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Chemical Engineering and Processing 47 (2008) 11591164

Wastewater recycling in laundriesFrom pilot to large-scale plant

Jan Hoinkis a, , Volker Panten b
a

Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, 76133 Karlsruhe, Germany b Textil-Service Klingelmeyer GmbH & Co. KG, 64297 Darmstadt, Germany Received 28 November 2006; received in revised form 5 October 2007; accepted 10 December 2007 Available online 25 December 2007

Abstract A new, innovative wastewater recycling process for industrial laundries has been developed through cooperation between Textil-Service Klingelmeyer (a medium-size laundry in Darmstadt, Germany) and the University of Applied Sciences in Karlsruhe, Germany. The project Laundry Innovative Wastewater Recycling TechnologyLIWATEC was sponsored by the European Community in its LIFE-Environment programme. The purpose of the LIWATEC project was to design and start up a new, innovative, integrated process using membrane technology for wastewater reuse on a large scale in the Klingelmeyer laundry. The large scale plant was designed for wastewater treatment capacity of 200 m3 /day. This integrated process has been successfully tested for 5 years in the form of two pilot plants at the laundry in Darmstadt and at the University of Karlsruhe (capacities: 10 m3 /day and <1 m3 /day). The pilot plant data provided a scale up basis for designing the large plant. This paper gives a summary of the pilot plant data in comparison with the initial results of the large-scale unit, which went into operation in June 2006. The integrated process comprises a membrane bioreactor (MBR) with submerged plate and frame microltration membranes as the principal cleaning unit. The results of the pilot agree with those of the large-scale plant. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efciency was around 90%; the average ux was approximately 14 L/m2 h. The MBR permeate provides a water quality that can be used as washing water since it fully meets the requirements of the washing process. Part of the MBR permeate is subsequently treated by reverse osmosis (RO) ltration using spiral wound modules in order to remove salts. The average ux of the RO unit is 2530 L/m2 h at around 16 bar. The salt retention rate exceeds 99%. The high quality of the reverse osmosis permeate meets the demands of the rinsing processes. In general, up to 90% of total wastewater can be reused. Moreover, it is an easy-handling and cost-efcient wastewater recycling process that could be adapted to different types of laundries due to its modular structure. 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Laundry; Wastewater recycling; Water reuse; Water management; Membrane bioreactor; Membrane ltration; Reverse osmosis

1. Introduction The implementation of water-reuse concepts has become an important operational and environmental issue in the industrial sector. Wastewater recycling is an effective tool for sustainable industrial development. Despite considerable progress regarding water-saving action in industry, commercial laundries are still emitting relatively high quantities of wastewater. So these plants can be still considered as very process water intensive factories. Besides conventional treatment and reuse technologies, membrane technologies have been studied particularly intensively in recent years in the textile industry and laundries [15].

Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: jan.hoinkis@hs-karlsruhe.de (J. Hoinkis), panten@klingelmeyer.de (V. Panten). 0255-2701/$ see front matter 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.cep.2007.12.010

However, most of this research and development work has been carried out for scientic purposes only, either in a lab or on a small pilot scale, and none of these publications has extensively studied the combination of MBR and RO for wastewater reuse in laundries for large-scale application. Furthermore, the processes which have been studied were mostly used for low polluted wastewater. At best, all existing reuse processes usually have a water recycling portion of only 7080%. The main motivating factors for the Textil-Service Klingelmeyer laundry in Darmstadt in implementing the Laundry Innovative Wastewater Recycling TechnologyLIWATEC project in cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences in Karlsruhe relate largely to legislation and economics (high costs of fresh water and wastewater disposal) [6,7]. Klingelmeyer is a medium-size laundry with 200 employees at two locations. The purpose of this project was to develop an integrated process using MBR and RO technology that robustly and economically pro-

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Fig. 1. Flow chart of the recycling process.

duces high-quality water for reuse. A further aim was to develop a process with an almost completely closed water system and to adapt the current washing and process chemicals to the treatment process. This integrated membrane process can be regarded as the most suitable technique currently available in the market for the purication and reuse of laundry wastewater. The aim of this paper is to detail the initial experience with the large-scale plant in comparison with the results of preceding pilot-scale trials. 2. Description of the recycling process This innovative, integrated process has been developed through cooperation between the University of Applied Sciences, Karlsruhe, and Textil-Service Klingelmeyer. In the course of the project, extensive research was undertaken to study membrane processes at bench and pilot scale in order to produce efuent suitable for direct reuse in the laundry. The wastewater is treated in a two-step process and is recycled in the laundry washing process (see Fig. 1). After coarse screening using a vibrating sieve to retain suspended particles, the wastewater is collected in a storage tank (AW). Subsequently, the wastewater is treated in a membrane bioreactor as the principal cleaning unit. Air is injected into the reactor to scour the membranes and to drive the biological treatment. The microltration permeate is stored in a collecting tank (WW). It is free of turbidity and considerably reduced in microbes and can be reused for the washing process. Some of the microltration permeate is treated in a second step by a low pressure reverse osmosis unit with spiral wound modules to retain mainly salts. The RO permeate, which is stored in a collecting tank (SW), is used as high-quality water, primarily for rinsing processes. Prior to storage, the RO permeate is treated by a small amount of chlorine dioxide to prevent any growth of germs. Since rainwater does not meet the water quality criteria for the process, it is introduced in the wastewater collecting tank. The integrated process generates two kind of waste that needs to be disposed. The surplus sludge is stored in a separate tank and is collected by commercial waste management enterprises. The concentrate from the RO treatment is drained to the municipal treatment plant.

3. Analytical methods and plant components 3.1. Parameter analysis A handheld unit WTW pH 325 was used for pH measure and a WTW Cond 315i was used for conductivity measurement. The parameters COD, Total N, PPO4 3 were measured by a Merck Spectroquant test kit. The heavy metals were analysed by ICP Agilent 7500, according to German standard DIN 38406. AOX was measured by TOX-10 Abimed according to European standard EN 1485 and total hardness according German standard DIN 384061 . 3.2. Plant components The pilot-scale and the large-scale unit are each basically composed of vibrating sieve (company Sweco) with mesh size 200 m, MBR reactor, reverse osmosis ltration unit and three storage tanks (wastewater, MBR permeate, RO permeate)

The pilot and large-scale MBR reactors contain submerged Kubota Type 510 microltration plate and frame membranes (single plate: 0.8 m2 ) with 0.4 m pore size, made of chlorinated polyethylene. The MBR reactor of the pilot unit was a cylindrical tank with ca. 1.4 m diameter and total volume of 5 m3 , containing 35 plate and frame Kubota membranes (28 m2 total membrane area). The large-scale MBR tank has a total volume of 125 m3 . It is separated by a barrier in two compartments connected by a spill. One compartment is designed only for biodegradation, the other for biodegradation and membrane ltration; this gives maximum exibility for adjusting aeration to the needs of the ltration and biodegradation process. The
1 The ICP and AOX measurement was conducted by Weling, Laboratorium GmbH, 64295 Darmstadt, Germany.

J. Hoinkis, V. Panten / Chemical Engineering and Processing 47 (2008) 11591164 Table 1 Feed and drain water quality of the pilot-scale membrane bioreactor Parameter Temperature pH Electrical conductivity Total hardness COD AOX Total N PPO4 3 Fe Mn Cu
a

1161

Unit
C

Feeda (wastewater) 1530 911 1900 Not measured 1050 0.06 40 5 Not measured Not measured Not measured

Permeatea (microltrate) 1530 78 2000 2.53 6070 0.04 2 3 0.10.6 0.02 0.01

Limits for washing water in laundries

dH

S/cm

mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L

5 dH 150

0.1 0.03 0.05

Typically average values based on several measurements.

biomass is circulated between both compartments every other day. The ltration compartment contains two double deck Kubota stacks System EK300 with 600 plate and frame modules (total membrane area of 480 m2 ). The reverse osmosis pilot plant consisted of a housing for two 4040 spiral wound membrane modules. The large-scale unit contains housing for six 8040 spiral wound modules. The pilot plant was composed of three collecting tanks (wastewater, MBR drain, RO drain), the rst with a volume of 45 m3 , and the latter with volumes of 27 m3 . In the large-scale unit these were replaced by enamelled steel collecting tanks of 400 m3 for the wastewater and 200 m3 for MBR drain and RO drain. 4. Pilot-scale results The pilot-scale experiments were used to gain experience with the designed process and to obtain the database for scaling up. Initial experiments were conducted at the laboratory at the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences. For this purpose, a household washing machine and a small-scale MBR and RO unit (capacity <1 m3 /day) were used, mainly to adapt and optimise the washing agents and additives to the treatment process (see [810]). The performance of different kinds of chemicals was investigated extensively with regard to washing efciency and membrane interference. These results led to the development of an optimised modular washing system. From 1999 to 2004, Textil-Service Klingelmeyer operated a pilot-scale recycling treatment unit to reuse some part of its wastewater (10 m3 /d) in the laundry. The wastewater treatment unit was connected to a washing machine with 120 kg loading in which all kind of relevant textiles were treated. The quality of the recycling water fully met the requirements of the washing process. 4.1. Membrane bioreactor The average ux of the MBR unit remained around 14 L/m2 h at a transmembrane pressure of around 110 mbar, resulting in permeability of 127 L/m2 h bar. The injected air ow was set around 0.7 m3 /min. Despite considerable uctuation in the feed-water composition, the COD elimination rate in the

MBR unit averaged 95%. The efuent COD value was always lower than 100 mg/L, but typically averaged 6070 mg/L (see Table 1). Under different hydraulic retention times of the reactor (2030 h), no signicant change of the drain COD was observed. The quality of the microltrate greatly inuences the washing process. High values of total hardness (concentration of Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions) reduces the washing quality. The optimal values for total hardness are between 0 and 5 dH. The concentration of the heavy metals iron, copper and manganese are of special interest for the washing process because these substances can cause a catalytic decomposition of peroxides. Peroxides are used in the washing process as bleaching and disinfecting agents. The decomposition process leads to the formation of reactive radicals, which can cause textile damage, so there are certain limits for the concentration of these substances in laundries (according to German quality mark RAL-GZ 992). The concentration of these contaminants was therefore analysed in the microltrate. Only the iron content was in some cases higher than the limit, due to some corrosive iron parts used in the construction of the pilot plant. The large-scale plant was designed using only either stainless steel or plastics. The results are discussed in more detail in [11]. 4.2. Membrane ltration unit During the pilot phase, two nanoltration (GE Osmonics DL, Dow Thinlm NF 90) and a low-energy reverse osmosis membrane (Dow Thinlm XLE) were tested. The pilot tests showed that the salt rejection of the nanoltration membranes (controlled by electrical conductivity) was only 5055%, which meant the water quality was not sufcient for the rinsing process. Salt retention using reverse osmosis was 98%signicantly higher than that achieved by the nanoltration. This might by due to the fact that the feed water contains carbonate salt, which is used as a builder in the washing agent. The pKa value of the hydrogencarbonate/carbonate equilibrium HCO3 CO3 2 + H+ is 10.4. Hence at feed pH 8, most of the carbonate salt exists in the form of the monovalent HCO3 , which can be retained much more effectively by reverse osmosis. The average ux using DOW XLE was 25 L/(m2 h) at 13 bar. The conductivity decreased from about 2000 S/cm down to 40 S/cm (see Table 2). In addition,

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J. Hoinkis, V. Panten / Chemical Engineering and Processing 47 (2008) 11591164

Table 2 Permeate and concentrate water quality of membrane ltration unit Parameter pH Conductivity Total hardness COD AOX Cd Hg Pb Cu Total Cr Ni Zn
a

Unit S/cm dH mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L

Permeatea 67 Maximum 40 <0.5 Maximum 30 Not measured Not measured Not measured Not measured Not measured Not measured Not measured Not measured

Concentratea 89 50008000 Not measured Maximum 400 0.13 <0.004 <0.0002 <0.02 0.015 0.032 0.05 1.5

Limits according German legislation (direct discharge, appendix 55)

100 2 0.1 0.05 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 2

Typically average values based on several measurements. Table 3 Feed and drain water quality of large-scale membrane bioreactor Parameter Temperature pH Electrical conductivity TOC COD Total N PPO4 3
a

some of the residual COD had been retained as well. The quality of the washing process was regularly tested using standardised testing textiles. Furthermore, a variety of additional analysis (for example, pH, MLSS, Total N, PPO4 3 , heavy metals) were performed (see Tables 1 and 2) in order to investigate the efciency of the membrane bioreactor and the RO process. The results are discussed in more detail in [11]. 5. Large scale results The newly developed integrated process and an optimised washing system has been used in the scale-up phase at TextilService Klingelmeyer since November 2004. The project was funded by the European Commissions LIFE programme. The large-scale unit is designed for a total wastewater capacity of 200 m3 /d. The wastewater treatment unit went into operation in June 2006. The membrane bioreactor (V = 125 m3 ) contains about 480 m2 of plate and frame membranes supplied by the Kubota company. These membranes are submerged in the aerobic tank as double-deck modules. The low pressure reverse osmosis is designed for a total membrane area of 222 m2 , using low energy spiral wound FILMTEC RO modules from the Dow company. The PLC, visualisation and sensors were provided by the companies VIPA, Siemens and Endress & Hauser. The initial experimental data obtained in this unit to date is presented in the following. After start up, the MBR unit was operated for 6 months in the open loop in order to take time to adapt the biocenosis. During the rst phase, only the lower membrane stack was in operation. Up to now, only part of the MBR treated water (4050 m3 /day) has been used for washing subsequent to RO treatment. The recycling unit is scheduled to be in full operation by the end of 2007. 5.1. Membrane bioreactor The MBR reactors feed COD is lower than that in the pilot plant due to different wastewater composition, whereas the efuent COD has almost same level (see Table 3, Fig. 2). The average COD and TOC removal efciency is higher than 90%. The Total N in the feed is well below those in the pilot

Unit
C

Feeda (waste water) 3040 10.811.5 2000 300 700 8 7

Permeatea (microltrate) 2839 8.28.6 2000 12 60 12 3

S/cm mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L

Typically average values based on several measurements.

plant and remains almost constant. It may differ slightly due to measurement uncertainty. The value for PPO4 3 is similar to the value in the pilot plant. No cleaning of the MBR unit has been necessary after 6 months of operation. The average ux remained around 14 L/m2 h at a transmembrane pressure lower than 50 mbar (see Fig. 3), resulting in a membrane permeability of at least 280 L/m2 h bar. After day 45, the ux was increased slightly, resulting in a marginal increase of transmembrane pressure. The aeration rate in the ltration compartment of the MBR tank is 5.2 m3 /min. The biodegradation compartment is intermittently aerated by a ne diffuser at 7.2 m3 /min. The ux rate does not represent full ow capacity; the plant

Fig. 2. COD in feed/drain and COD removal efciency of the MBR.

J. Hoinkis, V. Panten / Chemical Engineering and Processing 47 (2008) 11591164 Table 4 Permeate and concentrate water quality of the reverse osmosis unit Parameter pH Electrical conductivity Total hardness COD Total N PPO4 3
a

1163

Unit S/cm dH mg/L mg/L mg/L

Permeatea 67 2030 0 Maximum 45 <0.5 0.8

Concentratea 89 50006000 Not measured Maximum 100 Not measured Not measured

Typically average values based on several measurements.

Fig. 3. Flux and transmembrane pressure of the MBR.

water quality. The water quality is similar to the results in the pilot-scale unit. The average ux of the RO unit is 2530 L/m2 h at around 16 bar. The average recovery of the RO unit has been kept at 70% so far; from the experience gained, it is expected that it can be increased up to at least 80%. 6. Conclusions and outlook In general, it can be concluded that the treatment of laundry wastewater by a combination of MBR and RO treatment results in water quality that fully meets the quality requirement of the washing process. This has been veried by extensive pilot-scale trials. A large-scale treatment unit (capacity: 200 m3 /day) was designed and put into operation, based on the pilot-scale results. The initial results from the large-scale unit agree very closely with the pilot-scale results. The average COD and TOC removal efciency in the MBR reactor with immersed Kubota membranes is higher than 90%. The average ux was approximately 14 L/m2 h at a transmembrane pressure lower than 50 mbar. The MBR permeate can be reused for the washing process. Subsequently, a part of the MBR permeate is treated by low-energy spiral wound FILMTEC modules from the Dow company (Type LE-400). The salt rejection is about 99%; the ux of the RO unit is 2530 L/m2 h at around 16 bar. The advantages of the wastewater reuse process can be summarised as: - Easy-handling and cost-efcient wastewater recycling system that could be adapted easily to different types of laundries due to its modular structure. - Almost closed process water cycle; the portion of reused waste water is up to 90%. - Very good washing results by use of a modular washing system. - No environmentally critical waste efuents. The recycling unit is expected to run at full capacity from end of 2007. This device should serve as a demonstration unit for other commercial laundries. Acknowledgements Federal State of Hessen, Germany; Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany (BMBF) and the European Community LIFE-Environment programme are acknowledged for provision of funding for the project. We also thank the Uni-

Fig. 4. Mixed liquor suspended solids and COD sludge loading of the MBR.

has been designed for an eventual ux rate of 1520 L/m2 h. The mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentration in the reactor increased from 3 to 9 kg/m3 (see Fig. 4). The COD sludge loading decreased from 0.14 to 0.04 kgCOD /kgMLSS day. The average yield factor for biomass growth is calculated to 0.13 kg MLSS per kg COD degraded. The surplus sludge is collected in a storage tank and delivered to a commercial sludge processing unit. 5.2. Reverse osmosis unit Some of the microltrated water is treated by reverse osmosis ltration. This ltration unit is very important for the recycling process because it prevents an increase in the salt level although there is a steady inux of salts by washing agents and the biological mineralization process. Furthermore, RO treatment leads to a better quality water, which is mainly used as rinsing water. The concentrate is discharged to the municipal treatment plant. Eventually, low energy spiral wound FILMTEC modules type LE-400 from Dow were selected for the large-scale unit. The Dow LE membrane was preferred to the Dow XLE, which was tested on the pilot scale, since its salt retention was better (see Dow product sheets [12]). Table 4 provides typical ranges of

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J. Hoinkis, V. Panten / Chemical Engineering and Processing 47 (2008) 11591164 [6] www.liwatec.de, accessed July 2007. [7] J. Hoinkis, R. Scheibner, Recycling Technology reaches Laundries, Laundry Clean. News Int. (2002 March) 19. [8] M.Beylich, Extensive analysis on the development of a laundry wastewater recycling system, Thesis, University of Applied Sciences Karlsruhe, 1998. [9] M. F chtner, M. Schwei, Extensive analysis for the project Wastewu ater recycling for an Industrial LaundryUse of new washing agent components, Thesis, University of Applied Sciences Karlsruhe, 1999. [10] S. Radwan, Extensive analysis for the project Wastewater Recycling for an Industrial LaundryData acquisition, Thesis, University of Applied Sciences Karlsruhe, 1998. [11] R. Scheibner, J. Hoinkis, Waste Water Recycling Technology for Laundries, in: Proceedings of the 5th Conference Membranes in Drinking and Industrial Water Production, M lheim/Ruhr, Sept. 2226, 2002, Poster u Presentations, 117, 2002. [12] www.dow.com/liquidseps/prod/le 400.htm, accessed July 2007.

versity of Darmstadt, the Environmental Ministry of Hessen, and IRC Hessen/Rheinland-Pfalz. References
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