Treatment of slaughterhouse industry wastewater with ultrafiltration membrane and evaluation with life cycle analysis

Abstract

Slaughterhouse wastewater is one of the most produced industrial wastewater in the world and has a high pollution potential, and this wastewater can cause a high level of polluting effect when it is given directly to river beds or sewage systems. Wastewater contains proteins, fats, carbohydrates in the treatment of blood, skin and feathers, which results in much higher biological oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen content (COD). The possibility of using ultrafiltration for slaughterhouse wastewater treatment was investigated. The results showed that ultrafiltration can be an efficient purification method. COD and BOD5 removal efficiency is around 96% and 95%. In addition to these results, the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of the ultrafiltration system was also carried out. Accordingly, the effects of ultrafiltration system on human health, ecosystem quality, climate change and resources were calculated as 0,00000046 Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALY), 0,134 PDFxm2yr, 0,336 kg CO2 eq and 6,937 MJ respectively. As a result of the study, it is thought that slaughterhouse wastewater can be used as irrigation water after passing through the ultrafiltration membrane due to the high content of N and P.