The Treatment of Sludge from the Rubber Processing Industry with Chitosan

Abstract

Composite sludge samples were collected from a Rubber Processing industry. The collected sludge samples were characterized according to standard procedures. The values of some of the parameters were found to be 996.55 ± 5.85 NTU, 229.00 ± 7.80 mg/L and 1921.20 ± 6.50 mg/L for Turbidity, BOD and COD respectively. The Total Solids (TS) and Suspended Solids (SS) were 6217.00 ± 7.00 and 2733.00 ± 5.80 mg/L respectively. This portends pollution. Locally sourced coagulant, chitosan was obtained and the optimum dosage determined. It was found to be 2.10cm³ of 1% chitosan solution per 100 cm³ sludge at pH of 7.9. On the basis of this, the sludge was treated and the treated sludge sample, characterized. Triplicate determinations were done in each case and the mean values and standard deviations obtained from statistical evaluation using the Tukey-Kramer multiple comparison tests. From the results obtained, there were significant reductions (p 0.05) in pollution in measured parameters of the treated sludge samples with 74.69 %, 77.67 % and 81.70 % reduction in the COD, BOD and Turbidity respectively, thus improving the quality of the sludge in terms of toxins. The total and suspended solids increased expectedly, by 30.58 % and 12.92 % respectively. The coagulant was quite effective at low levels. It also showed other characteristics of locally sourced coagulants, which include less pH dependence, readily available, cheap and easy to handle, more biodegradable, therefore more environmentally friendly. The use of the coagulant for the treatment of sludge and indeed where coagulation and flocculation is desirous can be so recommended.

Keywords: Biodegradable, Chitosan, Exoskeleton, Pollution, Sludge,.