Demulsifying Surfactant for Animal Rendering Wastewater Separation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wastewater from animal rendering facilities contains emulsions of fats, oils, greases, and proteins that are difficult to separate using mechanical means, posing challenges for water recycling and compliance with discharge limits, and hindering the recovery of valuable byproducts.
Innovation Solution
The method involves collecting wastewater from animal rendering facilities, using a demulsifying surfactant, such as alkoxylated fatty acid esters of sorbitan, to break emulsions and separate valuable fractions like fat, oil, and protein from the wastewater stream, which includes chemical conditioning and flotation processes to enhance separation efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If mechanical separation means (decanters, centrifuges) are used to separate fats, oils, greases, and proteins from wastewater, then the separation process is simple and mechanical, but the separation effectiveness is largely ineffective due to emulsion formation
Solution Approach 1:
A demulsifying surfactant is introduced as an intermediary chemical agent to break the stable emulsion between water and fat/oil/grease/protein components. The surfactant molecules interact with the emulsion interface, reducing surface tension and promoting phase separation, thereby enabling effective separation that mechanical means alone cannot achieve
Solution Approach 2:
The chemical composition and surface properties of the wastewater stream are changed by adding the demulsifying surfactant. This alters the interfacial tension and emulsion stability parameters, transforming the system from a stable emulsion that resists mechanical separation to a separable mixture that responds to mechanical separation forces
2Reliability
If chemical conditioning agents and flotation processes are applied to enhance separation, then separation efficiency is improved, but the process complexity and chemical usage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces or supplements complex mechanical separation systems with a chemical-based flotation process. By using chemical conditioning agents to modify particle surfaces and introduce air bubbles, lightweight contaminants are buoyed to the surface for easy removal, substituting complex mechanical separation with a simpler chemical-buoyancy approach
3Quantity of substance
If emulsions are allowed to mix with wastewater stream, then the wastewater volume is maintained, but the valuable fat, oil, grease, and protein byproducts cannot be effectively recovered
Solution Approach 1:
The valuable byproducts (fat, oil, grease, and protein) are extracted from the wastewater stream through the demulsification and separation process. The demulsifying surfactant enables the extraction of these components from the emulsion, allowing them to be removed as a separate phase while the treated wastewater can be discharged or further processed
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach effectively reduces wastewater volume, recovers valuable byproducts, and improves effluent quality, potentially lowering municipal wastewater fees by efficiently separating and recovering fats, oils, and proteins from the wastewater stream.
Implementation Method 1
treating the collected skimmings with a demulsifying surfactant to promote the separation of the fractions from the collected skimmings
Implementation Method 2
The demulsifying surfactant includes one or more alkoxylated fatty acid esters of sorbitan
Implementation Method 3
applying a floatation process to the wastewater stream in a first retention tank to buoy contaminants toward a gravitationally upper surface of the wastewater stream
Implementation Method 4
screening the wastewater stream with a screening device having a sieve size to separate solids having a particle size larger than the sieve size
Implementation Method 5
The collected skimmings are then treated with an effective amount of a demulsifying surfactant at 20-90° C. to promote the separation
Data Source
AI summary
A method is provided for recovering fractions from an animal rendering process wastewater stream, wherein the fractions include one or more of fat, oil, grease, and protein derived from an animal source. To recover the fractions, the wastewater stream is processed to separate insoluble or immiscible contaminants as collected skimmings, and treating the collected skimmings with an effective amount of a nonionic demulsifying surfactant.