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Effectiveness of coagulation
and flocculation processes in
removal of selected volatile organic
contaminants from wastewaters
a b b
Anton S. Shouli , Jatinder K. Bewtra & Nihar Biswas
a
Clayton Environmental Consultants , 949 McDougall
Avenue, Windsor, Ontario, Canada , N9A 1L9
b
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering ,
University of Windsor , Windsor, Ontario, Canada , N9B 3P4
Published online: 25 Feb 2007.

To cite this article: Anton S. Shouli , Jatinder K. Bewtra & Nihar Biswas (1992) Effectiveness
of coagulation and flocculation processes in removal of selected volatile organic contaminants
from wastewaters, International Journal of Environmental Studies, 40:1, 27-40, DOI:
10.1080/00207239208710711

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00207239208710711

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 Intern. J. Environmental Studies, 1992, Vol. 40, pp. 27-40 © 1992 Gordon and Breach Science Publishers S.A,
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EFFECTIVENESS OF COAGULATION AND

FLOCCULATION PROCESSES IN REMOVAL OF
SELECTED VOLATILE ORGANICCONTAMINANTS
FROM WASTEWATERS
ANTON S. SHOULI,† JATINDER K. BEWTRA‡ and NIHAR BISWAS‡
(Received January 22, 1991)
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This study was undertaken to investigate the effectiveness of coagulation and flocculation processes in
removing specific volatile organic compounds from wastewaters and to explore methods for enhancing
their removal efficiency. Five different polyelectrolytes, along with alum and ferric sulfate, were tested for
their ability to remove five selected volatile organic compounds from municipal wastewater spiked with
1000 /μg/L of each of these chemicals. Also, the adsorption of volatile organics resulting from the addition
of powdered activated carbon during the coagulation of flocculation processes was examined. Standard jar
test apparatus was used for these experiments.
The removal of methylene chloride, trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, benzene and toluene was lim-
ited when all five polymers and the two metal salts were used as sole coagulants. Their removal was
enhanced slightly by using the metal salts as prime coagulants and the polymers as coagulant aids. Cationic
polymers, with very high molecular masses, were least effective when used both as prime coagulants and
as coagulant aids. The removal of other conventional parameters, such as biochemical oxygen demand, sus-
pended solids, alkalinity, pH, phosphorous and heavy metals, was also determined.
Removal of volatile organic compounds increased with the addition of powdered activated carbon after
the application of the coagulants. This increased removal is attributed to both carbon adsorption and floe
entrapment. The total amount of organic matter present in the wastewater greatly affected the efficiency of
activated carbon.
KEY WORDS: Volatile organic compound, coagulation, polymer, activated carbon.

INTRODUCTION

The rapid increase of organic contaminants in the environment in recent years has
caused a grave concern regarding possible health risks associated with some of these
chemicals. Many of these organic compounds have been recognized to cause serious
adverse effects, including cancer, even when present at trace levels. Among these
organic contaminants, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are increasingly posing a
threat to the water resources. A large portion of VOCs enter the sewerage system from
domestic and industrial activities and some through agricultural runoff. Generally,
these chemicals are present in trace concentrations and are poorly removed by con-
ventional water and wastewater treatment methods.
Effective removal of VOCs from wastewater can be achieved by processes such as
adsorption, ion exchange, air stripping and reverse osmosis. However, these methods
are very expensive and have not been adopted in conventional treatment facilities. The
coagulation and flocculation process has been shown to be capable of removing VOCs
from wastewater by (i) the entrapment of some of the VOCs within the floes and sub-

†Clayton Environmental Consultants, 949 McDougall Avenue, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, N9A 1L9.
‡ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario,
Canada, N9B 3P4.
27
 28 A. S. SHOULI, J. K. BEWTRA AND N. BISWAS

sequent sedimentation, and (ii) the adsorption of some of these organics onto the poly-
electrolytes used as primary coagulants or coagulant aids.1 The extent of specific
removal of VOC's by coagulation and flocculation processes has not been fully
identified.
This study was conducted to investigate the behaviour of selected VOCs in the coag-
ulation and flocculation processes. The primary objectives were to investigate the per-
formance of the existing coagulation and flocculation processes in removing volatile
organics, and to determine the removal efficiencies for these volatile organics using
different coagulants and coagulant aids.

COAGULATION AND FLOCCULATION

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Traditionally, the coagulation and flocculation processes are used to reduce parame-
ters such as biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), suspended solids (SS), phosphates
(P), and metals. However, it has been shown that VOCs may also be partially removed
by this process. It is believed that trace organic compounds are removed by one or more
of the following mechanisms: charge neutralization and adsorption, adsorption and
bridging or sweep flocculation with enmeshment and co-precipitation.12 Trace or-
ganics in the waste-water can become adsorbed onto metal coagulants, polyelectrolytes
or other organics or suspended solids. During flocculation some trace organics may
become trapped within forming floes and hence settle out. Some of the organic matter
may also form complexes with the coagulant or coagulant aids and hence precipitate
out in the sedimentation tanks.2
There has been little research conducted on the removal of specific organic com-
pounds from wastewater and, in most of these studies, the organics removal has been
reported in terms of total organic carbon,34 (TOC). The TOC is a collective measure of
organic matter in water and provides no information on the composition and
identification of the wide array of organic pollutants. Volatile organic compounds in
concentrations of parts per billion contribute a negligible amount to TOC in waste-
water. Since TOC and VOCs in wastewater pose different environmental concerns,
their removal by coagulation and flocculation process should not be assumed propor-
tional and therefore should be analyzed separately.
Generally, volatile organic compounds are poorly removed during primary treat-
ment. An EPA study of a publicly owned treatment facility revealed the following per-
centage removals of selected VOCs by primary treatment:3
Benzene 7%
Toluene 10%
Methylene Chloride 16%
Trichloroethylene 25%
Tetrachloroethylene 42%
A more recent study conducted on the removal of low molecular mass organic
compounds indicated poor removal by coagulation and flocculation.2 Any removal was
assumed to be caused by the formation of complex molecules from trace organics and
the metal salts, alum or ferric sulfate. Adsorption did not appear to be a significant
mechanism at any dosage level. However, Semmens and Ayers2 did indicate that over-
all removal was slightly enhanced in the absence of natural organics. This indicates that
a competition exists between organic compounds for adsorption sites.
 VOLATILE ORGANIC WASTEWATER CONTAMINANTS 29

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
The experiments on the removal efficiency for VOCs in coagulation and flocculation
processes were conducted under conditions normally found in wastewater treatment
plants. Figure 1 is a flowchart of the general experimental procedure. The wastewater
used in this study was collected from the West Windsor Wastewater Treatment Plant
from a sampling station located upstream of the treatment facility. This wastewater
contained contaminants usually found in mixed domestic and industrial wastewater,
but the volatile organic content was low and fluctuated considerably. For this reason, it
was decided to spike the original samples with 1000 ;Ug/L of each of the five selected
organic compounds: methylene chloride, trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, ben-
zene and toluene.
All experiments were conducted using the standard jar test machine in order to sim-
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ulate the dynamics of coagulation and flocculation processes. Although this is the most
common procedure used to determine the optimum coagulant dosage, it has been found
to be poor in reproducing the conditions similar to those found in full scale treatment
plants.
The following mixing criteria were used in these experiments. The wastewater was
agitated rapidly at 100 rpm for 90 s after adding each coagulant or coagulant aid. If the
powdered activated carbon (PAC) was used in the experiment, an additional 60 s was
allowed for rapid mix. Subsequently, the speed was reduced to 20 rpm for a 20 min
flocculation period. Finally, the paddles were removed and the floes were allowed to
settle for 30 min before withdrawing samples for analysis.
The coagulants and coagulant aids used in this study were aluminum sulfate, ferric
sulfate, three cationic polymers, and two anionic polymers. The properties of the five
polymers are listed in Table I. These five polymers were received in various forms. All
cationic polymers were in emulsion while the anionic polymers were either in granu-
lar or in powder form. Appropriate stock solutions were prepared from the bulk chem-
icals in order to add polymers accurately in test jars. Table II shows the final
concentrations of the stock solutions used in this study.
The powdered activated carbon was purchased from Fisher Scientific Company. The
carbon particles varied considerably in size and posed many problems during prelimi-

Table I Properties of polymers used in this study

Cationic charge Molecular Recommended
Polymer Type (meq/g) mass dosage (mg/L)
Alchem8103 Cationic 1.1 100,000 10-50
Alchem 603 Cationic 4.0 30,000 10-50
Alchem 7607 Cationic 3.1 600,000 10-50
Diafloc 2790 Anionic 10,000,000 0.1-1.0
MIPPT CX-617 Anionic Infinite

Table II Polymer stock solutions used in experiments

Polymer Form Percent polymer Stock solution (mg/L)
8,103 Emulsion 20 5,000
603 Emulsion 25 5,000
7,607 Emulsion 45 5,000
2,790 Granular 100 100
CX-617 Powder 100 5,000
 30 A. S. SHOULI, J. K. BEWTRA AND N. BISWAS

RAW WATER
(approx. 8 L)

Add 100y.g/L of Add 1000 jxg/Lof

lethylene Chloride
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Jenzene
richloroethylene
"ojuene
\/ "etrachloroethylene
SPIKED WASTEWATER]

Ramov* tampltt for

analytiM of

Heavy Metals
Phosphorous
Suspended Soffds
BOD
Alkalinity and pH
\/

JAR TEST ASSEMBLY

\COAGULANTS
t
L5J
\/
Remove samples to repeat above tests
plus aamplea for analysis of VOCa
Figure 1 Flowchart of general experimental procedures.
 VOLATILE ORGANIC WASTEWATER CONTAMINANTS 31

nary jar tests. Most of the carbon particles either sank to the bottom or floated to the
surface throughout the fiocculation period. Through a series of trials, it was found that
carbon passing 200 sieve flocculated best. Therefore, in all subsequent experiments,
washed carbon of this size was used. A 10% slurry of carbon by mass was prepared
prior to use and it was added with a pipet into the mixing vortex during coagulation6 to
give a dosage of 500 mg/L of PAC. Such a high dosage was used since a large amount
of organic matter, other than VOC, was present in the wastewater.
Analyses of the VOC's were performed using the static headspace technique.7'8'9 A
Hewlett Packard model 5890A Gas Chromatograph (GC), equipped with a flame ion-
ization detector, was used for this purpose. It was observed that a five meter megabore
column was adequate to separate all the five VOCs. The optimum operating conditions
for the GC were:
Column temperature = 40°C
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Injection temperature = 225°C

Detector temperature = 250°C
Detector gas flow rates: Air = 390 mL/min
Hydrogen = 50 ml/min
Carrier gas flow rate: Nitrogen = 24 mL/min
Injection volume = 400 fih
A chromatogram from a typical run is illustrated in Figure 2. All five compounds had
adequately separated and developed good peaks. The approximate retention time for
each of the compounds was:
Methylene chloride = 0.1 min
Benzene = 0.3 min
Trichloroethylene = 0.4 min
Toluene = 0.7 min
Tetrachloroethylene = 1.0 min
This method of analysis was sufficiently accurate in the range of VOCs concentrations
used in this study.
An integrator was attached to the GC to determine accurately the areas under the
curves. The calibration curves had excellent correlation coefficient which ranged
between 0.96 for methylene chloride and 0.99 for trichloroethylene for a concentration
range of 100 to 1000 /ig/L.
In each jar test experiment, one of the six jars was used as a blank. The blank jar con-
tained the same wastewater and was subjected to the same operating conditions as the
other five jars, except that no coagulant or polymer was added to it. The removal effi-
ciencies in this study are reported relative to the VOCs and other contaminant concen-
trations observed in the blank jar at the end of each experiment.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Coagulants
Initially, all seven coagulants were used individually to establish their VOCs removal
efficiencies. Figure 3 shows the removal efficiencies with different dosages of ferric
sulfate and alum separately. As mentioned earlier, the reported percent removal values
were calculated relative to VOC concentrations in the blank jar. It should be recognized
 32 A. S. SHOULI, J. K. BEWTRA AND N. BISWAS

c
N 3
c
<u
m
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>1

4J
<1)
O
u
o
I-I

4J
<U
H

Figure 2 Typical chromatogram for the selected volatile organics.

that actual reductions in each test jar were higher than the reported values, because a
significant reduction in VOCs and other contaminants occurred in the blank jar due to
volatilization, chemical reaction, flocculation, adsorption and sedimentation. Table III
shows the percent removals of the volatile organics observed in blank jars for all the
jar test experiments conducted. Thus the reported values are the additional removal
efficiencies due to coagulation and flocculation processes. Although both metal coag-
ulants show relatively low removals in Figure 3, there is a pattern in removal efficiency.
With alum, removal of most VOCs decreased with increase in dosages between 10
mg/L and 30 mg/L and then increased. Similar behaviour has been observed by other
researchers.1-210 The pattern with ferric sulfate is not that distinct. Also, the reductions
in conventional parameters, such as BOD, SS and alkalinity, were optimum at dosages
of approximately 30 mg/L for both metal coagulants." This corresponds to the dose
normally used for metal salts in wastewater treatment plants.
There was low removal of the VOCs with different cationic polymers. Figure 4 pre-
sents the percent removals of the five VOCs with different polymer concentrations for
 VOLATILE ORGANIC WASTEWATER CONTAMINANTS 33

* A A Melhytene CWorWe
• • • Benzene
* * * Trlchloroelhylene
* • " Toluene
it it it Tetrachloroelhylene

>
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20" ALUM
o
UJ
(X 10

UJ
o
UJ
30

FERROUS SULFATE
20

10-

0 60 100 150 200 260

CONCENTRATION (mg/L)
Figure 3 Percent removal of VOCs using ferric sulfate and alum.

polymers 8103, 603 and 7607. Polymer 8103 was most effective, with an approxi-
mately 20% removal of all VOCs, except benzene, at the optimum dosage of approxi-
mately 40 mg/L. Benzene was least removed by all three cationic polymers.
The low VOC removals with various concentrations of anionic polymers 2790 and
CX-617 are illustrated in Figure 5. Since most suspended particles in wastewater are
negatively charged, the negatively charged polymers do not neutralize and coagulate
suspended impurities. Relatively higher VOC removals with polymer 2790 is
attributed to adsorption on the polymer.
 34 A. S. SHOULI, J. K. BEWTRA AND N. BISWAS

Table III Percent removal of VOCs from the blank jars

Percent removal
Coagulant and coagulant Methylene
aids added chloride Benzene Trichloroethylene Toluene Tetrachloroethylene
8,103 7.5 6.2 6.6 4.1 6.2
603 4.4 5.3 16.1 8.5 16.2
7,607 5.1
2,790 6.3 26.6 12.0 7.6 11.2
CX-617 10.4 8.5 24.2
Alum 4.5 7.1 9.6 6.2
Ferric sulfate 16.6 6.5 15.9 6.7 10.2
Alum & 8,103 — 8.3 12.5 11.0 11.1
Alum & 603 12.6 11.6 10.8 10.1 12.1
Alum & 7,607 11.1 8.3 11.3 9.3 9.6
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Alum & 2,790 18.1 12.4 15.8 13.1 13.1

Alum & CX-617 11.8 7.9 11.1 9.7 13.3
Ferric sulfate & 8,103 5.4 2.3 3.8 3.3 1.4
Ferric sulfate & 603 8.3 7.6 5.7 3.4
Ferric sulfate & 7,607 22.5 17.7 13.5 16.3 15.5
Ferric sulfate & 2,790 13.8 7.4 9.1 7.0 6.7
Ferric sulfate & CX-617 — 14.0 13.9 14.8 14.3

Coagulants and Coagulant Aids

The second phase of the study used metal salts as primary coagulants and the five poly-
mers as coagulant aids. Metal salts are good particle stabilizers while the long chained
polymers act as good flocculants. It was found that during preliminary tests that
dosages of 80 mg/L for ferric sulfate and alum gave best results when used with the
polymers. Therefore, all the following experiments were conducted using 80 mg/L of
ferric sulfate or alum. Tables IV and V summarize the removal efficiencies of the
VOCs for each coagulant aid using alum and ferric sulfate, respectively, as primary
coagulants.
Examination of the data indicates that combining metal coagulants with polymers
did not enhance appreciably the removals of VOCs. The removal of benzene for all
combinations was low. This is consistent with previous observations with individual
coagulants.
The best removal of VOCs from wastewater was achieved with ferric sulfate as the
primary coagulant and the cationic polymer 603 as the coagulant aid. The removal of
all five VOCs averaged 21%. The optimum dosages for this removal were 80 mg/L of
ferric sulfate and 20 mg/L of polymer 603.

Table IV Percent removal of VOCs using alum plus polymer

Percent removal
Coagulant Dosage Methylene Trichloro- Tetrachloro- Average for
aid (mg/L) chloride Benzene ethylene Toluene ethylene 5 VOCs
8,103 32 3 2 14 14 15 10
603 20 4 4 7 8 9 6
7,607 45 3 6 9 • 9 9 7
2,790 0.2 18 10 8 10 10 11
CX-617 30 17 3 11 10 7 10
Average for
5 polymers — 9 5 10 10 10 —
 VOLATILE ORGANIC WASTEWATER CONTAMINANTS 35

A A A
Methylene Chloride
m
• • Benzene
* • • Trichloroelhylene
• • • Toluene
•to -to -it Telrachioroelhytene

20 POLYMER 7607
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10 A

* = *
—I i j i | i | i | i | • | i | i j -

0 10 20 30 40 60 60 70 80

POLWER 603
> 20"
O
CC 10

I I I 'I I i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i r i i i i i i i r i i i i i i i i i i | i i

10 20 30 40 60 60
o
s 30" POLYMER 8103 / '

20"

10

20 40 60 60 100 120

CONCENTRATION (mg/L)
Figure 4 Percent removal of VOCs using cationic polymers.
 36 A. S. SHOULI, J. K. BEWTRA AND N. BISWAS

Methylene Chloride
Benzene
Trichloroethylene
Toluene
•k -to ir Telrachloroelhylene

< 20-
POLYMER CX-617
o
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10

0 1
1'
10 15 20 25 30
UJ
O
cc
UJ
Q. 30

POLYMER 2790

20

10

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 10

CONCENTRATION (mg/U
Figure 5 Percent removal of VOCs using anionic polymers.

Powdered Activated Carbon

Powdered activated carbon (PAC) has been used successfully in water and wastewater
treatment plants to remove trace organics. The PAC is applied during the coagulation
process after adding coagulants. In this study, PAC was tried in combination with
ferric sulfate and polymer 603 which had shown the best results previously.
A dose of 500 mg/L of PAC was used in all the experiments. This concentration
exceeds what is theoretically needed to adsorb all the VOCs in the wastewater.
However, such a large dosage was necessary to ensure that, even after reaction with
 VOLATILE ORGANIC WASTEWATER CONTAMINANTS 37

Table V Percent removal of VOCs using ferric sulfate plus polymer

Percent removal
Coagulant Dosage Methylene Trichloro- Tetrachloro- Average for
aid (mg/L) chloride Benzene ethylene Toluene ethylene 5 VOCs
8,103 32 32 3 17 6 8 13
603 20 29 5 16 23 30 21
7,607 25 2 7 4 7 5 5
2,790 2 9 6 3 4 4 5
CX-617 30 12 4 8 10 9 9
Average for
5 polymers — 17 5 10 10 11 —
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other organic impurities in wastewater, the capacity of PAC did not become a limiting
factor. Two different VOC concentrations, 1000 /lg/L and 100 ^g/L each, were used
for this part of the study. It is important to note that the VOCs added to the wastewater
were in addition to those originally present. The ferric sulfate and polymer 603 dosages
corresponded to those obtained previously for the best VOCs removals, i.e. 80 mg/L of
ferric sulfate and 20 mg/L of polymer 603.
Table VI shows that the removal of VOCs from the wastewater spiked with 1000
/zg/L was greater than those from wastewater spiked with 100 /xg/L. At higher con-
centrations, almost half of the methylene chloride, trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethy-
lene, benzene and toluene were removed with ferric sulfate, polymer 603 and PAC
combination. Normally, the water with low concentration of VOCs is expected to show
higher percent removal as compared to the water with the higher VOCs content since
the demand on the PAC would be much lower. However, the results do not agree with
this hypothesis. This discrepancy may be attributed to the fact that the wastewaters
contained many organic matters which influenced the efficiency of PAC in VOC
removal.
Consequently, another experiment was conducted to determine the influence of total
organic carbon on the coagulation, flocculation and adsorption processes. All experi-
mental conditions were the same, except that deionized water, instead of wastewater,
was spiked with 1000 /ig/L and 100 /ig/L of each of the five organic compounds. This
eliminated the influence of organic matter present in wastewater. Table VII indicates
that the average VOCs removal efficiency from deionized water containing a total of
500 fig/L volatile organics was greater than the removal efficiency from deionized
water containing a total of 5000 /lg/L of volatile organics. This confirmed that the pres-
ence of total organic matter in the wastewater had influenced the capacity of the acti-
vated carbon to adsorb VOCs.

Table VI Percent removal of the VOC using ferric sulfate, polymer 603 and PAC from wastewater
spiked with 1000 and 100 /ig/L of each chemical
Percent removal
Volatile organic compound With high VOC concentration With low VOC concentration
Methylene chloride 47 37
Trichloroethylene 52 19
Tetrachloroethylene 51 49
Benzene 40 31
Toluene 56 39
Average 50 35
 38 A. S. SHOULI, J. K. BEWTRA AND N. BISWAS

Table VII Percent removal of VOCs using ferric sulfate, polymer 603 and PAC from deionized water
spiked with 1000 and 100/ig/L of each chemical
Percent removal
Volatile organic compound With high VOC concentration With low VOC concentration
Methylene chloride 39 >80 a
Trichloroethylene 45 49
Tetrachloroethylene 63 78
Benzene 25 47
Toluene 58 75
Average 44 62

"Based on concentration at the Instrumental Detection Limit.

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Activated carbon has been used successfully for removing colour and odour caused
by the organic matter in wastewater. Many synthetic and natural organic compounds
can be removed by activated carbon if sufficient contact area and contact times are pro-
vided. The adsorption isotherms indicate that a relationship exists between the mass of
organic substance adsorbed per unit mass of activated carbon and the equilibrium con-
centration of the substance. In the deionized water, the only organic chemicals were the
VOCs added. Therefore, one beaker of the deionized water contained 5000 jUg/L of
organic matter while the second beaker contained 500 fig. After a certain period, even
if the mass adsorbed in the first beaker was greater than that in the second beaker, it
would not necessarily mean that the percent removal of VOCs in the first beaker was
greater than that in the second beaker. For example, 500 /ig/L of VOC removal in the
first beaker would show 10% efficiency whereas only 50 ;ig/L of VOC removal in sec-
ond beaker would show the same efficiency.
In the experiments with the wastewater, spiked with VOCs, the observed behaviour
can be explained with a similar reasoning. The VOC contents in the wastewater in both
cases represented a small percentage of the TOC. When the PAC was added, the mas-
sive bulk of organic substances in wastewater quickly filled the adsorption sites avail-
able on the PAC. In the beaker with the higher VOCs, more of these trace organics were
able to compete for adsorption sites. This phenomenon caused greater percent removal
in the beaker with higher VOCs concentrations.
Another reason for obtaining higher removal from the solution with the larger VOCs
concentration in the wastewater was a better performance of the coagulation process.
It has been suggested by several researchers that some trace organics can be removed
by floe entrapment. The higher the VOC content in the solution, the greater is the
chance for adsorption on other suspended material and entrapment within the floes
formed. In order to verify this, one additional experiment was conducted. Once again,
all conditions for the experiment were the same except that the wastewater was filtered
to remove the suspended solids which play an important role in floe formation. The
results of this experiment can be seen in Table VIII. An average removal of 46% for
the 1000 /ig/L solution and 52% for the 100 ^ig/L solution were observed. These results
fall in between the results obtained with the raw wastewater and the deionized water.
This is exactly what was expected with the wastewater when most of the suspended
matter including the organic fraction has been removed through filtration. However,
some of the suspended solids that passed through the filter were able to form some floes
and aid in the removal of some VOCs. On the other hand, the decrease in the TOC
allowed more VOCs to be adsorbed onto the activated carbon surface. The combina-
tion of these two effects gave the results reported in Table VIII.
 VOLATILE ORGANIC WASTEWATER CONTAMINANTS 39

Table VIII Percent removal of the VOCs using ferric sulfate, polymer 603 and PAC from filtered
wastewater spiked with 1000 and 100 ng/L of each chemical
Percent removal
Volatile organic compound With high VOC concentration With low VOC concentration
Methylene chloride 36 >80a
Trichloroethylene 50 50
Tetrachloroethylene 57 56
Benzene 34 46
Toluene 53 54
Average 46
"Based on concentration at the Instrumental Detection Limit.
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CONCLUSIONS

Based on this study, the following conclusions can be drawn regarding the removal of
volatile organic compounds during the coagulation and fiocculation processes:
1. The coagulation and fiocculation processes were not very effective in removing
the selected volatile organic compounds. The degree of their removal in conventional
waste-water treatment plants can be obtained from the data provided here.
2. All cationic and anionic polymers and alum and ferric sulfate showed low VOC
removal when used individually. The coagulant with the best results, polymer 8103,
exhibited, on average, 20% removal of the five VOCs. Using the polymers as coagu-
lant aids along with alum or ferric sulfate did not improve their performance.
3. The addition of powdered activated carbon increased the overall removal of
VOCs. However, this increase was limited to approximately half the original VOC
concentrations. The removal of the volatile organics is attributed largely to carbon
adsorption and to floe entrapment. The total amount of organic matter in the waste-
water greatly affected the efficiency of the activated carbon.
4. Volatile organic compounds did not behave similar to the other organic matter in
wastewater treatment.

Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge Dr. A. E. Hamielec, McMaster University, for providing polymers and
suggestions essential for the completion of this study. The authors are also grateful to Mr. J. Faust, West
Windsor Water Pollution Control Plant, for his help in collection of wastewater samples.

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