treatment of industrial and agro-industrial wastewater using constructed wetlands

286 Pages·2014·7.42 MB·English

LABORATORY OF ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND NATURAL RESOURCES
MANAGEMENT
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY OF PATRAS

TREATMENT OF INDUSTRIAL AND AGRO-INDUSTRIAL
WASTEWATER USING CONSTRUCTED WETLANDS

Ph.D. THESIS

BY

MAR-YAM SULTANA

SUPERVISOR:

Dr. CHRISTOS S. AKRATOS
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

AGRINIO, GREECE
NOVEMBER, 2014
LABORATORY OF ENVIRONMENTAL
SYSTEMS
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL
AND NATURAL RESOURCES
MANAGEMENT
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

UNIVERSITY OF PATRAS

TREATMENT OF INDUSTRIAL AND AGRO-INDUSTRIAL
WASTEWATER USING CONSTRUCTED WETLANDS

“This thesis is submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy”

By

MAR-YAM SULTANA

SUPERVISOR:

Dr. CHRISTOS S. AKRATOS
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

AGRINIO, GREECE
NOVEMBER, 2014
Treatment of Industrial and Agro-Industrial Wastewater Using Constructed Wetlands Mar-Yam Sultana

The thesis of Mar-Yam Sultana entitled "Treatment of industrial and agro-industrial wastewater
using constructed wetlands" examined and approved as to content and presentation.

The Examination Committee:

Chairman of the examination committee Members

Dr. Christos S. Akratos Dr. Dimitrios Vayenas
Professor
Assistant Professor (Member of the Advisory Committee)
(Supervisor)

Dr. Stavros Pavlou
Professor
(Member of the Advisory Committee)

Dr. Vassilios Tsihrintzis
Professor
(Member of the Examination Committee)

Dr. Vagelis Papadakis
Associate Professor
(Member of the Examination Committee)

Dr. Ioannis Kalavrouziotis
Associate Professor
(Member of the Examination Committee)

Dr. Athanasia Tekerlekopoulou
Lecturer
(Member of the Examination Committee)

Date of Presentation: 18 November, 2014
i
Treatment of Industrial and Agro-Industrial Wastewater Using Constructed Wetlands Mar-Yam Sultana

Dedicated to my family

ii
Treatment of Industrial and Agro-Industrial Wastewater Using Constructed Wetlands Mar-Yam Sultana

This Ph.D. was funded by the Greek State Scholarships Foundation (IKY).
iii
Treatment of Industrial and Agro-Industrial Wastewater Using Constructed Wetlands Mar-Yam Sultana

Acknowledgements

All praises are due to “Almighty Allah” who enables me to pursue higher study in my life as
well as to complete successfully the PhD research work and writing up of this PhD dissertation.

I would firstly like to acknowledge my supervisors, Prof. Dr. Dimitrios Vayenas and Assistant
Professor Dr. Christos S. Akratos, Laboratory of Environmental Systems, Department of
Environmental and Natural Resources Management, School of Engineering, University of Patras
for their excellent academic thoughtful guidance, advice, critical comments, warm
encouragement and continuous support throughout the PhD. It was a pleasure to learn from and
cooperate with two experts in their respective fields. I especially appreciate their trust in me by
giving me the opportunity to carry out my PhD research. I’m very grateful for their valuable
suggestions and directions from the start of the research work for its successful completion and
finally to write this dissertation. They significantly helped me to better structure and sharpen my
writing of manuscripts. Without their continuous and valuable supervision, this thesis would not
have been possible. There is no way to express how much it meant to me to have been a member
of the Environmental Systems Laboratory. I express my deepest gratitude to Prof. Dr. Stavros
Pavlou, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Patras, for being a member of the
advisory committee and for also providing me encouragement and constructive feedback.

I would also like to thank my other examiners, Professor Dr. Vassilios Tsihrintzis, Dr. Vagelis
Papadakis, Associate Professor, Dr. Ioannis Kalavrouziotis, Associate Professor, Hellenic Open
University, for being members of the examination committee and their valuable comments and
suggestions on my thesis.

I want to thank all the respective teachers of the Department of Environmental and Natural
Resources Management, University of Patras for their inspiration during my research period.
Special thank to Dr. Vagelis Papadakis, Associate Professor, Dr. Maria Panitsa, Assistant
Professor and Dr. Dimitris Vlastos, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental and
Natural Resources Management, University of Patras for providing conveyance from Patras to
Agrinio and vice versa at the beginning of the research period.
Acknowledgements iv
Treatment of Industrial and Agro-Industrial Wastewater Using Constructed Wetlands Mar-Yam Sultana

I would like to acknowledge Dr. Athanasia Tekerlekopoulou, Lecturer, Department of
Environmental and Natural Resources Management, University of Patras, for her valuable help in
conducting the experiments and chemical analyses as well as her constructive comments and
suggestions. I would also like to thank her for participating in the examination committee of this
doctoral dissertation. Additionally, during my research period her enormous moral support made
me more determined to conduct my PhD work. I also want to express my deep gratitude to her
entire family for making me feel at home.

I would like to acknowledge the support of Dr. Christina Oikonomou, Dr. Konstantinos
Karanasios, Michael Michailides, PhD student, Triantafyllos Tatoulis, PhD student, Olga
Tsolcha, PhD student of the Laboratory of Environmental Systems, Department of
Environmental and Natural Resources Management. Three persons of the Laboratory of
Environmental Systems in particular deserve the proverbial flowers: Dr. Kostas Karanasios,
Michael Michailides and Triantafyllos Tatoulis for all their support. Their contribution cannot be
expressed in words. It was a pleasure to work together with them and I also feel very fortunate to
have friends like them.

I’m very much thankful to the undergraduate students Giorgos Kefalides, Christina Mourti and
Ilias Kanakakis for their contribution and time during the research work. Evaggelia Tasoula, who
was a Master student of the Laboratory of Environmental Systems, Department of Environmental
and Natural Resources Management, deserves a special word of thanks - without her support it
would have been very difficult for me to continue research and manuscript writing.

My heartfelt thanks to Areti Gianni, Artemis Damati and Miltiadis Zamparas, Department of
Environmental and Natural Resources Management. It was wonderful to share office space with
them. Their congenial behavior made my research period pleasant. I also thanks my present and
ex- colleagues from other laboratories with whom I have enjoyed my past four years.

Solicitous thanks to Ms. Sandy Coles, for English correction of my all manuscripts and this
dissertation. Her amicable attitudes made me more comfortable and relaxed during my living
time in Greece.
Acknowledgements v
Treatment of Industrial and Agro-Industrial Wastewater Using Constructed Wetlands Mar-Yam Sultana

I want also to thank all the official staff members of the Department of Environmental and
Natural Resources Management, for making all the official documents for this dissertation.

My sincere thanks to the Foreign Language Unit, University of Patras for giving the taught
Modern Greek language Course. Especially I want to express my gratitude to Ms. Nikolitsa
Vasiliou, because of her hard work during the Greek Language Course, which has helped me to
overcome the language barrier.

I want to express my deep gratitude to Dr. Dimitra Kritikou (wife of Prof. Vayenas). Her
affectionate mind always makes me feel that I’m very close to my family. Her hospitality made
my stay in Greece lively. Her psychological support at the very beginning gave me the strength to
stay here. I wish to extend my earnest thanks to the whole family of Prof. Vayenas for making me
feel like a member of their family.

I’m also very thankful to Mrs. Anastasia Diamantidou (wife of Dr. Akratos) for helping us in
different circumstances and also for her cordial relationship.

I warmly express my deepest sense of gratitude and heartfelt thanks to my parents and parents-in-
law for their material and spiritual support, appreciated in all aspects of my life. Especially my
most gratitude to my mother for her willingness and encouragement I attained this moment. Also
I’m very much grateful to my father; his every single advice motivates me to move forward in my
life. My hearty gratitude and thanks to my elder sister, brother-in-law and my little nephew, as
they also inspired me all the time during my PhD.

Lastly, but certainly not least, many thanks to my husband, Abu Chowdhury, for his
encouragement, patience and support during the PhD, for which I am very appreciative. I can just
say thanks for everything and may Allah give him all the best in return.

Acknowledgements vi
Treatment of Industrial and Agro-Industrial Wastewater Using Constructed Wetlands Mar-Yam Sultana

Treatment of Industrial and Agro-Industrial Wastewater Using Constructed
Wetlands

Mar-Yam Sultana
Laboratory of Environmental Systems
Department of Environmental and Natural Resources Management
School of Engineering
University of Patras
Supervisor: Dr. Christos S. Akratos, Assistant Professor

ABSTRACT

Environmental pollution from untreated wastewater disposal is one of the most serious
environmental issues. Hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), is known to be a very toxic compound,
frequently found in polluted industrial wastewaters, and causes major environmental problems.
On the other hand, among the agro-industrial wastewaters, dairy wastewaters can also cause
serious environmental pollution due to their high organic loads. Specifically, when untreated
dairy wastewater is deposited into surface water bodies it can cause eutrophication and
environmental toxicity.

The use of constructed wetlands began 40 years ago in North America and Europe. The idea
arose from the use of wetlands as final recipients to treat effluent wastewaters. After studies on
their construction and improved operations, today constructed wetlands are used as a processing
technology in many countries for the treatment of municipal wastewater, industrial wastewater,
landfill leachates, etc. Due to their simplicity and low operational cost, constructed wetlands are
becoming more prevalent in wastewater treatment all over the world. Their range of applications
is no longer limited to municipal wastewater or industrial wastewater but has expanded to the
treatment of heavily polluted wastewaters such as agro-industrial effluents. Constructed wetlands
can tolerate high pollutant loads and toxic substances without reducing their removal ability, thus
these systems are very effective bio-reactors even in hostile environments. The potential
application of constructed wetlands in the treatment of chromium-bearing wastewaters has been
reported recently. Additionally, secondary cheese whey, a nutrient-rich wastewater which has
Abstract vii
Treatment of Industrial and Agro-Industrial Wastewater Using Constructed Wetlands Mar-Yam Sultana

high potential of polluting surface and/or groundwater, is now being treated either by
conventional or biological treatment processes. However, limited research has been conducted on
the treatment of secondary cheese whey using constructed wetlands.

The objectives of this PhD research were to evaluate a) the effect of different parameters (HRT,
temperature, physiochemical parameters) on the treatment of wastewater containing Cr(VI) and
secondary cheese whey, using pilot-scale horizontal subsurface flow (HSF) constructed wetlands,
b) a sustainable disposal technique of chromium treated reed biomass and c) the treatment
efficiency of undiluted secondary cheese whey using pilot-scale HSF constructed wetland at very
low HRT and removal of Cr(VI) by providing cheese whey as source of carbon.

In the 1st experimental period of this dissertation, the research focused on the study of integrated
chromium removal from aqueous solutions in HSF constructed wetlands. Two pilot-scale HSF
constructed wetlands (CWs) units were built and operated. One unit was planted with common
reeds (Phragmites australis) and one was kept unplanted. Influent concentrations of Cr(VI)
ranged from 0.5 to 10 mg/L. The effects of temperature and hydraulic residence time (8 - 0.5
days) on Cr(VI) removal were studied. Temperature proved to affect Cr(VI) removal in both
units. In the planted unit, maximum Cr(VI) removal efficiencies of 100% were recorded at
HRT’s of 1 day with Cr(VI) concentrations of 5, 2.5 and 1 mg/L, while a significantly lower
removal rate was recorded in the unplanted unit. Harvested reed biomass from the CWs was co-
composted with olive mill wastes. The final product had excellent physicochemical
characteristics (C/N: 14.1-14.7, germination index (GI): 145-157%, Cr: 8-10 mg/kg dry mass),
fulfills EU requirements, and can be used as a fertilizer in organic farming.

In the 2nd experiment of the first experimental period of this research, two horizontal subsurface
flow pilot-scale constructed wetlands were built and operated for almost two years to treat
secondary cheese whey. One unit was planted with common reeds (Phragmites australis) and one
was kept unplanted. The pilot-scale wetlands operated under various hydraulic residence times
(8, 4, 2 and 1 day), temperatures (2.4 to 32.90C) and COD influent concentrations (1200 to 7200
mg/L) in order to examine their effect on secondary cheese whey treatment efficiency. Both units
successfully removed organic matter, as COD removal efficiencies of 91% and 77.23% were
Abstract viii