Modelling and automation of the process of phosphate ion removal from waste waters

Phosphate removal from waste waters has become an environmental necessity, since these phosphates stimulate the growth of aquatic plants and planktons and contribute to the eutrophication process in general. The physicochemical methods of phosphate ion removal are the most effective and reliable. This paper presents studies on the process of phosphate ion removal from waste waters resulting from the fertiliser industry's use of the method of co-precipitation with iron salts and with calcium hydroxide as the neutralizing agent. The optimal process conditions were established as those that allow achievement of a maximum degree of separation of the phosphate ions. The precipitate resulting from the co-precipitation process was analysed for chemical composition and establishment of thermal and structural stability, and the aim was also to establish in which form the phosphate ions in the formed precipitate can be found. Based on these considerations, the experimental data obtained in the process of phosphate ion removal from waste waters were analysed mathematically and the equations for the dependence of the degree of phosphate separation and residual concentration versus the main parameters of the process were formulated. In this paper an automated scheme for the phosphate ion removal from waste waters by co-precipitation is presented.