Effluent Treatment Plant

Effluent is liquid waste material that comes out of factories or sewage works. Effluent Treatment Plants or ETPs are used by leading companies in the pharmaceutical and chemical industry to purify water and remove any toxic and no effluent-treatment-plant toxic materials or chemicals from it. These plants are used by all companies for environment protection. An E.T.P.plant is a plant where the treatment of industrial effluents and waste waters is done. Effluent treatment is basically waste treatment.

ETP Plants in Pharmaceutical Industry

The ETP plants are used widely in pharmaceutical industry to remove the effluents from the bulk drugs. During the manufacturing process of drugs, varied effluents and contaminants are produced. The effluent treatment plants are used in the removal of high amount of organics, debris, dirt, grit, pollution, toxic, non toxic materials, polymers etc. from drugs and other medicated stuff. The ETP plants use evaporation and drying methods, and other auxiliary techniques such as centrifuging, filtration, incineration for chemical processing and effluent treatment.

Importance of ETP Plants

The treatment of effluents in pharmaceutical industry is essential to prevent pollution of the receiving water. The effluent water treatment plants are installed to reduce the possibility of pollution; biodegradable organics If left unsolved, the levels of contamination in the process of purification could damage bacterial treatment beds and lead to pollution of controlled waters.

Treatment of Pharmaceutical industrial wastewater

The different types of contamination of waste water require a variety of strategies to remove the contamination. There are some Physical, Chemical and Biological Wastewater Treatment Methods

Physical                                             Chemical                                 Biological

Sedimentation (Clarification)             Chlorination                            Trickling Filtration
Screening                                            Ozonation                               Oxidation Ponds
Aeration                                              Neutralization                         Aerobic Digestion
Filtration                                             Coagulation                             Anaerobic Digestion
Flotation and Skimming                     Adsorption                              Lagoons
Degasification                                     Ion Exchange                          Septic Tanks                                       

While the devices used in wastewater treatment are numerous and will probably combine physical, chemical and biological methods, they may all be generally grouped under six methods: 

v  Preliminary Treatment

v  Primary Treatment

v  Secondary Treatment 

v  Disinfection

v  Sludge Treatment

v  Tertiary Treatment

Fig. Effluent Treatment Plant

Application of ETP Plants

      Pharmaceuticals

      Chemicals

      Water waste management systems

      Leather industry and tanneries

References

Ø  European Environment Agency. Copenhagen, Denmark

Ø  Tannery Wastewater Treatment by the Oxygen Activated Sludge Process Mamoru Kashiwaya and Kameo Yoshimoto Journal (Water Pollution Control Federation), Vol. 52, No. 5 (May, 1980), pp. 999-1007 (article consists of 9 pages) Published by: Water Environment Federation

Ø  Tchobanoglous, G., Burton, F.L., and Stensel, H.D. (2003). Wastewater Engineering (Treatment Disposal Reuse) / Metcalf & Eddy, Inc. (4th Ed.). McGraw-Hill Book Company. ISBN 0-07-041878-0.

Ø  Beychok, Milton R. (1967). Aqueous Wastes from Petroleum and Petrochemical Plants (1st Ed.). John Wiley & Sons. LCCN 67019834.

Ø  American Petroleum Institute (API) (February 1990). Management of Water Discharges: Design and Operations of Oil-Water Separators (1st Ed.).