Land treatment of pulp and paper wastewater | |
| Author | Rajagopal, Krishnamoorthy |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no. EV-80-3 |
| Subject(s) | Soil management Factory and trade waste |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | The objective of this research was to evaluate the .feasibility of the land treatment and disposal of pulp and paper wastewater on the silty clay loam soil available on the premises of The Siam Kraft Paper Company Ltd., Ban Po.ng, Thailand, by means of a pilot scale study. The system used was irrigation and three hydraulic loadings of 5, 10 and 15 cm/wk were tried with corn as the experimental crop. COD and suspended solids removals were evaluated at two soil depths of 25 and 50 cm. The nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and sodium removal efficiencies were studied along with the nutrient recovery and yield characteristics of corn. The impact of wastewater on soil characteristics constituted another part of the study. Results indicated that irrigation could be used successfully as an alternative treatment system for pulp and paper wastewater. All three loadings recorded about 84-86% COD removal, 93-95% suspended solids removal, 10-60% nitrogen removal, 22-30% phosphorus removal and 60-64% potassium removal. In the case of COD, suspended solids, phosphorus and potassium, higher mass removals were observed at higher loadings. In the case of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium both crop uptake and nutrient-recovery efficiency (nutrient harvested/nutrient applied) decreased with increases in application rate. Leaching of sodium was observed and its recovery was very low at 0.6 to 8.8% indicating little danger to crop growth. The uptake rate and efficiency of recovery of this element also decreased with application rate. Yield characteristics indicated 5cm/wk as the optimum hydraulic loading rate for growing corn which was comparable to 10cm/wk loading of normal irrigation water. Grain yields of 3525, 2050 and 617 kg/ha were obtained for the three loadings of 5, 10 and 15 cm/wk respectively. There were no adverse effects on the physical, chemical and hydraulic characteristics of the soil. An EC value of 0.139 to 0.259 mmhos, a SAR value of 1.2 to 1.3 arid a permeability of 1.11x10_ to .1.18 x 10 cm/sec indicated a normal soil (U.S.D.A., 1954) with moderate permeability (LAMBE and WHITMAN, 1979) . If land treatment is the sole objective, all three loadings can be used with little hazard to the soil. If crop return is also considered, 5 cm/wk is the optimum loading giving economic yields comparable to normal irrigation water. |
| Year | 1980 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Environmental Engineering and Management (EV) |
| Chairperson(s) | Lohani, Bindu N. ; Samorn Muttamara |
| Examination Committee(s) | Balasubramaniam, A.S. |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Canadian Government |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1980 |