Wastewater Treatment Technologies Commonly Practised in Major Steel Industries in India

(Theme: Global and national policy processes on sustainable development)

Dr. AHMED Sirajuddin 1, RATHI R. K2 and CHANDRA Umesh

1 Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Jamia Millia Islamia (Central University) New Delhi INDIA sirajuahmed@rediffmail.com 2 M. Tech.-Scholar, Department of Civil Engineering, Jamia Millia Islamia (Central University) New Delhi INDIA

Abstract: There are seven major integrated iron and steel plants in India, out of which five are under the Steel Authority of India Ltd. The total world annual production of steel is 715.4 million tonnes of which India contributes 14.5 million tonnes. In India, on an average each tonne of steel production consumes 25 to 60 cubic meters of water and 4 to 5 tonnes of other raw materials. It may be noted that in developed countries the water consumption for each tonne of steel production varies from 3 to 6 cubic meters, i.e., 8 to 10 times less than that of water consumption in India. In an Integrated Iron & Steel Industry, wastewater generated from Coke Oven By-product Plant is considered to be the most polluting. This wastewater contains toxic chemicals like phenol, cyanide and ammonia, which are harmful to the receiving waterbodies when discharged untreated/partially treated. In recent years, due to increasing water scarcity, stringent regulation and public awareness, the industry is in the process of upgrading or installing new wastewater treatment plants for proper treatment of wastewater. The major water polluting units are the coke-ovens and bye-product plants from which highly contaminated toxic wastewater containing phenol and cyanide is generated. Other effluents contain high amounts of oil, grease and BOD. Among the wastes from all the operational units, spent liquor from ammonia stills, is the most polluting one. The effluents from coke-ovens and by-product plants are treated by biochemical oxidation of cyanide, ammonia and phenol. The treated effluent from BOD plant may be recycled for use in quenching hot coke in coke-ovens. The two most common processes used for the treatment of CO effluents are: trickling filter and activated sludge process. Complete mixed activated sludge system (CMASS) is also used for the treatment. The CMASS operates at low substrate concentration and hence can tolerate the toxic waste In this paper an attempt has been made to critically review the common effluent treatment technologies practiced for Steel Industry in India and ETP performance evaluation of a major steel plant has also been done.

Introduction There are seven integrated iron and steel plants in India, out of which five are under the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), one in private sector; the seventh is the Visakhapatanam Steel Project at Visakhapatanam. The total annual production of steel is 715.4 million tonnes of which India contributes 14.05 million tones. Steel Manufacturing involves a number of process steps, which consume 25 to 60 cubic meters of water and 4 to 5 tonnes of input material for each tonne of steel produced. 1

The water consumption in other countries varies from 3 to 6 cubic metres compared to 25 to 60 in India [1,6]. Available data on plant wise water use is shown in Table 1. Table 1: Water consumed (cum) per tonne of steel produced
Steel Plant Water consumed (m3) per tonne of steel produced

Rourkela (SAIL) Bhilai (SAIL) Bokaro (SAIL) Durgapur (SAIL) IISCO, Burnpur (SAIL) TISCO Jamshedpur (TISCO) Vizag Steel (Rastriya Plant Ispat Nigam)
(Source: COINDS/27/1998 CPCB, New Delhi) [2]

68 32 57 47 42 25 28

In an Integrated Iron & Steel Industry (IISI), wastewater generated from Coke Oven Byproduct (COBP) Plant is considered to be the most polluting stream. This wastewater contains toxic chemicals, like phenol, cyanide and ammonia, which are harmful to the receiving waterbodies when discharged untreated. Realizing the adverse impacts on the receiving environment, the pollution control authorities have notified discharge norms exclusively for COBP wastewater, as shown in Table 2.
Table 2: Integrated Iron & Steel plant: Wastewater Discharge Standards
Sl. No. Coke Oven Byproduct Parameter (mg/l) plant Concentration in mg/l except pH ( Not to exceeded)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

pH Suspended Solids Phenol Cyanide B.O.D, 3 day 27 0C COD Ammonia Nitrogen O&G
(Source: COINDS/27/1998 CPCB, New Delhi) [2]

6-8 100 1 0.2 30 250 50 10

In recent years, due to increasing pressure from pollution control authorities, the industry has responded by upgrading or installing new wastewater treatment plants. In existing plants, this COBP wastewater is treated by biochemical oxidation of cyanide, ammonia and phenol. These Effluent Treatment Plants are commonly known as Bio-chemical Oxidation & Dephenolisation Plants or BOD plants. Apart from treatment, it is also necessary to minimize discharge of wastewater and concentration of pollutants at the source itself.

Wastewater management in COBP involves, firstly, reduction in pollutants load in process wastewater and, secondly, proper operation and maintenance of the BOD plant to obtain the desired performance. Treatment of COBP wastewater is achieved by giving physico-chemical (primary treatment), followed by biochemical treatment. The primary treatment consists of equalisation and physico-chemical separation of suspended, dissolved or emulsified oils and tar. Biochemical treatment is given in Activated Sludge Process (ASP) or Trickling filters. The biological treatment is achieved in multiple stages to meet the prescribed norms. The performance of BOD plants depend on proper design, inlet concentrations of pollutants, type of treatment units, operation and maintenance, availability of trained manpower, etc Water use in different steel industris in India is shown in Table 2 Table 2: Water consumed (cum) per tonne of steel produced
Steel Plant Water consumed (m3) per tonne of steel produced

Rourkela (SAIL) Bhilai (SAIL) Bokaro (SAIL) Durgapur (SAIL) IISCO, Burnpur (SAIL) TISCO Jamshedpur (TISCO) Vizag Steel (Rastriya Plant Ispat Nigam)
(Source: COINDS/27/1998 CPCB, New Delhi) [2]

68 32 57 47 42 25 28

The water required in various processes in the steel plant may be used once and discharged or reused or recycled. In the reuse system, the water used in one process unit is used again in other production process without any treatment. After the second use, water is further used or discharged. In the recycling system, all the water used in the process production is recycled after necessary treatment. Recycling may be a closed loop system for individual process production or central closed circuit system for the whole plant. The best way of preventing any negative effect on water resources is to have a completely closed water recycling system. In the closed recycling system, due to the presence of salts in the water whose concentration goes on increasing with each cycle, a certain amount of water has to be bled to avoid scaling and corrosion in the water supply system. Water use taken as a whole, considering all unit processes for the production of one tonne of finished steel, may vary from 200-400 cum. Two thirds of this water is used for indirect cooling where heat is the only contaminant. This water is segregated, cooled and recycled. Part of the balance of the one third water carrying suspended solids only can be settled and recycled in the closed loop system. Rest of the water gets contaminated with chemicals and other pollutants, like effluents from coke oven and byproducts; plant, acid pickling, effluents from cold rolling mill and water treatment plant of boiler feed waters, etc. Management of wastewater needs attention and care because this wastewater needs special and rigorous treatment. The plants at Bhilai and Bokaro are having central cooling ponds and water is being recycled. The plants at Durgapur and Rourkela are having recycling system for individual processes. In the water balance schemes as originally framed, provision is there for making up for loss of water due to evaporation and seepages only. 3

Accordingly, none of the four steel plants were provided with industrial wastewater outlets. [2]

(Source: COINDS/27/1998 CPCB, New Delhi) [2]

Figure 1: Schematic flow diagram linking pollution and principal operations

The total consumption of water in integrated steel plants in India is estimated at 200500 million cum per year. The percentage shares of total use by the various production processes are estimated and presented in Table 5.3. Table 3: Rational Use of Water in the Iron and Steel Industry
Production Process Ore mining (extraction and dressing) Sintering Coke oven and byproduct manufacture Blast furnace process Steel making Steel making
(Source: COINDS/27/1998 CPCB, New Delhi) [2]

Share (%) 5 3 1 23 22 40

IMPACT OF STEEL INDUSTRY EFFLUENTS ON WATER BODIES The major pollutional effects of the untreated wastewaters of steel industry if discharged into the receiving water bodies are: toxicity to aquatic life, reduction of D.O., silting due to suspended solids, taste and odor problems, temperature rise affecting the dissolved oxygen and aquatic life and formation of oil slicks due to floating oil. Toxicity to aquatic life due to ammonia, phenols (monohydric, Polyhydric and derivatives of phenols) and cyanide is well known. With the rise of pH value, the concentration of free ammonia increases. Hence, ammonia toxicity is particularly severe at high pH. Due to discharge of biodegradable organic substances from CO and BP plant into the water bodies, the soil and water bacteria utilize the organic matter as source of carbon and dissolved oxygen (DO) in the water for the respirational requirement. Considerable quantities of suspended and colloidal matter in the discharge reduces the penetration of sunlight. In the water bodies, resulting in reduction of Photosynthetic activity, an essential feature of self purification of polluted water bodies. Suspended and colloidal matter can also smother bottom dwelling aquatic organisms affecting the life of water bodies/streams and may lead to heavy siltation which affects the flow. Untrapped oil and grease from the effluent lead to formation of ugly oil slicks and iridescent, colour which cause poor aesthetics. Oil slicks also reduce the diffusion of oxygen from the atmosphere to water affecting self purification. Where steel plants are located on the coasts, wave action invariably brings back oil and grease to the shore and spoils the beaches. Coal-tar from coke oven and byproduct creates maximum physical problems. Light tar floats on water and attaches itself to anything on its way giving an ugly appearance and heavy matter settles down choking the pipes and cavities in waste treatment units. Phenolic substances in coke oven wastewater are known to create taste and odor problems even at 0.002 mg/l level when chlorinated. Fish living in water containing non-toxic level of phenol are found to be affected. Soluble iron and manganese are known to give rise to bad taste in drinking water even at 0.1 mg/l. 5

Hot uncontaminated effluents in steel plants can reduce DO level and decrease the solubility of oxygen. Nearly 2/3 of water consumed in steel plants is used for heat exchange only and requires' no treatment except cooling. This water should be segregated, cooled and recirculated recalculated. [2,3]

EFFLUENT GENERATION IN IRON INDUSTRY The type of effluent generated in the steel industry depends upon the process of the product and byproduct. However, the generated effluent can be controlled by adopting latest techniques. Following are the various units from where effluent is generated in the steel industry: Pig Casting While casting pig iron, heavy lime solution is sprayed on the moulds of the pig casting machine to prevent sticking of pig iron in the moulds and to ensure release of it after the metal has solidified and the moulds are inverted. Water is sprayed on the moulds and pigs for cooling. This cooling water contains solid particles (scale and sand with high settling velocity). The wastewater from the casting machine is led to the settling pits for removal of solids and effluents with high pH (around 10) are either- recycled after-correction of pH or discharged. Steel Making In the electric arc furnace process, the collected gases are ducted to Bag house / wet scrubber/ ESP. Water is used for cooling the furnace and certain components of the electric gear. This water leaves the furnace at a higher temperature. Suspended solids in the water are in the range of 1000-5000 mg/l. Where wet scrubbers are used, process water is piped to thickeners where suspended solids settle down and clean water is recycled. In Continuous Casting process, the wastewater is produced in the apron spray zone and machinery cooling is normally contaminated with mill scale and oil leakages from the machinery. This water is treated in scale pits where scale and oil is removed. In hot and cold rolling operation, the primary rolling mill effluent containing scale and debris (10 to 20 mesh size) at 100 .- 200 mg per liter and oil at. 10 - 25 mg per liter drop into the flumes below the stands. Some oil also sticks to the scale. Otherwise, it is non-emulsified. The wastewater from Secondary Mills is very similar to that of primary mills which contains mostly scale from the rolling operations and some oil as leakage from the machinery. The wastewater from pickling operations contains strong spent solution, rinse water and water used in fume scrubbers. Water used in fume scrubber is generally encountered when acid other than sulphuric or phosphoric is used as an industrial cleaning hygiene measure. 6

In the Coating process, the wastewater originating varies considerably depending on the plating material used. The spent solution and rinse water are the main sources of wastewater.

Table 4: Sources of Process Wastewater from Coke Oven Byproducts Plants Sr. No. i. Unit operation Coke quenching Pollutants Coke breeze, sulphurous acid (also ammonia, phenol, cyanides and hydrogen sulphide when spent amrnoniacal liquor is used for coke quenching). Tar free ammonia Tar, crude ammoniacal liquor, some benzol Tar, crude ammoniacal liquor, some benzol Tar, crude ammoniacal liquor, some benzol Sodium carbonate and bicarbonate, sodium ferrocyanide, thiocyanate and hyorosulphide. Ammonia solution, wash oil (220 to 315C fraction of tar) Ammoniacal liquor Wash oil benzol Tar, light oils, tar oils Phenols, benzol, sodium sulphate cum-suIphuric acid solution pH value 8.5 to 9.5 50 to 100 mg/l 110 to 220 800 to 1400 10 to 20 mg/l 10 to 50 500 to 1000 4000 to 4200

ii. a) b) c) d) e) iii. iv. v. vi. vii. a) b) c) d) e) f) g) h)

Cooling, scrubbing and refining Flushing liquor Condensate pits Machine house Dephenolation plant Potash plant Fainal coolers Ammonia stills Benzol plant Dar distillation plant Carbolic acid unit Composite effluent Thiocyanate Thiosulphate Total ammonia Sulphide Cyanide Phenol Chloride

(Source: COINDS/27/1998 CPCB, New Delhi) [2]

GENERAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT METHODS Since the steel industry is a large consumer of water, wastewater, containing huge quantities of contaminants, is also generated. Therefore, it is very essential to treat such highly contaminated wastewater before its disposal. Some of the commonly used treatment methods in steel industry are described below.

Cokeoven (CO) Byproduct Wastewater Treatment Recovery of ammonia from CO liquor is being done in majority of plants in India as it is found in substantial concentrations. Water pollution problems would be worse if ammonia is not recovered. Among the wastes from all the operational units, spent liquor from ammonia stills is the most polluting one. In the CO effluent, most of the pollutants are in the dissolved state. Phenols (both crude and refine) are often recovered from the effluent. Other pollutants are subjected to biological treatment along with residues of phenol and ammonia. The two most common processes used for the treatment of CO effluents are trickling filter and activated sludge processes. These wastes can be treated in admixture 50-50 with raw sewage with a view to bring the toxicity of phenol to acceptable levels. It can also be treated biologically without addition of sewage but it is advisable to dilute it with water or some non-toxic wastes so as to keep the phenol level less than 200 mg/l and preferably below 100 mg/l. For destruction of phenol, activated sludge process is commonly adopted. Although earlier investigations showed that high rate trickling filters resist shocking loads (hydraulic as well as organic), recent findings have proved that in the case of toxic it is the complete mixed activated sludge system (CMASS) that can best resist shock loadings as it has tendency to equalise flows as well as concentrations. The CMASS operates at low substrate concentration and hence can tolerate the toxic waste better. The conventional activated sludge system working on plug flow basis is likely to be more effective than the high rate trickling filters. Extended aeration activated sludge system which normally works on CMASS principle would operate best as the organic loading is usually low and there is much higher microbial mass per unit of toxic matter fed to the unit. For biological treatment, wastewater is to be cooled if it is hot. It should be ensured that nutrients required by the micro-organism are available. The CO & BP wastewaters are rich in nitrogen but not so in phosphorous which is required to the extent of 1% of/the BOD.

Carbon Treatment Method Trace concentration of phenol from wastewater from CO & BP can be removed by adsorption on granulated carbon. This process can be directly applied to undiluted effluents from the ammonia still, final cooler blowdown, light oil decanter liquor and fractional ion condensate without previous biological treatment. In addition, all the streams which have been bio-treated and diluted can further be carbon treated. Therefore, carbon treatment is either an alternative or an adjunct to biological treatment.Efficiency of carbon treatment in comparison to bio-treatment is furnished in Table 5.[2]

Table 5: Efficiency of Carbon Treatment to bio-treatment

Parameters BOD Phenols Cyanide Ammonia Suspended solids Sulphide Oil % Efficiency of Untreated stream 80 90 90 0 90 100 90 Removal biotreated stream 72 81 81 0 81 90 81

Source: COINDS/27/1998 CPCB, New Delhi (3)

The secondary residuals from this treatment process are particulate and sulphur dioxide from carbon regeneration in the reactivation of carbon by burning off the adsorbed residuals. However, this method is costlier than bio-treatment. Tar and Liquor Plant: The tar and liquor plant handles the flushing liquor that circulates between the byproduct plant and the coke oven battery. It also processes the wastewater that is generated by the coke making process and which results from coal moisture and chemically bound water in the coal. The flushing liquor flows into tar decanters where the tar separates out from the water and is pumped to storage for later sale. Heavier solid particles separate out from the tar layer and these are removed as tar decanter sludge (TDS). The aqueous liquor is then pumped back to the battery, with a portion bled off from the circuit which is the coke plant excess liquor or waste water. This contains ammonia and, after the further removal of tar particles, it is steam stripped in a still. An alkali such as sodium hydroxide is added in the still to decompose ammonia compounds dissolved in the liquor. The ammonia vapor from the still is then either fed into the coke oven gas upstream of the ammonia removal system, or the still itself is often integrated into the ammonia removal system. Either way, the ultimate fate of the ammonia removed from both the coke oven gas and the waste water is the same. The stripped still effluent is either discharged to a municipal sewer or it can be treated in an on-site biological effluent treatment plant to remove residual ammonia, phenol and cyanides. [4]

(Source: Thyssenkrupp, En Coke, USA) [4])

Figure 2: A Typical View of Tar and Liquor plant The above describes the main features of the majority of coke oven byproducts plants around the world. The resultant main output streams are shown in the table 4 . The quantities shown are intended to be indicative only and relate to a typical facility producing 1 million tonnes per year of blast furnace coke. Coal properties and plant design and operation influence the actual quantities. Different Treatment Techniques Primary Treatment Primary Treatment helps in treatment of the effluent, These technologies/products are used for the removal of suspended solids, removal/collection of oil, equalization of various effluent, adjustment oxygen transfer, digestion of effluent, etc. Bar Screen and Grit Removal Mechanism This is the mechanism for removing the suspended particles in various definite sizes. Screening is a process by which materials larger in size than the opening of the bar screen are strained out and then removed continuously or manually. The bar screens are made by a variety of materials with easy handling and fixing arrangements. As per the requirements, complete automatic and continuous bar screen to simplified manual bar screen are available with us for the pre treatment. Bar screens (Manual and Automatic) Grit screens / Removal Mechanism (Manual and Automatic) Coarse screens 10

Oil Skimmers / Oil Separators (Manual and Automatic) These are among the most inexpensive way of removing the oil from the effluent. Oil skimmers are operated based on the specific gravity of water and oil, for removal of floating oil, vegetable oil, grease, etc. Aeration This process involves the exchange of gases between the water and atmosphere. The treatment method is basically for the transfer of oxygen to water for the expulsion of CO2, H2S and other volatile substances. It is very important in the effluent /wastewater treatment applications to include the precipitation of impurities like iron, manganese in certain forms, and reducing COD and BOD. Aeration technology consists of different type of aerators. This aerators are used for utilizing the maximum kinetic energy. Floating aerators are capable of treating the effluent with high velocity for specified applications and needs, The following type of aerators include: (a) (b) (c) (d) Floating aerators Fixed aerators Diffused aerators Spray aerators

Secondary Treatment The desired quality in the primary treatment established, the effluent treatment will vary in the secondary treatment, based on the effluent characteristics. The degree of the treatment and post treatment method, disposal method, etc., plays a vitall role in choosing the treatment system. Technologies and products for the secondary treatment are as under: Clarifiers or Clarifloculators Clarifiers / Clarifloculators, with or without chemical additions, are essential parts of the effluent treatment system. The complicated and detailed process considerations are involved in the clarifier / clariflocculator design which depends on the area of treatments, the best design of the same is capable of taking care of the marginal reductions of Turbidity, TSS, TDS, Hardness and many other undesired impurities. The coagulation (rapid mixing) followed by the flocculation and sedimentation in definite experienced design is one of the most efficient conventional treatments in the effluent.. Sludge blanket clarifiers (Solid contact clarifiers) include both flocculation and clarification.

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Figure 3; Clarifier This is a combination of up-flow type and sold contact unit, slurry circulation unit, and sedimentation unit to take care of the mass action effect floc formation. The vertical flow design and direct agglomeration design of floc with direct contact is a specialized method of treating the effluent. Horizontal Clarifiers It is considered where the conditions for equal velocity in each point of the clarification tanks are required. The direction of the flow is horizontal and with or without central feed. They are specially designed rectangular clarifiers which are know for their better performance with average retention time . Thickeners Thickeners are one of the very popular technologies for handling high suspended solids especially in power, steel and process industries. Due to the environmental demands and limitation of the water supply, reusing of the industrial effluent is very common and thickeners are playing an important role in the implementation of the various treatment methods. This technology can be used in many applications with considerable modification in the design. It is a highly cost effective conventional system for various applications. Separators Oil separators are used for removing the oil, water insoluble hydrocarbons and settable solids. These separators are designed as per the required standards and using gravity mechanism for separation is offering two types of separators for different applications, i.e., Baffle type and Coalescing type. These systems are designed with many features depending on the applications with various optional methods. These separators are designed for removing almost all types of industrial/fuel oils, vegetable oils, compressor or grease based oils, hydrocarbon based derivatives, etc. The following are the advantages of separators: Reducing oil content to less than 10 ppm on average basis. 12

Ned lesser space and have a compact design. Imported media for strong /stable performance. Separate design features for final polishing. High efficiency Can operate in various operations, flow and temp conditions. Wide selection of Materials for construction.

Dissolved air floatation (DAF) units Dissolved air floatation is one of the multi-diversified technologies for solidliquid separation. This process involves the separation of small and medium sized solids by adhesion of controlled air with the help of chemical dosing entrapment and adsorption of flocs. DAF units are used for removing the COD, BOD, suspended solids, oil and grease, metals and VOCs. This is normally used in the secondary treatment for treating different kind of effluents and wastewater. This gravity separation system helps to float the suspended material in the surface and thus results in a total recovery/removal of the floated materials. Hence, these subsystems are widely used

Figure 4: Dissolved Air Floation The following are the advantages of DAF systems: 1. They reduce reasonable amount of suspended solids, Grease, COD, BOD, VOC, etc. 2. They require very little maintenance 3. Wide range of design options 13

4. Wide range of selection of Materials 5. Specially designed drives and air transfer system 6. Less operational cost 7. Low capital investment Treatment -Tertiary Treatment Tertiary treatment plants are basically the final stages of treatment of effluents. The method of treatment largely depends on the final requirement of treated effluent water quality. After the tertiary treatment, the treated effluent can be safely discharged, reused or even taken into the process directly. Tertiary treatment is a specialized and customized, solution for the treatment for any kind of effluent generated from the industry with continues process guarantee, best technology and more efficiency in the long run. The common way of treating the effluent in tertiary treatment is as given below.[5] Media filtration Disinfection Softening Membrane bio reactors Activated carbon purification Final polishing Membrane based purification Ozonisation

CONCLUSIONS Consumption of large quantities of water in Indian steel plants, despite being designed for total recycling, warrants taking up corrective measures. Following are some of the measures which are used in steel plants in India:. Water Consumption and Pollution Reduction Adopting improved technology in unit processes, especially in blast furnace rolling mills and pickling. Adopting evaporation cooling system in the areas, like shell, cooling of blast furnace, door cooling in SMS areas, etc., where indirect cooling is involved. Adopting dry scrubbers, instead of wet scrubbers, for cleaning emissions. Cooling of roller in rolling mills may be done with spray cooling system instead of using perforated pipes. Twenty five percent reduction in water consumption by adopting this method coupled with efficient cooling was reported from the erstwhile USSR. Adopting cascade method of washing metal which require only 25% of water presently used. In this method, washing channel is divided into 3-4 sections and the fresh circulating water is fed into the last section along the route of the metal. Water is then pumped out to the next section to meet the advancing metal. Adopting the recent developed technology to remove scale from the rolled metal without the use of acid, resulting in elimination of pickling acidic effluents.

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Effluent Treatment Proper operations and maintenance in COBP process units should be ensured to the maximum possible extent to minimize spillage, leakages of condensate, blow-down, etc., as these increase the quantity of combined wastewater. Quantity of effluent from COBP units should be kept more or less constant. Ammonia and cyanide concentrations influent should be reduced with proper operations and maintenance of ammonia stills. Regular maintenance of hydraulic mains and proper operations of tar decanters will helps in minimising hydraulic shock loads to BOD plants. 100% utilisation of COBP effluent from BOD plant should be achieved by quenching of hot coke and granulation of slag. High cyanides bearing streams, such as seal pot effluent, gas condensate, etc., can be segregated and reduced back to the hydraulic main. This stream can also be treated separately by injecting CO2 gas in a free leg type reactor to form HCN before mixing with the combined influent to BOD plant. This will help in reducing the concentration of cyanide in the combined wastewater and subsequent load to BOD plant. Non polluting streams, such as cooling tower, blow-down, the benzol plant, saturates and other units, may be segregated from the combined effluent to the BOD plant. This will help in reducing the hydraulic load to BOD plant. Sludge generated from the BOD plant should be reused as fuel after mixing with coal.. Discontinue the use of NaOH for pH control in the BOD plant, Alternatively, use Na2CO3 solution, which can be a source of inorganic carbon for nitrifying the organisms. It is necessary to maintain pH in the range of 7.5-8.5 in the second stage in the aeration tank. Increase Mean Cell Residence Time in the second stage aeration tank with continuous recirculation of sludge. Every BOD plant should have separate bacterial tanks for individual biological treatment units to maintain stock of the acclimatised biomass to the supplemented in case of death or loss of biomass in the system during breakdown. . Concentration should be properly maintained and if required addition of micro nutrients, like iron, manganese, zink, cobalt, etc., to be considered. To reduce consumptions of chemicals for pH control, attempts should be made to replace dilution water with alkaline process wastewater from other process units. Energy meters should be installed at BOD plants. An approach should be made to attain zero discharge from COBP plant by using the treated wastewater of BOD plant in quenching operations. Ammonia at the inlet of the BOD plant is converted into nitrate in biological treatment. Therefore, the quantity of ammonia at the inlet be reduced and should be as far as possible from the source. Similarly, cyanide also interferes in biological treatment. Hence lowering of cyanide levels is also required at the inlet of the BOD plants.

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References 1. Annual Report 2009-10; Min. of Steel, www.steel.gov.in 2. Comprehensive Industry Document series COINDS/27/1998 CPCB, New Delhi. 3. Industrial Waste Water Treatment by Eckfender Macgrwahill Publication 4. The coke oven by-product plant- Thyssenkrupp,Encoke, USA 5. Liquid Wastes of Industry. Theories, Practice and Treatment by Nelson L. Nemerow, Addision, Wesley Publishing Company 6. Sponge Iron Industry : Current scenario; S Battacharjee Secretary; Steel world; July 2007 pg-29-30 7. Industrial Pollution Control by Nancy J. Sell, 2nd Edition, VAN NOSTRAND REINHOLD.

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