Wastewater treatment for sweetened beverage and juice producer

Scenario

Wastewater from the sugar processing industry is characterized by a high content of highly biodegradable organic load that can be efficiently removed by BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES.

Sigma has installed in Ecuador a plant for the treatment of wastewater produced in a sugar beverage factory. This plant provides a high quality discharge that complies with local legal limits for pollutant concentration. The process is based on a pre-treatment by mechanical screening, homogenization and pH neutralization, followed by a biological treatment consisting of a RANC anaerobic reactor in which a large part of the organic load is removed and which allows obtaining biogas, followed by a SIGMA BIODAF clarifier model FPAC, which allows the separation of anaerobic sludge with a high dry matter content, and then a SIGMA BIODAF clarifier model FPAC, which allows the separation of anaerobic sludge with a high dry matter content. Finally, an aerobic biological reactor with MBR ultrafiltration membranes was installed, which allows almost complete elimination of the organic load and gives the clarified water an excellent quality and characteristics suitable for reuse. 

Currently, the plant's discharge complies with discharge limits with a very high quality clarified. 

The Wastewater Treatment Plant also incorporates a sludge treatment process using a centrifugal decanter, achieving a sludge with a dry matter content of up to 20%. 

The main advantages of the SIGMA technology installed in this process, specially designed for industrial wastewater, are the following: 

Anaerobic biological process RANC (contact anaerobic upflow reactor): 

• High organic load reduction performance (between 70 - 80% COD and BOD5 removal). 
• Minimum operating costs. 
• BIOGAS generation: source of usable ENERGY. 
• Highly stable and reliable system. 

Clarification by dissolved air flotation SIGMA BIODAF-FPAC: 

• High reliability with spongy sludge typical of the sugar beverage industry. 
• High content in the extracted sludge: between 3 - 5%, less sludge volume generation. 
• It allows the optimization of the hydraulic conditions of the system. 

Aerobic biological process of activated sludge type MBR (biological reactor with ultrafiltration membranes): 

• Very high organic load reduction performance (> 90% COD and BOD5 removal). 
• Very high concentration of BIOMASS inside the reactor: between 6,000 and 12,000 mg/L MLSS. 
• COMPACT, easy to operate and MODULAR plant. 
• High resistance to oxidizing agents. 
• Very high and CONSTANT quality of the discharged water with the possibility of REUSE. 
• Minimal sludge generation.

Wastewater characteristics

Performance

Process diagram