article · Environmental Nanotechnology Monitoring & Management
Vegetable oil refinery wastewater contains refractory pollutants requiring treatment before discharge. Coagulation and flocculation using ferric chloride as a coagulant and chitosan as a natural flocculant provides an effective purification method. Applying central composite design enabled the optimisation of key operational variables, specifically pH, ferric chloride concentration, chitosan dosage, and agitation time, against targets for turbidity, chemical oxygen demand, and polyphenols. Optimal operational conditions were established at pH 6, 1.6 grams per litre of ferric chloride, 13.4 milligrams per litre of chitosan, and 26 minutes of agitation. Under these exact parameters, the treatment achieved complete removal of turbidity, an 86 percent reduction in chemical oxygen demand, and a 90 percent removal of polyphenols. The mathematical models demonstrated high predictive accuracy, establishing the protocol as a rapid, practical, and sustainable approach for managing wastewater from vegetable oil refining.
Vegetable oil refining produces wastewater laden with persistent pollutants, including polyphenols and high chemical oxygen demand, that threaten ecosystems if discharged untreated. Utilizing chitosan as a bio-based flocculant alongside conventional coagulants provides a practical, sustainable method to eliminate turbidity and significantly decrease organic contaminants, supporting industrial compliance and environmental preservation.
This process is aimed at industrial vegetable oil refineries requiring rapid, cost-effective methods to treat toxic effluents before discharge. The technology is at an applied and tested stage based on laboratory experimental design. Real-world adoption would require translating these defined chemical concentrations, agitation periods, and pH parameters into continuous-flow industrial wastewater facilities.
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• Intensive purification of wastewater from vegetable oil refineries. • Use chitosan as a natural flocculant in wastewater treatment from vegetable oil refineries. • Central composite design (CCD) optimizes coagulation-flocculation by analysing experimental variables. Vegetable oil refinery wastewater (VORW) is a significant source of refractory pollutants necessitating efficient treatment prior to discharge. This study investigates the treatment of VORW via coagulation-flocculation using ferric chloride (FeCl 3 ) as a coagulant and chitosan as a natural flocculant. Central Composite Design (CCD) is employed to optimize the treatment process and assess the interplay of experimental factors. The study evaluates turbidity, COD, and polyphenols as responses, with pH, FeCl 3 concentration, chitosan dosage, and agitation time as independent factors. The results showed that the optimal conditions identified include pH 6, FeCl3 dosage of 1.6 g/L, chitosan dosage of 13.4 mg/L, and agitation time of 26 min, resulting in 100 % turbidity removal, 86 % COD reduction, and 90 % polyphenol removal. The analysis of variance indicated that the established models were significant and that they are characterized by a good fit (R 2 in the order of 0.95, 0.96, and 0.96 for turbidity, COD, and polyphenols, respectively). These findings highlight the efficacy and sustainability of the coagulation-flocculation process with chitosan, offering a practical, rapid, and cost-effective solution for VORW treatment and environmental preservation.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.enmm.2024.100957
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