a pulp,
which does not discolor during storage, or go yellow when exposed to
sunlight, and which retains its strength. Bleaching achieves all three
requirements, and has the additional advantage of improving absorption
capacity, removing any small pieces of bark or wood left behind as well as
giving a high level of purity.
In Europe, ECF-bleaching (elemental chlorine free) and TCF-bleaching (total
chlorine free) methods are widely used. Even the rest of the world is now
abandoning chlorine gas as a bleaching agent more and more. This is for
environmental reasons.
Modern pulp mills are constantly improving their effluent load and are
tending towards totally effluent free plants.
Bleaching is used to achieve paper brightness. Chemicals are used that
remove the lignin so the natural white color of the fiber appears. The
brightness is measured in ISO which shows the percentage of the total
whiteness. Unbleached softwood Kraft pulp has an ISO of app. 26 percent.
Bleached pulp has an ISO of 70-90 ISO. But bleaching also has another
impact on the pulp. The pulp acquires other qualities. This can be biological
and chemical cleanness, storage durability and exposure to sunlight.
CHLORINE BLEACHING:
Traditionally chlorine has been used as the bleaching chemical as it is cheap
and effective. It became obvious that there were environmental impacts
associated with the use of chlorine. The usage of chlorine reached its top
level in the mid 1970s. The discharges of chlorinated compounds were then
approximately 10 kg AOX per ton pulp on average in Scandinavia. During
1990s chlorine use for pulp bleaching was phased out in Sweden and Finland
due to environmental reasons.
In the beginning of chlorine bleaching use the chlorine was used directly
after the cooking stage. In the early 1970s oxygen delignification was
introduced as a pre bleaching stage. This decreased chlorine demand during
the process and reduced the kappa number of the pulp entering the bleach
plant. In 1990 extended cooking was introduced and the demand for chlorine
decreased further.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS:
The pulp making industry has for decades discharged large amount of
chemicals, fibers and wood residues into the Baltic Sea. Large fiber banks,
causing lack of oxygen, were formed along the coastlines. It was also
discovered that the discharge water was toxic and harms fish and aquatic
ecosystems. Pulp mill discharges and organ chlorines in particular- have
been linked to physical deformities in fish, hormonal changes and
reproductive impairment, liver disorders, disruption of cell function, changes
in blood composition, damage to skin and gills, changes in shoaling behavior
and changes in the structure of fish populations.
The presence of dioxins and of chlorinated phenol compounds in effluents
from production of chlorine-bleached pulp has attracted much interest from
an environmental point of view..
ECF BLEACHING:
ECF bleaching uses chlorine dioxide instead of elementary chlorine. By
introducing oxygen bleaching it became possible to introduce chlorine
dioxide as a bleaching agent, which also gives a lower AOX in the effluent.
Later both oxygen and hydrogen peroxide were introduced which eased the
burden on the pre-bleaching stage. After modified cooking was introduced,
AOX discharges could be as low as 0,5 kg per ton pulp. Following these
changes in the process COD-discharges decreased to 30-35 kg per ton.
Before oxygen delignification was introduced these discharges could be as
high as 100 kg per ton. By using aired lagoons and active sludge treatment
of the effluent AOX can be lowered to 0,1 kg/t and COD to below 25 kg per
ton. The strength and quality of the ECF pulp is favorably compared with
chlorine bleaching.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS:
Introduction of ECF-bleaching has had a major positive impact on the marine
environment. The relatively few mill and laboratory studies on effluents from
ECF bleaching so far reported indicate that ECF-bleaching of softwood Kraft
pulp produces small quantities of chlorinated compounds. These compounds
have not been eliminated, only reduced. Swedish research has shown
measurable quantities of dioxins and furans, two very toxic compounds.
TCF BLEACHING:
In the early 1990s the bleaching process Lingo was introduced. It means that
the pulp is pre-treated with oxygen and a chelating agent (EDTA or DTPA),
followed by an extraction process with hydrogen peroxide. The purpose of
the chelating agent is to bind the metal ions from the pulp wood that would
otherwise destroy the hydrogen peroxide. The Lingo method can be applied
in an existing bleaching plant but it is best to introduce it when building a
new plant. The TCF-bleaching technique has been improved and can now
produce TCF-bleached softwood Kraft pulp with brightness fully comparable
to ECF pulp. The next improvement was when ozone bleaching was
introduced in the early 90s. Ozone is better than other bleaching chemicals
in releasing lignin. But it also attacks the cellulose. By placing the ozone
bleaching stage early in the process and technical adjustments this attack
can be limited. Kraft bleaching processes based on hydrogen peroxide or
ozone or combinations of these bleaching agents (TCF-bleaching processes)
have been introduced in full scale operation in several Kraft mills world-wide
with Swedish and Finnish mills acting as forerunners. Also other oxidative
bleaching agents such as per-acetic acid are now used in mills as a
complement to other bleaching alternatives.
By introducing hydrogen peroxide and ozone, bleaching without using
chlorine dioxide or chlorine became possible. The main objective behind the
introduction of TCF-bleaching was, in the short term, to minimize the
discharge of chlorinated organic material to water recipients. More-over, the
introduction of TCF-bleaching will more readily facilitate the closure of the
water system in the bleaching plant into an effluent free plant (see next
chapter). The hydrogen peroxide is delivered dissolved in water and
transported in tanks. Ozone is produced in the mill by an ozone generator.

ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS:
TCF-bleaching practically eliminates the discharges of chlorinated
compounds. Thus, the chlorine content of high molecular weight effluent
materials from TCF-bleaching of softwood and hardwood Kraft pulp is
extremely low and fully comparable to the chlorine content found in naturally
occurring humid materials.
The chelating agent EDTA has been discharged in the bleaching process by
the mills using TCF-bleaching process mills. No major reduction of the EDTA
load has been observed upon secondary treatment of the bleached Kraft mill
effluents (BKMEs) studied. Metals originating from the pulp wood are found in
the effluents from pulp industries. Chelating agents are used to bind metals
that are a natural substance in the wood and that can cause the destruction
of the ozone used to bleach the pulp. Metals can also complicate the
bleaching process with hydrogen peroxide. After the treatment with chelating
agents the metals are washed away and discharged with the effluent. EDTA
itself is regarded as being not a very toxic substance. This does not exclude
that temporary larger discharges or often repeated smaller discharges can
have a negative effect on the environment. Discharges of EDTA in amounts
that could be toxic should be avoided. EDTA is not bio accumulative in water
but it can enhance the bio-availability and thus the uptake of metals and
other chemicals by marine wildlife. The Swedish EPA has stated, in all new
permits for discharges from bleaching plants, that the use of chelating
agents must be limited.

ENZYMATIC BLEACHING OF WOOD PULP:

The dark color of Kraft pulp after the wood chips have been heated at high
temperature with Noah solution is caused by lignin (a complex phenol
polymer) still attached to the cellulose fibers. Traditionally this pulp is treated
with chlorine to bleach the pulp to make it suitable for paper making.
Unfortunately this leads to the formation of some potentially toxic chloro
phenolic compounds of low molecular mass and which can pollute the
environment.
This article discusses the possible use of enzymes to break down chemical
bonds in the phenolic polymers and thus make it easier to remove the lignin
from the cellulose. Although "Total Chlorine Free" bleaching has not yet been
achieved treatment of the pulp with enzymes after the cooking with Noah
does render the lignin easier to extract in the subsequent bleaching steps,
allowing a reduction in use of chlorine. Worldwide many mills now include
enzymatic treatment in their processes.
Research on thermo physic organisms growing in New Zealand hot pools is
being undertaken to see if they could improve on those organisms currently
being used.
The pulp and paper industry offers a good example of the introduction of
biocatalysts to a traditional industry. Like many long-standing industries, pulp
and paper manufacture has developed more as an art than as a science and
much of the chemistry remains a mystery. The difficulty of interpreting the
chemistry underlying the various stages of paper manufacture is
exacerbated by the complexity of the starting material - wood. Wood is not a
simple, single molecule but is a mixture of complex organic polymers that
each have an effect on the final product and each take part in the chemistry
of the process. Identification of enzymes which are capable of assisting in the
reactions has been a difficult challenge but a worthwhile one primarily
because of serious environmental problems caused by the chemical process.
At present, global production of chemically manufactured pulp stands at
around 100 million tons per year and this figure is likely to increase, despite
the trend toward greater utilization of non-chemical methods and recycled
paper. Political pressure from environmental groups and consumers has had
a major impact on the industry in many western countries. Ironically, much
of the environmental damage is caused by the same consumers having a
preference for more attractive, bleached, paper products. The chemical
treatments used in chlorine-based bleaching procedures produce harmful
chlorinated organic compounds that are sometimes released into the
environment. These chlorinated compounds are difficult to recycle and as a
result, they are discarded - in some cases directly into nearby lakes and
rivers. Additional pressure has fallen on the industry because of fears that
some of these compounds (such as dioxin) may escape extraction steps and
contaminate paper used for food packaging. The pulp and paper industry is
faced with having to change its ways. It is reluctant to do so because the
chemical processes are cheap, effective and efficient; but they are also dirty
and public tolerance is waning.

BLEACHING MECHANICAL PULP:

Mechanical pulp retains most of the lignin present in the wood used to make
the pulp and thus contain almost as much lignin as they do cellulose and
hemicelluloses. It would be impractical to remove this much lignin by
bleaching, and undesirable since one of the big advantages of mechanical
pulp is the high yield of pulp based on wood used. Therefore the objective of
bleaching mechanical pulp (also referred to as brightening) is to remove only
the chromospheres (color-causing groups). This is possible because the
structures responsible for color are also more susceptible
to oxidation or reduction.
Alkaline hydrogen peroxide is the most commonly used bleaching agent for
mechanical pulp. The amount of base such as sodium hydroxide is less than
that used in bleaching chemical pulps and the temperatures are lower. These
conditions allow alkaline peroxide to selectively oxidize non-
aromatic conjugated groups responsible for absorbing visible light. The
decomposition of hydrogen peroxide is catalyzed by transition metals,
and iron, manganese and copper are of particular importance in pulp
bleaching. The use of chelating like EDTA to remove some of these metal
ions from the pulp prior to adding peroxide allows the peroxide to be used
more efficiently. Magnesium salts and sodium silicate are also added to
improve bleaching with alkaline peroxide.[7]
Sodium dithionite (Na2S2O4), also known as sodium hydrosulfite, is the other
main reagent used to brighten mechanical pulps. In contrast to hydrogen
peroxide, which oxidizes the chromospheres, dithionite reduces these color-
causing groups. Dithionite reacts with oxygen, so efficient use of dithionite
requires that oxygen exposure be minimized during its use.
Chelating agents can contribute to brightness gain by sequestering iron ions,
for example as EDTA complexes, which are less colored than the complexes
formed between iron and lignin.
The brightness gains achieved in bleaching mechanical pulps are temporary
since almost all of the lignin present in the wood is still present in the pulp.
Exposure to air and light can produce new chromospheres from this residual
lignin. This is why newspaper yellows as it ages. Yellowing also occurs due to
the acidic sizing

BLEACHING OF RECYCLED PULP:

Hydrogen peroxide and sodium dithionite are used to increase the brightness
of deinked pulp. The bleaching methods are similar for mechanical pulp in
which the goal is to make the fibers brighter.

BLEACHING CHEMICAL PULPS:

Chemical pulps, such as those from the Kraft process or sulfite pulping,
contain much less lignin than mechanical pulps, (<5% compared to
approximately 40%). The goal in bleaching chemical pulps is to remove
essentially all of the residual lignin, hence the process is often referred to as
delignification. Sodium hypochlorite (household bleach) was initially used to
bleach chemical pulps, but was largely replaced in the 1930s by chlorine.
Concerns about the release of organo chlorine compounds into the
environment prompted the development of Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF)
and Totally Chlorine Free (TCF) bleaching processes.
Delignification of chemical pulps is rarely a single step process and is
frequently composed of four or more discrete steps. These steps are given a
letter designation,[10] and these are given in the following table:

Chemical or process used Letter designation

Chlorine C
Sodium hypochlorite H

Chlorine dioxide D

Extraction with sodium hydroxide E

Oxygen O

Alkaline hydrogen peroxide P

Ozone Z

Chelating to remove metals Q

Enzymes (especially xylanase) X

Per acids (proxy acids) Pea

Sodium dithionite (sodium hydrosulfite) Y

A bleaching sequence from the 1950s could look like CEHEH . The pulp would
have been exposed to chlorine, extracted (washed) with a sodium hydroxide
solution to remove lignin fragmented by the chlorination, treated with
sodium hypochlorite, washed with sodium hydroxide again and given a final
treatment with hypochlorite. An example of a modern totally chlorine-free
(TCF) sequence is OZEPY where the pulp would be treated with oxygen, then
ozone, washed with sodium hydroxide then treated in sequence with alkaline
peroxide and sodium dithionite.

CHLORINE AND HYPOCHLORITE:

Chlorine replaces hydrogen on the aromatic rings of lignin via aromatic
substitution, oxidizes pendant groups to carboxylic acids and adds across
carbon carbon double bonds in the lignin side chains. Chlorine also
attacks cellulose, but this reaction occurs predominantly at pH 7, where un-
ionized hypochlorous acid, Halo, is the main chlorine species in solution. [11] To
avoid excessive cellulose degradation, chlorination is carried out at pH <1.5.
Cl2 + H2O H+ + Cal- + Halo
At pH >8 the dominant species is hypochlorite, Clod -, which is also useful
for lignin removal. Sodium hypochlorite can be purchased or generated in
situ by reacting chlorine with sodium.
2 Noah + Cl2 Nalco + Nail + H2O
The main objection to the use of chlorine for bleaching pulp is the
large amounts of soluble organo chlorine compounds produced and
released into the environment.

CHLORINE DIOXIDE:
Chlorine dioxide, ClO2 is an unstable gas with moderate solubility in
water. It is usually generated in an aqueous solution and used
immediately because it decomposes and is explosive in higher
concentrations. It is produced by reacting sodium chlorate with
a reducing agent like sulfur dioxide.
2 NaClO3 + H2SO4 + SO2 2 ClO2 + 2 NaHSO4
Chlorine dioxide is sometimes used in combination with chlorine,
but it is used alone in ECF (elemental chlorine-free) bleaching
sequences. It is used at moderately acidic pH (3.5 to 6). The use of
chlorine dioxide minimizes the amount of organ chlorine
compounds produced.[8] Chlorine dioxide (ECF technology) currently
is the most important bleaching method worldwide. About 95% of
all bleached Kraft pulp is made using chlorine dioxide in ECF
bleaching sequences.[12]

EXTRACTION OR WASHING:
All bleaching agents used to delignify chemical pulp, with the exception of sodium
dithionite, break lignin down into smaller, oxygen-containing molecules. These
breakdown products are generally soluble in water, especially if the pH is greater
than 7 (many of the products are carboxylic acids). These materials must be removed
between bleaching stages to avoid excessive use of bleaching chemicals since many
of these smaller molecules are still susceptible to oxidation. The need to minimize
water use in modern pulp mills has driven the development of equipment and
techniques for the efficient use of available water.[13]

Oxygen[edit]
Oxygen exists as a ground state triplet state, which is relatively
uncreative and needs free radicals or very electron-rich substrates
such as deprotonated lignin phenolic groups. The production of
these peroxide groups requires that delignification with oxygen be
carried out under very basic conditions (pH >12). The reactions
involved are primarily single electron (radical) reactions.[14]
[15]
Oxygen opens rings and cleaves side chains giving a complex
mixture of small oxygenated molecules. Transition
metal compounds, particularly those
of iron, manganese and copper, which have multiple oxidation
states, facilitate many radical reactions and impact oxygen
delignification.[16][17] While the radical reactions are largely
responsible for delignification, they are detrimental to cellulose.
Oxygen-based radicals, especially hydroxyl radicals, HO, can
oxidize hydroxyl groups in the cellulose chains to ketones, and
under the strongly basic conditions used in oxygen delignification,
these compounds undergo reverse also reactions leading to
cleavage of cellulose chains. Magnesium salts are added to oxygen
delignification to help preserve the cellulose chains, [16] but
mechanism of this protection has not been confirmed.

HYDROGEN PEROXIDE:
Using hydrogen peroxide to delignify chemical pulp requires more vigorous conditions
than for brightening mechanical pulp. Both pH and temperature are higher when
treating chemical pulp. The chemistry is very similar to that involved in oxygen
delignification, in terms of the radical species involved and the products produced.
[18]
Hydrogen peroxide is sometimes used with oxygen in the same bleaching stage
and this is give the letter designation Op in bleaching sequences. Metal ions,
particularly manganese catalyze the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, so some
improvement in the efficiency of peroxide bleaching can be achieved if the metal
levels are controlled.[19]

OZONE:
Ozone is a very powerful oxidizing agent and the biggest challenge
in using it to bleach wood pulp is to get sufficient selectivity so that
the desirable cellulose is not degraded. Ozone reacts with the
carbon double bonds in lignin, including those within aromatic
rings. In the 1990s ozone was touted as good reagent to allow pulp
to be bleached without any chlorine-containing chemicals (totally
chlorine-free, TCF). The emphasis has changed and ozone is seen
as an adjunct to chlorine dioxide in bleaching sequences not using
any elemental chlorine (elemental chlorine-free, ECF). Over twenty-
five pulp mills worldwide have installed equipment to generate and
use ozone.[20]

CHELANT WASH:
The effect of transition metals on some of the bleaching stages has
already been mentioned. Sometimes it is beneficial to remove
some of these metal ions from the pulp by washing the pulp with
a chelating agent such as EDTA or DTPA. This is more common in
TCF bleaching sequences for two reasons: the acidic chlorine or
chlorine dioxide stages tend to remove metal ions (metal ions
usually being more soluble at lower pH) and TCF stages rely more
heavily on oxygen-based bleaching agents, which are more
susceptible to the detrimental effects of these metal ions. Chelant
washes are usually carried out at or near pH 7. Lower pH solutions
are more effective at removing transition metals, but also remove
more of the beneficial metal ions, especially magnesium.

OTHER BLEACHING AGENTS:

A variety of more exotic bleaching agents have been used on
chemical pulps. They include proxy acetic acid,[22] proxy formic acid,
[22]
potassium proxy mono sulfate (Ozone),[22]dimethyl di oxirane,
[23]
which is generated in situ from acetone and potassium proxy
mono sulfate, and proxy mono phosphoric acid[24]
Enzymes like xylanase have been used in pulp bleaching [22] to
increase the efficiency of other bleaching chemicals. It is believed
that xylanase does this by cleaving lignin-xylem bonds to make
lignin more accessible to other reagents.[2] It is possible that other
enzymes such as those found in fungi that degrade lignin may be
useful in pulp bleaching.[25]
WASTE WATER TREATMENT
Effluent from the pulp and paper industry is generally high in suspended
solids and BOD. Stand alone paper mills using imported pulp may only
require simple primary treatment, such as sedimentation or dissolved air
flotation. Increased BOD or chemical oxygen demand (COD) loadings, as well
as organic pollutants, may require biological treatment such as activated
sludge or up flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors. For mills with high
inorganic loadings like salt, tertiary treatments may be required, either
general membrane treatments like ultra filtration or reverse osmosis or
treatments to remove specific contaminants, such as nutrients.

SEDIMENTATION:
Sedimentation is a physical water treatment process using gravity to
remove suspended solids from water, Solid particles entrained by the
turbulence of moving water may be removed naturally by sedimentation in
the still water of lakes and oceans. Settling basins are ponds constructed for
the purpose of removing entrained solids by sedimentation. [2] Clarifiers are
tanks built with mechanical means for continuous removal of solids being
deposited by sedimentation.

DISSOLVED AIR FLOTATION:

Dissolved air flotation (DAF) is a water treatment process that
clarifies wastewaters (or other waters) by the removal of suspended matter
such as oil or solids. The removal is achieved by dissolving air in the water or
wastewater under pressure and then releasing the air at atmospheric
pressure in a flotation tank or basin. The released air forms tiny bubbles
which adhere to the suspended matter causing the suspended matter to float
to the surface of the water where it may then be removed by a skimming
device.[1][2][3]

Dissolved air flotation is very widely used in treating the industrial

wastewater effluents from oil refineries, petrochemical and chemical
plants, natural gas processing plants, paper mills, general water treatment
and similar industrial facilities. A very similar process known as induced gas
flotation is also used for wastewater treatment. Froth flotation is commonly
used in the processing of mineral ores.
ACTIVATED SLUDGE:
Activated sludge is a process for treating sewage and industrial
wastewaters using air and a biological flock composed of bacteria and
protozoa.

The process involves air or oxygen being introduced into a mixture of

screened, and primary treated sewage or industrial wastewater (wastewater)
combined with organisms to develop a biological floc which reduces
the organic content of thesewage. This material, which in healthy sludge is a
brown floc, is largely composed of saprotrophic bacteria but also has an
important protozoan flora mainly composed
of amoebae, Spirotrichs, Peritrichs including Vorticellids and a range of other
filter feeding species. Other important constituents include motile and
sedentary Rotifers. In poorly managed activated sludge, a range
of mucilaginous filamentous bacteria can develop including Sphaerotilus
natans which produces a sludge that is difficult to settle and can result in the
sludge blanket decanting over the weirs in the settlement tank to severely
contaminate the final effluent quality. This material is often described as
sewage fungus but true fungal communities are relatively uncommon.

The combination of wastewater and biological mass is commonly known

as mixed liquor. In all activated sludge plants, once the wastewater has
received sufficient treatment, excess mixed liquor is discharged into settling
tanks and the treated supernatant is run off to undergo further treatment
before discharge. Part of the settled material, the sludge, is returned to the
head of the aeration system to re-seed the new wastewater entering the
tank. This fraction of the floc is called return activated sludge (R.A.S.). Excess
sludge is called surplus activated sludge (S.A.S.) or waste activated
sludge (W.A.S). W.A.S is removed from the treatment process to keep the
ratio of biomass to food supplied in the wastewater in balance, and is further
treated by digestion, either under anaerobic or aerobic conditions prior to
disposal.

The space required for a sewage treatment plant can be reduced by using
a membrane bioreactor to remove some of the wastewater from the mixed
liquor prior to treatment. This results in a more concentrated waste product
that can then be treated using the activated sludge process.

Many sewage treatment plants use axial flow pumps to transfer nitrified
mixed liquor from the aeration zone to the anoxic zone for de nitrification.
These pumps are often referred to as internal mixed liquor recycle
pumps (IMLR pumps). The raw sewage, the RAS, and the nitrified mixed
liquor are mixed by submersible mixer sin the anoxic zones in order to
achieve de nitrification.

Activated sludge is also the name given to the active biological material
produced by activated sludge plants.

UPFLOW ANAEROBIC SLUDGE BLANKET

REACTORS:
Up flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) technology, normally referred to as
UASB reactor, is a form ofanaerobic digester that is used in the treatment
of wastewater.

The UASB reactor is a methanogenic (methane-producing) digester that

evolved from the anaerobic clarigester. A similar but variant technology to
UASB is the expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) digester. A diagramatic
comparison of different anaerobic digesters can be found here.

UASB uses an anaerobic process whilst forming a blanket of granular sludge

which suspends in the tank. Wastewater flows upwards through the blanket
and is processed (degraded) by the anaerobic microorganisms. The upward
flow combined with the settling action of gravity suspends the blanket with
the aid of flocculants. The blanket begins to reach maturity at around 3
months. Small sludge granules begin to form whose surface area is covered
in aggregations of bacteria. In the absence of any support matrix, the flow
condition create a selective environment in which only those
microorganisms, capable of attaching to each other, survive and proliferate.
Eventually the aggregates form into dense compact bio films referred to as
"granules".[1] A picture of anaerobic sludge granules can be found here.

Biogas with a high concentration of methane is produced as a by-product,

and this may be captured and used as an energy source, to
generate electricity for export and to cover its own running power. The
technology needs constant monitoring when put into use to ensure that the
sludge blanket is maintained, and not washed out (thereby losing the effect).
The heat produced as a by-product of electricity generation can be reused to
heat the digestion tanks.

The blanketing of the sludge enables a dual solid and hydraulic (liquid)
retention time in the digesters. Solids requiring a high degree of digestion
can remain in the reactors for periods up to 90 days. Sugars dissolved in the
liquid waste stream can be converted into gas quickly in the liquid phase
which can exit the system in less than a day.

ULTRA FILTRATION:
Ultra filtration (UF) is a variety of membrane filtration in which forces
like pressure or concentration gradients leads to a separation through a semi
permeable membrane. Suspended solids and solutes of high molecular
weight are retained in the so-called retentate, while water and low molecular
weight solutes pass through the membrane in the permeate. This separation
process is used in industry and research for purifying and concentrating
macromolecular (103 - 106 Dia) solutions, especially protein solutions. Ultra
filtration is not fundamentally different from microfiltration. Both of these
separate based on size exclusion or particle capture. It is fundamentally
different from membrane gas separation, which separate based on different
amounts of absorption and different rates of diffusion. Ultra filtration
membranes are defined by the Molecular Weight Cut Off (MWCO) of the
membrane used. Ultra filtration is applied in cross-flow or dead-end mode.

REVERSE OSMOSIS:
Reverse osmosis (RO) is a water purification technology that uses a semi
permeable membrane. This membrane technology is not properly
a filtration method. In reverse osmosis, an applied pressure is used to
overcome osmotic pressure, a colligative property, that is driven by chemical
potential, a thermodynamic parameter. Reverse osmosis can remove many
types of molecules and ions from solutions, and is used in both industrial
processes and the production of potable water. The result is that the solute is
retained on the pressurized side of the membrane and the pure solvent is
allowed to pass to the other side. To be "selective", this membrane should
not allow large molecules or ions through the pores (holes), but should allow
smaller components of the solution (such as the solvent) to pass freely.

In the normal osmosis process, the solvent naturally moves from an area of
low solute concentration (high water potential), through a membrane, to an
area of high solute concentration (low water potential). The movement of a
pure solvent is driven to reduce the free energy of the system by equalizing
solute concentrations on each side of a membrane, generating osmotic
pressure. Applying an external pressure to reverse the natural flow of pure
solvent, thus, is reverse osmosis. The process is similar to other membrane
technology applications. However, key differences are found between
reverse osmosis and filtration. The predominant removal mechanism in
membrane filtration is straining, or size exclusion, so the process can
theoretically achieve perfect exclusion of particles regardless of operational
parameters such as influent pressure and concentration. Moreover, reverse
osmosis involves a diffusive mechanism, so that separation efficiency is
dependent on solute concentration, pressure, and water flux rate. [1] Reverse
osmosis is most commonly known for its use in drinking water
purification from seawater, removing the salt and other effluent materials
from the water molecules.