Sustainable development of an integrated solid waste and wastewater treatment.

Wong, Ling Say

Abstract

This PhD thesis investigated solid and liquid waste treatment systems for Sureclean, a waste Management company based in the North of Scotland. Sureclean receives a diverse range of waste streams and the increasing need for sustainable development as well as stringent environmental legislation motivated this research to develop an integrated waste treatment system. Waste characterisation was conducted using a range of analytical instrumentation to identify the TPH, COD, heavy metals content, TOC, and particle size of Sureclean waste streams. From there, four treatment systems were investigated utilising Sureclean waste streams: mechanical separation, chemical treatment, electro-coagulation and the advanced oxidation process. Laboratory and field trials were conducted using these different treatment techniques and the analysis was performed to verify the treatment results. The result of these trials led to the development of four modular waste treatment units that form the outcome of this research: the Sureclean Water Treatment System (SWTS), a filtration-based mechanical separation system that was shown to reduce the TSS, BOD and TOC content of oily wastewater; the Sureclean Sludge Separation System (SSSTS), a chemical-enhanced filtration-based system that was demonstrated to reduce 52.6% of sewage sludge volume; the Sureclean Electro-Coagulation Water Treatment System (SEWTS), a system that agglomerates colloid particles and demulsifies oil that removed 99.9% of TPH from Sureclean interceptor effluent; and the Sureclean Advanced Water Treatment System (SAWTS), an advanced oxidation process that was demonstrated to reduce the TPH of contaminated groundwater collected from an ex-gas work. The treated effluent could be discharged to Sureclean interceptor. The four treatment units developed in this research expanded Sureclean waste treatment capabilities, and developed an integrated system to treat different waste streams and to improve the treatment efficiency, thus increasing the revenue and future waste stream options for Sureclean.

Citation

WONG, L.S. 2012. Sustainable development of an integrated solid waste and wastewater treatment. Robert Gordon University, PhD thesis.

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Jul 16, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 16, 2019
• Keywords: Waste treatment; Solid waste; Oily wastewater; Decanter centrifuge; Chemical coagulation; Electrocoagulation; Photocatalysis; Advanced oxidation process
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/322197
• Award Date: May 31, 2012