Treatment and Desalination of Wastewater Generated After Steel Degreasing and Pickling in the Tunisian Galvanization Industry

Abstract

A case study of galvanization wastewater treatment was carried out to preserve the environment and to suggest a solution to the Metal Galvanization of Poulina Group Holding MBG-Galva industry located in Tunisia for reducing effluent organic matter, heavy metals, and salt contents. The current industry had two baths of rinsing water after steel degreasing and pickling steps. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) and pH of the first bath were very high compared to the second bath, which exhibits a low pH with high salinity and high heavy metals contents. Coagulation-flocculation and electrodialysis were examined as treatment processes for rinse water obtained after steel degreasing, while precipitation-oxidation and membrane distillation were combined for pickling rinse water treatment. Aluminum sulfate and sodium alginate were used, respectively, as coagulants and flocculents under optimal conditions determined through the Jar test. After the electrodialysis step, the removal rates were found to be 89.6% for conductivity, 93% for COD, 90 to 96% for salt content, and 82% to 99.5% for heavy metals. For the second effluent, the conductivity of wastewater was reduced by 97%, and heavy metals and COD were removed. The lab-scale experiment implementation proved that using the current process has a high impact on obtaining zero liquid reject in the manufactory, and reusing it in the same bath is an opportunity for water preservation. Solid waste characterized by X-rays showed that lead oxide and iron can be recovered from galvanization industry wastewater. Scaling the combined pretreatment and desalination system in a demonstration unit helps the galvanization industry reuse the water in the same industry and prevent environmental pollution.