Iranian Researchers at Amirkabir University Remove Color from Industrial Wastewater

Amir Hossein Karimi, a researcher at Amirkabir University of Technology and the head of the project titled ‘Electrode Improvement to Investigate the Simultaneous Use of Capacitive Deionization and UV Oxidation Processes for Desalination and Brine Wastewater Treatment’, elaborated on the method, saying, “The results of this research can be used for the wastewater treatment of industries where salt and organic matter exist together.”

Noting that industries like textile, pharmaceutical, petrochemical and oil industries can benefit from the results of this project, he said, “Generally, wastewaters cannot be treated by biological methods that are used for urban wastewaters because they contain dyes, poisons and different salts; therefore, in this project, we used two advanced technologies called advanced oxidation and capacitive deionization in order to remove salt and color.”

“In this research, we tried to remove salt and color from a synthetic wastewater by using a combined method to have the most salt absorption and color removal. Then, we designed a laboratory system that can use advanced oxidation and capacitive deionization technologies concurrently,” Karimi said.

“At the end, we also performed desalination and color removal tests. In the optimal state, we were able to completely remove the effluent color after 90 minutes,” he concluded.

In another development earlier this year, researchers at the Tehran-based Amirkabir University of Technology found a solution for water and wastewater treatment using an absorbent made of sludge and sugarcane bagasse.

“Considering the problems the country faces, we tried to carry out a project with the aim of sustainable supply of water resources and wastewater management,” said Mohammad Ebrahim Maloul, a Ph.D. student at Amirkabir University of Technology and manager of the project "production of optimal absorbent from the combination of sludge and sugarcane bagass via thermal carbonization in a liquid environment to remove lead ion".

“In this research, two environmental wastes, sludge and sugarcane bagasse, have been transformed into a valuable product for water treatment by using the thermal carbonization method,” the researcher said, adding, “In addition to providing a comprehensive and sustainable solution for waste water management, a valuable product (absorbent) has been produced that is widely used in water and wastewater treatment.”

Stating that the method is used in other countries to remove waste and to produce an absorbent, he added, “But using the combination of two biomasses and studying the optimal conditions has been done for the first time in the world in this research.”

As regards the advantages that their method has over its rivals, Maloul said that compared to other adsorbents, this method can be performed at a lower temperature and also does not need pre-processing of the raw material (drying). Therefore the adsorbent production costs is much lower. Also, cold chemical activation method has been used to operate the absorbent, which is more compatible with the environment.

4155/v