biomass-in-aeration-tank

Priyanka Khaire

April 10, 2024

MLSS Development And Treatability Study In Speciality Chemical Industry

Background

This industry located in the heart of Maharashtra is a leading manufacturer of specialty chemicals and active pharmaceutical ingredients like Aripiprazole Intermediates & Montelukast Intermediates.

The operating engineers of this industry were perturbed by surging COD and TDS levels.

This industry used ready biomass from the pharmaceutical industry for reducing effluent parameters.

However, it was incompetent at treating wastewater, which could not meet the MPCB (Maharashtra Pollution Control Board) guidelines.

The Initial Approach and Challenges:

After a complete study of the plant through questionnaire an On-site visit, and discussion EHS team, our expert understood numerous challenges to be addressed: –

Key issues

  • High COD levels
  • Elevated TDS level
  • Poor Biomass formation

Treatability Study:

Before planning a treatment scheme, it was crucial to perform a treatability study in order to understand the wastewater characteristics and devise an appropriate treatment regime specific to their effluent.

Organica’s unique wastewater treatability study, “BioSure,” is a laboratory-scale trial that confirms the suitability of the bacterial consortium present in our product and their development in the effluent.

These trial reports cannot be related to the actual product performance on a plant scale but can only provide a clear indication of whether given microbes are capable of growing in such a high TDS without compromising the reduction of pollutants in the effluent.

Microscopic analysis reports of the sample revealed satisfactory growth and development of our microbes in the effluent.

After this study, we decided to go with a treatment regime using Cleanmaxx

CleanMaxx: One-stop solution for all wastewater treatment needs.

Our team of researchers has developed this unique biotech formulation, CleanMaxx, which has proven to be extremely beneficial in solving the most challenging wastewater problems over the years.

CleanMaxx is a consortium of beneficial and robust microbes isolated from nature.

The microbes secrete effective enzymes which are completely natural and safe for humans, plants, and animals.

These microbes are very efficient in degrading organic, refractory wastewater pollutants even under high TDS.

Our team of experts planned to move ahead strategically for maintaining transparency between us and the industry regarding the course of action.

Initially, there was a laboratory-scale study, followed by a pilot plant study for building their confidence in our technology, and finally, the treatment was implemented on the actual wastewater treatment plant.

Observations:

We observed steady growth in MLSS levels over a period of 1 month (Table 2), Increased MLSS levels directly helped in reducing outlet COD from 1246 ppm to 226 ppm over a period of 1 month (Table 1). 

COD/BOD Reduction:

COD Reduction Graph

Table 1 – Reduction in COD levels observed after CleanMaxx application

Comparison Table

Table 2 – MLSS Development during commissioning

Comparison Table

Table 3 – Final reduction after biological treatment

Result:

  1. We observed a COD reduction of 81.86%.
  2. Desired MLVSS: MLSS ratio of 0.7 was achieved.

Conclusion:

After using our product, the efficiency of this industry’s Effluent Treatment Plant improved tremendously.

The overall plant was stabilized quickly, and the outlet parameters met the norms of the Pollution Control Board successfully.