Two-stage air stripping combined with hydrolysis acidification process for coal gasification wastewater pretreatment

Abstract

Abstract Coal gasification wastewater is mainly from gas washing, condensation and purification processes in the gas furnace with high NH3-N (nitrogen in water in the form of free ammonia (NH3) and ammonium ion (NH4+)), TN (total nitrogen) and refractory organics content, which will inhibit the subsequent biological treatment. The ‘air stripping – hydrolysis acidification – air stripping’ process was proposed as the pretreatment for coal gasification wastewater to improve the biodegradability and nitrogen removal, which could reduce the subsequent biological treatment load. The first-stage air stripping process before hydrolysis acidification could achieve a significant removal of NH3-N (97.0%) and volatile phenol (70.0%), reducing the corresponding toxicity on hydrolysis acidification. The group with air stripping had more abundant microbial communities and a more effective organic degradation performance in hydrolysis acidification than that without air stripping. The second-stage air stripping removed NH3-N released from hydrolysis acidification, and significantly reduced the TN concentration in effluent. The whole process achieved a TN removal from 2,000 ± 100 mg/L to 160 ± 80 mg/L, and a total phenols removal from 700 ± 50 mg/L to 80 ±20 mg/L.