Objective
By obtaining an insight into the residual COD levels present in the biologically purified coke-oven waste water we hope to increase the degree of purification still further, thus ensuring that contamination of the aqueous environment is kept to a minimum.
Biologically purified coke-oven waste water has a soluble unidentifiable COD averaging 150 mg/l. To date, there has not been a single instance anywhere in the world involving the successful identification of the constituents. It is assumed in scientific circles that this soluble COD could well be attributable to the presence in the water of humic acids and pyrolysis products caused by carbonization. Given that the identification of these products is a highly cumbersome and intricate task, appropriate help should be sought from specialized research centres. Research of this kind requires not only up-to-date analysis apparatus (GC/MS) but also a great deal of investigatory work that can be carried out only by highly trained personnel.
Using substance identification techniques, substances can be characterized further with a view to their removal and/or transformation into less harmful products. These removal methods may take the form of chemical (eg, enforced oxidation), physicochemical (eg, photolysis) or biological (specialized bacteria) processes and must all be tested in order to determine their environmental acceptability (toxicity tests).
Some 15 years ago, the British Carbonisation Research Association (BCRA) embarked on the task of characterizing residual COD. However, identification was only partially completed, with the result that many questions remain unanswered.
If we wish to increase the degree of purity of the treated coke-oven waste water (extremely desirable from the point of view of the aqueous environment), then we should be making every effort to promote basic scientific research on the identification and characterization of this recalcitrant soluble COD. Once these constituents are known, it will be possible to monitor their origin and/or evolution during the biological process and in this way obtain an insight into the metabolism which determines the residual COD. This in turn will open up further prospects for its subsequent removal. The research on possible ways of removing this residual COD is being conducted by the Microbial Ecology Laboratory of the University of Ghent.
Call for proposal
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9042 GENT
Belgium