7.

The textile industry

7. THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY

According to the imposed purification two may be used. The treatment proce-
Rates, physical-chemical or biological dure (figure 975) includes the stages
treatment or even a combination of the described below:

7.1. It is vital to provide for a buffer capacity

offering a volume corresponding to 6-12
PRELIMINARY hours storage time for the average flow
TREATMENT treated. This makes it possible to spread
over 24 hours the treatment of waste that is
Screening - straining usually produced over 16 hours (two
The presence of fluff and cotton flock shifts). Air stirring of the buffer tank can
also be useful.
means that fine straining has to be carried
out after routine screening. Oil removal, in
the event of large quantities of white spirit, Neutralisation
may also be necessary. After homogenisation, the pH of
effluents generally remains alkaline,
Homogenisation between 9 and 10. Neutralisation is
therefore necessary. It is carried out either
by sulphuric acid or available flue gas.
 Chap. 26: Industrial processes and the treatment of wastewater
7.2. TREATMENT
7.2.1. Physical-chemical treatment
This treatment is only useful if the raw
effluent contains a large quantity of SS, toxic
substances (sulphides, chromates, etc.), or if
it requires a high degree of colour removal.
Treatment may include one or several of the
following stages:
- catalytic oxidation of sulphides in an
aerated tank, with controlled addition of iron
or manganese salts,
- flocculation in a slowly mixed reactor with
dosage of iron or aluminium salts followed
by addition of an organic polymer to enhance
settling yield,
- clarification by settling (Turbocirculator) or
flotation (Flotazur).
7.2.2. Biological treatment
Depending on the pollutant load and
purification level required, several treatment
processes are available:
Trickling filter, followed by settling if
needed
This is the simplest technique and allows a
BOD5 removal rate of between 50% and
70%. It does, however, require raw water to
be completely free of any fibrous content to
avoid dogging of filter packing. Owing to this
constraint, it is advisable to precede the
trickling filter process with physical-chemical
treatment with flocculation-settling. Once the
trickling filter stage has been completed, a
final clarifier may be used, depending on the
end result needed.
Activated sludge
Due to the type of pollution, it is advisable
to size the facility with a low F/M ratio. The
settling tank must be sufficiently large to
account for poor activated sludge settleability
owing to the high content of surface-active
agents in wastewater to be treated.
BOD5 removal rates reach 90% to 95%.
7.2.3. Tertiary treatment
Tertiary treatment is useful for the removal
of non-biodegradable COD and more
especially for colour removal. It includes:
chemical precipitation, ozonation, adsorption
on activated carbon, etc.
It is also preferable to carry out a
treatabiliry test to choose and size the most
suitable procedure.
Sludge
Produced sludge is thickened and then
dewatered either by a belt filter (Superpress
or GDPresse), or filter press.
7. The textile industry