ADHESIVES PLANT WASTEWATER TREATMENT RESULTS

The adhesives manufacturing facility in Lower Mainland was using conventional chemistry to treat the rinse water generated from cleaning process reactors. They manufacture 40 different types of water-based adhesives. The process operates in 2000 Gallon batches, treated water is filtered with a filter-press before going into sewer. The system used polyol 601 (coagulant), caustic (sodium hydroxide) and anionic polymer (flocculant). The treated water was inconsistent in quality & zinc levels due to variations in wastewater constituents depending on production.

Another major problem was frequent blinding of filter press cloth leading to inefficient dewatering of sludge (sloppy sludge). They had to clean the filter cloths & press with a pressure washer every other batch (sometimes every batch) and cleaning process took approx 2 – 3 hours.

Simran Canada surveyed the wastewater treatment facility and conducted tests with various chemicals. Best results were achieved by using caustic and Floccin-A. The Floccin products are a “One Chemical” treatment that replaces coagulants, pH control (to some extent), flocculants and filtering-aids. They started using Floccin-A in November, 2004 and the results speak for themselves.

Benefits: Since November 2004, there has been no need for pressure washing due to sloppy sludge, quality of treated water is consistent, sludge volume has reduced by approx 50% due to drier cake, no need for DE pre-coat, overall chemical cost is same and significant savings in man-hours.

Comparison:

Note: This facility was shut-down in 2009 due to economic restructuring.