PHYSICOCHEMICAL TREATMENT STUDIES ON RECLAIMED RUBBER PLANT WASTEWATER

Abstract

The reclaimed rubber plants are coming up in our countrry .to suppliment the natural and synthetic rubber industry. The reclaimed rubber is basically used in lesS technically demanding items like carmats, hoses, fan belts, tuner lining of tubeless tyres, binders and adhesives. However, this can also be added to the new rubber by 20-40% without any detrimental effect on the physical properties. Wastewater from the reclaimed rubber industry is characterised by high BOD, COD, odiferous, nature and objectionable taste. No specific study, in particular has been carried out for the treatment• of reclaimed rubber • wastewater • in the country. Hende, an attempt in this work is made to study the removal of these pollutants from relcaimed rubber wastewater, partly by coagulation and chlorination, to further facilitate their removal by -biological methods. Wastewater samples were collected from a factory' in Ghaziabad (U.P.). Batch studies on laboratory scale were conducted to find the efficiency of various coagulants normally used for the treatment of industrial wastewaters. Chlorination batch studies were also carried out for the removal of COD and phenol using bleaching powder with and without addition of lime. vi From these studies, it is revealed that Alum, ferric chloride and lime are equally economical for removal of COD in the range of 60-70% and phenol from 65 to 75%. Bleaching powder also removes COD upto 40% and phenol 65%, where as, in case, it is used in conjunction with lime it removes COD upto 53% and phenol 67%. Chlorination is more economical for removal of phenol, however it does not remove —turbidity._