Recycling of industrial waste water by using a two-step nanofiltration process for the removal of colour Original Research Article

One of the production facilities of Akzo Nobel Chemicals produces a low pH very dilute aqueous waste stream, containing one or more coloured components and an organic component at saturation concentration. Due to the presence of colour it is not possible to recycle this aqueous stream to the production process and is currently disposed of at high costs. However, a two-step nanofiltration process has been developed, which is able to recover 90% of the waste stream and to reduce the colour content with 99.8%. The estimated payback time is 3 years. This paper describes the results of the laboratory- and bench-scale tests in Arnhem as well as the results of the pilot-scale tests, which were performed on site.