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Treatment of vegetable oil refinery wastewater with biodegradability

index improvement
Prashant Dhanke a,⇑, Sameer Wagh b
a
Chemical Engineering Department, PVPIT Budhgaon, Sangli, MH 416304, India
b
Plastic and Polymer Technology Department, LIT, Nagpur, MH 440033, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The vegetable oil refinery wastewater (VORWW) creates an environmental problem in terms of threat to
Received 5 August 2019 aquatic life due to high organic and inorganic content. These refinery plants produce a large quantity of
Received in revised form 30 September wastewater with high chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biological oxygen demand (BOD). In this
2019
research, HC was evolved as a recent treatment option for the treatment of VORWW. Various parameters
Accepted 2 October 2019
Available online xxxx
like inlet pressure, pH, temperature and H2O2 dose were tested during experimentation to determine
BOD, COD, and BI (BOD/COD ratio). Using the hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) reactor biodegradability
index (BI) of 0.69 and COD reduction up to 71.8% were obtained. In this same condition BOD increases
Keywords:
Hydrodynamic cavitation
by 14.4%, which helps to increase BI at optimum conditions of 120 min reaction time, operating temper-
Biodegradability index (BI) ature 20 °C, inlet pressure 8 bar, pH-4 and H2O2 dose of 25 g/L. It was found that the operating pressure of
Vegetable oil refinery wastewater 8 bar in the HC reactor gives the maximum BI (BOD/COD ratio). The obtained optimum conditions of HC
Chemical oxygen demand (COD) were used in the Ultrasonic cavitation reactor for the degradation of VORWW. In the 80 min of treatment
Hydrogen peroxide COD reduced by 73.2%, which is highest as compared to HC. Similarly, BOD increases by 12.7% in just
80 min of treatment. The final obtained BI is 0.71, COD of 5984 mg/L and BOD 4270 mg/L which seems
good as compared to HC.
Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the First International Con-
ference on Recent Advances in Materials and Manufacturing 2019.

1. Introduction oily [4]. An edible oil-processing plant produces a large quantity

India is the world’s largest consumer of vegetable oil. In India,
the vegetable oil industry is more than 14,000 oil mills, 550 solvent
extraction plants, and 420 refining units. The main sources for veg-
etable oil producers are soybean, groundnut, rapeseed, sunflower,
safflower, cottonseed, coconut, mustard, rice bran, neem, and
mahuwa, etc. Edible oil refining processing plants are the major
issue for the environmental concern in the almost developing
countries like India. The wastewaters come out from vegetable
oil refinery produces environmental problem in terms of threat
to aquatic life due to high organic and inorganic content in that
waste [1]. Edible or vegetable oil industry wastewater is produced
from the degumming, deodorization, deacidification, soap splitting,
floor washing and neutralization steps in refining operations [2,3].
The free fatty acid soap stock is produced in the neutralization step
due to the use of sulfuric acid, which produces highly acidic and
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: dbpchem@gmail.com (P. Dhanke).
of wastewater with high chemical oxygen demand (COD) material
along with biological oxygen demand (BOD). Effluent from the veg-
etable oil refining industry generally used to be discharged directly
into groundwater. The different studies have shown that fatty
materials and or organic matter present in the wastewater of this
industry are readily biodegradable hence these effluents are fed
to the biological treatment. On average, the refinery with other
processes produced around 200 m3 of wastewater daily, which
includes acid wastewater (60–80 m3/day) and technological
wastewater (90–120 m3/day) [3]. Vegetable oil refinery wastewa-
ter is nothing but a complex mixture composed of widely-
distributed organic particle range which influencing each unit
operation of the treatment process. Hence BOD5 and COD values
confirm that the vegetable oil refinery wastewater has a varying
high organic pollution load [5]. The wastewater properties vary
interns of quantity and quality from oil industries. These edible
oil industry wastewaters can be treated by different advanced oxi-
dation processes (AOPs). Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are
one of the best chemical treatment methods and are used to

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2019.10.004
2214-7853/Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the First International Conference on Recent Advances in Materials and Manufacturing 2019.

Please cite this article as: P. Dhanke and S. Wagh, Treatment of vegetable oil refinery wastewater with biodegradability index improvement, Materials
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oxidize organic matter present in wastewater which is difficult to Table 1

treat. In Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) the generation of Characteristics of VORWW.
hydroxyl radicals is found, the hydroxyl radical (OH) which is Parameter Values
highly reactive used to degrade toxic organic matter in water.
BOD 3791 (mg/L)
Photo Fenton process, Fenton process, and H2O2/UV were used COD 22,300 (mg/L)
for the COD reduction of vegetable oil industry wastewater [6]. pH 5.1
The photo Fenton process with the use of hydrogen peroxide was Color Light Yellow
carried out for the reduction in COD of wastewater produced from BI (BOD5:COD ratio) 0.17

the oil industry [7]. Nowadays, advance chemical oxidation pro-

cesses are promoted for improving the biological treatment of
organic compounds such as vegetable oil refinery wastewater from Lobachemie (India). The required pH of wastewater was
and reducing the inhibitory effects of specific substances towards adjusted using NaOH and H2SO4.
microbial growth. If the effluent from the vegetable oil industry
wastewater has a BOD/COD ratio around 0.2 then would cause
the destruction of microorganisms which are useful for biodegra- 2.2. Experimental setup
dation [3].
A new frontier technology like cavitation can be efficiently uti- Hydrodynamic Cavitation reactor setup is shown in Fig. 1. It has
lized as a treatment option for VORWW. Cavitation is nothing but storage (15 L), control valves (V1–V3), the cavity-generating sys-
continuous generation, expansion, and bursting of cavities for a tem, and suction discharge pipe with bypass. The pump has a suc-
very short time period, which produces large waves of energy on tion tube from storage and discharge is separated into mainline
a small area in the reactor system [8]. The cavitation produced and bypass. A bypass is used to control the flow of liquid through
by varying the inlet pressure of the liquid is known as hydrody- the main tube to the desired pressure. P1 and P2 are the pressure
namic cavitation (HC) and hence it is highly energy-efficient as gauges to show the upstream and downstream pressure. The main
compared to other methods [9]. In HC, cavities are generated by tube holds the cavity generating device which is an orifice plate.
passing the wastewater via venture or orifice plates. Then the This orifice plate (Plate-3) has three holes of 2 mm diameter each.
buildup pressure in vena contracta of this restriction path gets Its calculated cavitation number is 0.18 which is lowest during its
down below the vapor pressure of wastewater, which produces optimization of geometry. Along with the HC reactor Ultrasonic
cavities that burst after the orifice plate. The bursting of the cavity cavitation (UV) reactor setup was used for the comparison. The
produces a high energy point, which releases highly active free UV lamp was added to UC and HC when treatment was carried
radicals. In this situation, water molecules are fragmented into out with the help of hydrogen peroxide.
OH and H radicals. This leads to high heat, mass, and momentum
rates. The collapse of these cavities generates hot points, transfer-
2.2.1. Experimental analytical methods
ring a temperature 9000 K and a pressure 900 atm [10–13]. On
The COD and BOD analysis were carried out as per the standard
considering the advantages of the hydrodynamic cavitation tech-
procedure of APHA [14]. The inlet samples were first centrifuged
nique in the water treatment field, we have chosen the vegetable
and then its BOD, COD was calculated. Similar methods were
oil refinery wastewater (VORWW). In the vegetable oil refinery,
applied for the treated wastewater i.e. after the treatment of
there is various process are involved.
wastewater. The obtained values of BOD and COD used to calculate
In this research, HC was evolved as a recent treatment option
the Bio-Degradability index (BI). The bio-degradability index (BI) is
for the VORWW. The VORWW was fed to the HC reactor setup.
termed as the ratio of BOD5: COD. The parameter BI gives the sus-
Various parameters were tested during experimentation interns
tainability of VORWW for a further biological treatment option. It
of BOD and COD, which showed an improvement in the BOD/
is important to know the biodegradability index (BI) of the
COD ratio. This chapter will show the results of the treatment of
untreated wastewater before selecting the bio-based wastewater
vegetable oil refinery wastewater (VORWW) in Hydrodynamic cav-
treatment. If BOD/COD is more than greater than 0.6 then the
itation (HC) and Ultrasonic cavitation (UC) with advance oxidants
waste is quite biodegradable. If the BOD/COD ratio is between
like hydrogen peroxide. The degradation of this wastewater is
0.3 and 0.6, then seeding is required obligatory to treat it biologi-
more effective in the hydrodynamic cavitation reactor. The results
cally, but this method will be slow. If BOD/COD < 0.3 the biodegra-
also showed that HC treatment processes significantly influence
dation will not work on, therefore it can’t be treated biologically
the relative biodegradability of the organic matter in the
[15].
wastewater.

2. Material and experimental method

2.1. Material

2.1.1. Vegetable oil refinery wastewater (VORWW)

VORWW was collected from the edible oil industry of Sangli
district, Maharashtra, India. Wastewater is available in the degum-
ming, deacidification, deodorization and neutralization operations
of the vegetable oil refinery. The characteristics of the wastewater
sample are placed in Table 1.

2.1.2. Reagents and chemicals

All the required chemicals were used as per the standard proce-
dure of APHA, 1998 [14] of AR grade for the determination of BOD
and COD. Hydrogen Peroxide (30%, w/v) of AR grade was obtained Fig. 1. Hydrodynamic Cavitation reactor setup.

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Table 2
Effect of inlet pressure on BOD, COD and BI with respect to time.

Inlet Pressure Time (Min) BOD (mg/L) COD (mg/L) BOD Change (%) COD Reduction (%) BI
6 Bar 0 3791 22,300 0.0 0.0 0.17
40 4578 21,800 20.8 2.2 0.21
80 4558 18,232 20.2 18.2 0.25
120 4622 17,120 21.9 23.2 0.27
160 4589 16,390 21.0 26.5 0.28
200 4590 16,390 21.1 26.5 0.28
8 Bar 0 3791 22,300 0.0 0.0 0.17
40 4601 21,100 21.4 5.4 0.22
80 4670 17,360 23.2 22.2 0.27
120 4750 16,430 25.3 26.3 0.29
160 4811 15,460 26.9 30.7 0.31
200 4810 15,462 26.9 30.7 0.31

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Effect of inlet pressure

Effect of inlet pressure in Hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) rector

was found out interns of COD reduction and changes in BOD. The
inlet pressure was increased from 6 bar to 8 bar and change in
COD, BOD and BI determine as per the standard procedure. At
8 bar inlet pressure, the other operating condition was the same
as that of the previous section i.e. optimization of geometry.
Plate-3 of orifice type, pH 7 and temperature of 30 °C was main-
tained to find the effect of increased inlet pressure. The obtained
results have been compared with previous section results and both
are placed in Table 2 and also shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3. Increased
inlet pressure in the reactor seems to be favored for the reduction
in COD. Along with this BOD was increased which favored the
increment in BI.
Samples were drawn for each 40 min interval and it’s COD,
BOD was determined. At 8 bar inlet pressure COD was reduced
to 5.4% which is slightly higher than that 6 bar inlet pressure
at first 40 min treatment. After the first 40 min, the next sample
was drawn at 80 min for COD and BOD determination. After
80 min OCD reduced to 22.2% from initial COD value. This trend
was the same for up to 160 min. At 160 min COD was 15460 mg/
L, which reduces to 30.7%. After 160 min next sample was given
the same COD reduction i.e. 30.7% at 200 min. At 200 min treat-
Fig. 2. COD reduction (%) at different inlet pressure (Condition-pH: 7 and operating
temperature: 30 °C).
Fig.3. Change in Biodegradability index (BI) at different inlet pressure (Condition-
pH: 7 and operating temperature: 30 °C).
ment COD was reduced to 30.7% which is the same as that of
160 min treatment time. In this same manner, BOD was
increased from 3791 mg/L to 4604 mg/L. The increasing trends
were found up to 120 min treatment time later it was constant.
The final BOD count was 4810 mg/L at 200 min, which is to
26.9%. Hence higher inlet pressure is favoring to reduce the
COD also increases in BOD. The tannery industry wastewater
was treated by the uses of different coagulants with the varia-
tion of pH which enhances BI along with the reduction of COD
[16]. The maintained higher pressure producing more cavities
and producing more OH ions which are responsible for the
reduction in COD, along with this higher pressure produces
smaller molecular weight compounds from higher molecular
weight compounds. Produced small new compound leads to an
increase in BOD value. But these newly produced compounds
are readily biodegradable. The calculated COD and BOD values
are used to calculate BI.
Inlet pressure of 8 bar, the BI value was increased to 0.27 from
0.17. This rends is continue up to 160 min and found to be 0.31.
The all BI value at 6 bar and 8 bar is shown in Table and also in
Fig. The higher pressure (8 bar) given the highest BI value of 0.31
at 200 min. The increasing BI value is good for wastewater to
degrade it biologically. But the obtained value of BI is not sufficient
for wastewater to degrade it biologically. Hence some changes in
other operating parameters are required. The electron beam radia-
tion was used with activated sludge process for the treatment of
textile wastewater to increase biodegradability [17].

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3.2. Effect of operating temperature

The effect of temperature for the reduction in COD was carried

out at 8 bar inlet pressure, using orifice plate number 3. The tem-
perature was 20 °C, 30 °C and 40 °C for the effect hydrocyanic cav-
itation on COD, BOD, and BI. The obtained results are shown in
Table 3 and Fig. 4 and Fig. 5. The obtained results show that lower
operating temperatures favorable for the reduction in COD. This is
due to the high cavitation occurs at a lower temperature. Lower
temperature favors the more production of cavities and subse-
quent collapsing of cavities, which results in more OH radical for-
mation [13]. At a temperature of 20 °C COD was reduced to 6.0% in
the first 40 min, in the next 40 min COD was reduced from
22300 mg/L to 16551 mg/L which is 25.8%. This percentage is more
than that of 30 °C. In further increasing reaction time from 80 min
to 200 min reduction in COD is more at 30 °C. It reaches 31.8% in
200 min, which is about to constant from 160 min to 200 min at
the same temperature i.e. 30 °C. Similarly, BOD was also deter-
mined for the Biodegradability index. A similar trend was observed
for BOD as that of COD but an increasing rate. BOD was increased
Fig. 4. Effect of operating temperature on COD reduction (%) (Condition- pH: 7 and
from 3791 mg/L to 4651 mg/L at 40 min; by 22.7% BOD was Inlet pressure: 8 bar).
increased. At 160 min it reaches to 29.0% later it was constant.
Increasing the BOD trend is due to the low temperature because
the lower temperature production of cavities is more. When these
cavities were bursting leads to fragments of high molecular weight
compounds to low molecular weight compounds. The obtained
BOD values are used to calculate the Biodegradability index (BI).
At 20 °C the BI reaches 0.32 from initial to 160 min later seems
to be constant. From the obtained results we conclude that when
the temperature increases from 20 °C to 40 °C, the reduction in
COD observed. Hence at 20 °C COD reduced by 31.8%, BOD
increases to 29.0% and BI reaches 0.32, which more than 30 °C
and 40 °C. The obtained optimum temperature of 20 °C is consid-
ered for further work.

3.3. Effect of pH

The effect of pH on the reduction of COD was carried out at a

temperature of 20 °C which was optimum temperature. Other
parameters like inlet pressure of 8 bar and orifice plate-3 were
chosen. The required pH was varied from 4 to 10. At pH 4, in the
acidic medium, the reaction time was varied in the interval of
40 min. COD of VORWW was reduced from 22300 mg/L to
17251 mg/L in the first 40 min interval. In the next intervals up Fig. 5. Effect of operating temperature on Biodegradability index (Condition-pH: 7
to 200 min COD reduction reaches to 41.2% in 160 min, later found and Inlet pressure: 8 bar).

Table 3
Effect of Temperature on BOD, COD and BI with respect to time.

Temp. Time (Min) BOD mg/L COD mg/L BOD Change (%) COD Reduction (%) BI
20 °C 0 3791 22,300 0.0 0.0 0.17
40 4651 20,961 22.7 6.0 0.22
80 4710 16,551 24.2 25.8 0.28
120 4792 15,780 26.4 29.2 0.30
160 4890 15,201 29.0 31.8 0.32
200 4892 15,203 29.0 31.8 0.32
30 °C 0 3791 22,300 0.0 0.0 0.17
40 4601 21,100 21.4 5.4 0.22
80 4670 17,360 23.2 22.2 0.27
120 4750 16,430 25.3 26.3 0.29
160 4811 15,460 26.9 30.7 0.31
200 4810 15,462 26.9 30.7 0.31
40 °C 0 3791 22,300 0.0 0.0 0.17
40 4590 21,810 21.1 2.2 0.21
80 4610 17,760 21.6 20.4 0.26
120 4701 16,890 24.0 24.3 0.28
160 4790 15,782 26.4 29.2 0.30
200 4792 15,785 26.4 29.2 0.30

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Table 4
Effect of pH on BOD, COD and BI with respect to time.

pH Time (Min) BOD mg/L COD mg/L BOD Change (%) COD Reduction (%) BI
4 0 3791 22,300 0.0 0.0 0.17
40 4010 17,251 5.8 22.6 0.23
80 4321 15,311 14.0 31.3 0.28
120 4851 14,015 28.0 37.2 0.35
160 5120 13,110 35.1 41.2 0.39
200 5121 13,108 35.1 41.2 0.39
7 0 3791 22,300 0.0 0.0 0.17
40 4601 21,100 21.4 5.4 0.22
80 4670 17,360 23.2 22.2 0.27
120 4750 16,430 25.3 26.3 0.29
160 4811 15,460 26.9 30.7 0.31
200 4810 15,462 26.9 30.7 0.31
10 0 3791 22,300 0.0 0.0 0.17
40 4552 21,110 20.1 5.3 0.22
80 4653 18,050 22.7 19.1 0.26
120 4720 16,980 24.5 23.9 0.28
160 4756 16,021 25.5 28.2 0.30
200 4758 16,018 25.5 28.2 0.30

constant. In this acidic medium, COD reaches to 13108 mg/L from

initial COD 22300 mg/L, which is a touch to 41.02%. Hence lower
pH seems to be effective for the reduction of VORWW.
This maintained pH accelerates the production of the cavitation
effect. More production of cavities is achieved under this acidic
condition [12,13]. Produced cavities will be responsible for the
degradation effect because of more production of OH radicals
[18]. Produced radicals have more oxidation potential in acidic
conditions. In the neutral environment (7 pH) only 5.4% COD was
reduced in the first 40 min. The obtained BOD at 4 pH in 40 min
found to be 5.8% and in the next interval of 40 min, at 80 min it
increases to 14.0%. The increasing trend in BOD was the same till
160 min later it becomes constant; finely it reaches 5121 mg/L
from 3791 mg/L. The BOD increases by 35.1%, increasing BOD will
be responsible for increasing the Biodegradability index. At this 4
pH initial BI was 0.17 and after the treatment, it reaches 0.23 at
40 min, 0.28 at 80 min, 0.35 at 120, 0.39 at 160 min and 0.39 at
200 min. The obtained BI 0.39 is in the moderate range for the
biodegradation of VORWW. As compared to 7 and 10 pH this BI
0.39 value is high, hence pH 4 can be effective to run the plant Fig. 7. Effect of pH on BI with change in time (Condition-Temperature: 20 °C and
Inlet pressure: 8 bar).
for the treatment of VORWW. All the obtained values of BOD,
COD, and BI are shown in Table 4 and Fig. 6 and Fig. 7. Hence the
pH 4 was considered as an optimum with other parameters for fur-
ther research.

3.4. Effect of hydrogen peroxide

The effect of hydrogen peroxide on the reduction of COD of

Fig. 6. Effect of pH on COD reduction (%) with change in time (Condition-
Temperature: 20 °C and Inlet pressure: 8 bar).
VORWW along with the changes in BOD and BI was carried out.
The required concentration of 20 g/L, 25 g/L and 30 g/L of hydrogen
peroxide was used for the effective reduction of COD. In the degra-
dation of Rhodamine-B was using cavitation it is observed that
increasing dose H2O2 increases the rate of degradation [13] All
the results of 20 g/L, 25 g/L, 30 g/L along with 0 g/L of hydrogen
peroxide is shown in Table 5 and Fig. 8 and Fig. 9. From the effect
of pH, the obtained optimum condition was used to find the effect
of hydrogen peroxide on COD, BOD, and BI. Plate number 3 of ori-
fice type, temperature 20 °C, pH 4 and pressure of 8 bar was used
as an operating condition for this effect. In the first stage, 20 g/L
of hydrogen peroxide is used to degrade VORWW. At this concen-
tration of 20 g/L of hydrogen peroxide, COD reduction achieved to
34.6% in 40 min which is more than that of without hydrogen
peroxide. In the next 40 min, it reaches 50.2% and at 120 it touches
to 68.2% COD reduction. From 120 min to 200 min it is constant
and given the highest 68.2% COD reduction. COD reduction by

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Table 5
Effect of Hydrogen peroxide on COD, BOD and BI.

H2O2 (g/L) Time (Min) BOD mg/L COD mg/L % BOD Change COD Reduction (%) BI
20 0 3791 22,300 0.0 0.0 0.17
40 3920 14,580 3.4 34.6 0.27
80 4052 11,105 6.9 50.2 0.36
120 4256 7091 12.3 68.2 0.60
160 4259 7091 12.3 68.2 0.60
200 4260 7093 12.4 68.2 0.60
25 0 3791 22,300 0.0 0.0 0.17
40 3992 13,262 5.3 40.5 0.30
80 4121 9887 8.7 55.7 0.42
120 4336 6285 14.4 71.8 0.69
160 4335 6285 14.3 71.8 0.69
200 4337 6286 14.4 71.8 0.69
30 0 3791 22,300 0.0 0.0 0.17
40 4021 12,365 6.1 44.6 0.33
80 4237 9702 11.8 56.5 0.44
120 4425 6153 16.7 72.4 0.72
160 4426 6154 16.8 72.4 0.72
200 4428 6155 16.8 72.4 0.72

68.2% is highly fruitful for the biodegradation of VORWW. The

Fig. 8. Effect of H2O2 dose on COD reduction (%) (Condition-Temperature: 20 °C,
Inlet pressure: 8 bar, pH:4).
electro-oxidation and the AOP method have given maximum
biodegradability improvement (0.13–0.42) within the processing
time of 35 min [19]. At this same concentration BOD increases by
3.4 %in first 40 min, finely at 200 min, BOD increases by 12.4%. This
12.4% was constant from 120 min. With hydrogen peroxide values
of BOD increases slightly as compared to without hydrogen perox-
ide. Obtained BOD values are used to calculate the Biodegradability
index of VORWW. Using hydrogen peroxide at 20 g/L concentra-
tion given good results in terms of BI. The BI values touched to
0.60 at 120 min treatment time later it is constant up to 200 min.
BI 0.60 represents wastewater is fairly ready to degrade biologi-
cally without adding any oxidant. When the concentration of
H2O2 increases from 20 g/L to 25 g/L COD reduces from
22300 mg/l to 13262 mg/L in 40 min. In the next 40 min, at
80 min COD reduction achieved 55.7%. at 120 min time, it reaches
71.1% and BOD increases to 14.4%, after that time all the values of
BOD and COD remain constant. BI value at 120 min reaction time is
found to be 0.69; means treated wastewater is ready for degrada-
tion biologically. The obtained value of BI is again sufficient for
wastewater to biodegrade easily. At this 25 g /l of hydrogen perox-
ide COD reduces to 71.8%, BOD increases by 14.4% and BI is 0.69. In
the next step concentration/dose of hydrogen peroxide increases to
30 g/L and values of BOD, COD, and BI are calculated. The calcu-
lated values of BOD, COD, and BI are found to be slightly more than
25 g/L H2O2 dose. The highest COD reduction achieved is 72.4%,
BOD increases to 16.8% and BI 0.72. All these values are higher than
the previous condition. On comparing the results of 25 g/L and
30 g/L dose, 25 g/L found to be optimum for the treatment of
VORWW using hydrogen peroxide as an oxidant in the presence
of UV light. The use of more H2O2 as an oxidant enhances the rate
of degradation in the HC reactor [12,18]. Hence this dose of 25 g/L
of hydrogen peroxide is considered as an optimum dose for further
treatment.
The effect of H2O2 concentration was studied by changing the
H2O2 dose from 111 to 222 mg/L for pulp and paper wastewater.
The concentration of H2O2 increases the percentage of COD
reduction. Increasing dose does not show a significant increase
in percentage COD reduction along with BI improvement. The
higher concentration of H2O2 destroys hydroxyl radicals formed
[19].

3.5. Effect of UC + H2O2 + UV light.

Fig. 9. Effect of H2O2 dose on BI (Condition- Temperature: 20 °C, Inlet pressure:

8 bar, pH:4).
The degradation of VORWW was carried out in the Ultrasonic
cavitation reactor in the presence of hydrogen peroxide with UV

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Table 6
Effect of Ultrasonic cavitation with hydrogen peroxide in presence of UV light.
Time (Min) BOD (mg/L) COD (mg/L)
0 3791 22,300
40 4071 12,355
80 4270 5984
120 4272 5985
160 4273 5988
200 4274 5990
light. Another parameter like operating temperature 20 °C, pH 4
and H2O2 of 25 g/L was maintained during experimental work. This
mentioned operating condition was optimum in the hydrodynamic
cavitation reactor and given the highest COD and BI. Hence the
same condition was taken in the ultrasonic cavitation reactor.
The treatment time was varied from 0 min to 200 min in the inter-
val of 40 min. All the required samples were drawn at each 40 min
interval for COD and BOD calculation.
In the first 40 min interval COD is reduced from 22300 mg/L to
12355 mg/L and BOD raised from 3791 mg/L to 4071 mg/L. After
the next interval of 40 min COD reduced to 5984 mg/L and BOD
reaches 4270 mg/L. After 80 min obtained BOD and COD found to
be constant up to the end of experiments at 200 min. COD reduc-
tion found 44.6% and BOD increases by 7.4% after 40 min treat-
ment. After the treatment of 80 min COD reduction is 73.6%,
which is highest in the ultrasonic cavitation reactor but slightly
more than that of the hydrodynamic cavitation setup. In HC it is
71.8% and in UC it is 73.2 by using the same operating condition
in the different reactor. All the results of BOD and COD are shown
in Table 6. The obtained values of BOD and COD are used to calcu-
late the biodegradability index (BI). BI value in 80 min time found
to be 0.71 after that it is constant. BI 0.71 is the highest in this rec-
tor pattern and hence it is a good indication for VORWW. The use
of AOPs will increase the biodegradability of textile wastewater by
using silver nanoparticles [20].
While comparing HC and UC results interns of COD reduction
and BI, it is found that both the reactor has given the almost same
result. The rate of degradation initially the same in both HC and UC,
but after 40 min HC become slower and UC somehow fast. After
120 min both the UC and HC gave the almost same result. Hence
after 120 min time, the COD reduction rate is constant and the
same in both reactors. The 80 min treatment time found to be opti-
mum in UC at temperature 20 °C, H2O2 25 g/L and pH-4 given high-
est COD reduction 73.2% and BI 0.71 similarly 120 min time was an
optimum for HC at same conditions.
4. Conclusion
The hydrodynamic cavitation can be effectively utilized for
increasing the biodegradability of VORWW along with the reduc-
tion of COD. Properties of VORWW were analyzed in terms of bio-
chemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD)
and Biodegradability index (BI). Inlet pressure of 8 bar is found best
for minimizing the toxicity of VORWW but an inlet pressure of
6 bar has not given more benefits toward minimizing toxicity.
Please cite this article as: P. Dhanke and S. Wagh, Treatment of vegetable oil refinery wastewater with biodegradability index improvement, Materials
Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2019.10.004
7
BOD Change (%) COD Reduction (%) BI
0.0 0.0 0.17
7.4 44.6 0.33
12.6 73.2 0.71
12.7 73.2 0.71
12.7 73.1 0.71
12.7 73.1 0.71
Hence, depending on the requirements of treatment, HC can be
confidently used for the treatment of VORWW. The overall results
of this study indicate that the application of AOP (H2O2 + UV) is a
feasible method to treat vegetable oil refinery wastewater for
achieving a significant decrease in COD. The optimum results are
given by hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) treatment under controlled
conditions are biodegradability index (BI) of 0.69, COD reduction
up to 71.8%, and BOD increases by 14.4% in 120 min reaction time.
Operating temperature 20 °C, inlet pressure 8 bar, pH-4, and H2O2
of 25 g/L with UV are the operating parameters maintained during
the process. It was found that the operating pressure of 8 bar in
reactor given the maximum BI (BOD/COD ratio). These results
show the power of HC as an effective process intensification tech-
nique for the degradation of VORWW. Above obtained optimum
conditions were used in the Ultrasonic cavitation reactor for the
degradation of VORWW. In 80 min of treatment, COD reduction
is achieved by 73.2%, which is highest as compared to HC. Hence
UC gave a similar result as that of HC in just 80 min. Cavitation
using hydrodynamic technique has been proved as an advanced
treatment option in the treatment of vegetable oil refinery
wastewater (VORWW). Hence HC and UC are a successful technol-
ogy for increasing the biodegradability of VORWW and simultane-
ously for minimizing COD.
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