Eco-Friendly Approach to Remove COD, TSS and Colour from the Effluent Originating from the Pharmaceutical Industry

Authors

  • Irfan Ahmed Shaikh College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
  • Farooq Ahmed Department of Textile Engineering, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro, Pakistan
  • Manzoor-ul-Haq Rajput Department of Chemical Engineering, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro, Pakistan
  • Iftikhar Ahmad College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
  • Rana Amjad Applied Chemistry Research Centre, PCSIR Labs Complex, Lahore, Pakistan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3923/pjn.2015.146.149

Keywords:

Chemical oxygen demand, colour, ozone, pharmaceutical wastewater, TSS

Abstract

The aim of this research work was to assess the feasibility of ozone based treatment method for the removal of key pollutants, such as COD, TSS, conductivity and colour, from the wastewater generated during the operations of a pharmaceutical plant. This investigation evaluated the effectiveness of ozone treatment at varied process parameters like pH, ozone exposure timings and ozone doses in order to find optimized conditions for maximum elimination of water pollutants. The study concluded that adequate results were achieved at higher pH values (10-11), extended ozonation exposures (60-90 min) and maximum ozone concentrations (400-500 ppm). This study suggested that ozonation was an efficient method for the treatment of wastewater from pharmaceutical industry. Since all the experiments were conducted at ambient temperature without using any heat or additional chemicals and thus this method proved to be an environmental friendly technique to reduce pollution load in pharmaceutical wastewaters.

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Published

15.02.2015

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Section

Research Article

How to Cite

Shaikh, I. A., Ahmed, F., Rajput, M.- ul-H., Ahmad, I., & Amjad, R. (2015). Eco-Friendly Approach to Remove COD, TSS and Colour from the Effluent Originating from the Pharmaceutical Industry. Pakistan Journal of Nutrition, 14(3), 146–149. https://doi.org/10.3923/pjn.2015.146.149

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