Application of different treatment systems for boron removal from industrial wastewater with extremely high boron content

• Published in: Journal of water process engineering 2023-10, Vol.55, p.104083, Article 104083
• Main Authors: Zeytuncu, Bihter, Pasaoglu, Mehmet Emin, Eryildiz, Bahriye, Kazak, Anil, Yuksekdag, Ayse, Korkut, Sevde, Kaya, Recep, Turken, Turker, Ceylan, Mustafa, Koyuncu, Ismail
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Boron removal; Chemical precipitation; Membrane technologies; Pre-oxidation; Reverse osmosis
• ISSN: 2214-7144; 2214-7144
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jwpe.2023.104083

The aim of the study is purification and environmental management of boron containing industrial wastewater wastewaters comparing the efficiency of chemical precipitation and membrane filtration systems on the removal of boron at high concentrations from wastewater coming from boric acid production process and ground water. In order to eliminate adverse effects and find optimum treatment system, chemical precipitation, electrocoagulation and reverse osmosis processes have been studied. Different chemical precipitants such as poly aluminum chloride (PACl), lime, calcium chloride (CaCl2) and barium chloride (BaCl2) and hydrogen peroxide as oxidant were used. When solution pH was adjusted at 10, boron removal increased to 99.5 %. With application of electrocoagulation, 9 % of SO42-, 80 % of Si and 45 % of B were removed from spring water. At membrane-system, single and double pass BWRO/SWRO membrane system operations were carried out in order. Boron-removal increased 98 % by increasing pH up to 10, and DP-SWRO membranes system at 10-pH was found to be the best system. Obtaining a sufficient result for boron removal from spring water, a hybrid membrane process which contains an electrocoagulation process as a pre-treatment method and a double pass RO membrane system has been developed as an attractive technology. Application of treatment systems for boron removal from industrial wastewater. [Display omitted] •Extreme (nearly 3000 ppm) Boron content wastewater treatment process in pilot scale•>98 % boron removal efficiency with the total cost of 7.023 $/m3•Hybrid process containing an electrocoagulation step as a pre-treatment method•The treated water in this process can be used safely in irrigation purposes.