Karamah 2019 J. Phys. Conf. Ser. 1198 062007
Karamah 2019 J. Phys. Conf. Ser. 1198 062007
Karamah 2019 J. Phys. Conf. Ser. 1198 062007
Abstract. Indonesia is one of the country with the biggest population of tofu industries in
the world. Tofu wastewater can harm the environment and alter the physical and chemical
properties of water in river bodies, which is dangerous for human and living organism
within the river. So it needs to be treated before disposed into the environment. The
purpose of this research is to evaluate the performance of ozonation [O], hydrodynamic
cavitations [HC], and combination of both [HC/O] in treating tofu wastewater. The variations
of circulation flow rate are 2, 3, and 4 LPM and dosage of ozone is single and series ozonator.
[HC/O] method (4 LPM flowrate and 129 mg/h dosage of ozone) produces the best
performance, with degradation of 943 mg/L COD and 293 mg/L TSS in 180 minutes. This
result is much better than the 4 LPM variant of [HC] method and series variant of [O] method
separately, which are only capable of degrading 485 mg/L COD-288 mg/L TSS and 136 mg/L
COD-233 mg/L TSS in 180 minutes accordingly.
Keywords: COD, hydrodynamic, ozonation, tofu wastewater, TSS
1. Introduction
Indonesia is one of the country with the biggest population of tofu industries in the world.
According to the data from Indonesia’s Ministry of Technology and Research in 2010, there are a
total of 84,000 tofu industries with a combined production capacity of 2.56 million tons per year,
and 80% of that number is located in Java Island. From the same source of data, it is known that
these industries produce as much as 20 million m3 wastewater annually [1].
Tofu wastewater is a pollutant that can harm the environment, it can alter the physical and
chemical properties of water in river bodies, which is dangerous for human and living organism
within the river, if no treatment process is taken against it. Tofu wastewater is known to have a
high content of Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), and Total
Suspended Solids (TSS) [2]. Tofu wastewater is known to have characteristic of acidic pH (4-5),
BOD value of 6,000-8,000 mg/L, COD value of 7,500-14,000 mg/L, and TSS value of 6,000-8,000
mg/L [3]. These high value of BOD, COD, and TSS characterize the harmfulness of tofu
wastewater towards the environment. For that reason, the Indonesia’s Government through the
Ministry of Environment announced the allowable dumping quality for tofu wastewater which is
BOD <150 mg/L, COD <300 mg/L, TSS < 200 mg/L, and pH 6-91 [4].
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Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd 1
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IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1198 (2019) 062007 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1198/6/062007
Efforts have been done in order to treat and lower the pollutant parameters value of tofu
wastewater, amongst them are anaerobic treatment and anaerob-aerobic biofiltration. Both of
these treatment methods are still known to have a low effectiveness, where each of anaerobic
treatment and anaerobic-aerobic biofiltration has to be operated for as long as 4 weeks and 2
months accordingly for the effluent to the allowable dumping quality [5]. Many studies have been
done in search for a more effective alternative method with relatively faster process duration. One
of the alternative method that gains popularity is Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) technology
based method, or ozonation and hydrodynamic cavitation specifically.
Ozonation and hydrodynamic cavitation are types of AOP technology used in many
applications of organic wastewater treatment process. Ozonation is known to have the capability
of reducing 40-50% of COD within the organic wastewater [6]. While the hydrodynamic
cavitation using vortex diode has capability of reducing 61% of COD within methyl red dye
wastewater [7].
By combining hydrodynamic cavitation with ozonation, the oxidation process of organic
pollutant within wastewater could be maximize. Combination of both method is known to have
the capability to increase the effectiveness of total coliform disinfection from 60 to 80% [8]. This
research has purpose to evaluate the performance of ozonation, hydrodynamic cavitation, and
combination of both methods in decreasing the value of BOD, COD, and TSS within tofu
wastewater, by making variation on the flow rate and dosage of ozone being used.
2. Basic Theory
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IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1198 (2019) 062007 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1198/6/062007
radicals. Radicals have unstable and highly reactive characteristics, which make them good as an
advanced oxidation initiator. Specifically, AOP is a process where the oxidation is
primarily/dominantly done by OH radicals [12]. OH radicals have the ability to oxidize almost all
type of organic compounds into water, carbon dioxide and mineral through a mineralization
process [13].
In its application, AOP involves ozone (O3), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), UV light, TiO2 catalyst,
cavitation, irradiation of E light, and Fenton reaction, which all have capability to produce OH
radicals. Ozonation and hydrodynamic cavitations are the types of AOP used in this research.
2.2.1. Ozonation. O3 is a strong oxidant in which produced naturally through the ionization of air by
lightning or artificially through ionization of oxygen (O2) by high voltage electricity. Nowadays, O3 is
used in many applications of disinfection, oxidation of inorganic compounds, and oxidation of
organic compounds for water and wastewater.
O3 could react with other chemical species through two kinds of reaction chains, the direct and
indirect reaction chain. Those two kinds of reaction chains are controlled by different kinetics and
also produce different final products. The indirect reaction chain involves radicals, a non-selective
and highly reactive oxidant. The indirect reaction chain could be divided into three steps: the
initiation, chain propagation, and termination. Initiation is a step where O3 is broken down into
secondary oxidants, e.g. OH radicals. The produced OH radicals will then react with other
chemical molecules/substances (target molecules) directly and non-selectively (k = 10 8-1010 M-1 s-1)
to produce water. From that reaction, the target molecules will lose one of its electrons and
transformed into radicals. That radicals will further react with other target molecules, which is
known as chain propagation step. The termination step is achieved when the radicals attack other
radicals which neutralize and stop the reaction [14].
In direct reaction chain, the organic compounds are oxidized directly by O3. This direct
reaction chain is selective and relatively slower than the indirect one (k = 1,0-106 M-1 s-1). O3
molecules react with the non-saturated bond through a Criegee mechanism, as shown in Figure 1
[14].
2.2.2. Hydrodynamic Cavitation. Hydrodynamic cavitations occur and spread inside a water jet
flowing through a channel whose geometry causes a variations of static pressure in the flow [15]. The
mechanism of hydrodynamic cavitations within venturi is illustrated in Figure 2. When a liquid
(preferably water) flows through the inlet of venturi, the cavitation nuclei (in the form of 10-9 to 10-4 m
sized bubbles) grow as a result of pressure falling. Gases dissolved in the liquid diffuse into the
bubble, filling and expand the cavity. When the liquid pressure in the constriction part (tubule) reaches
less than or same as the liquid vapor pressure, the volume of the bubble will rapidly increase as the
result of evaporation from the bubble’s surface. When the vapor-gas bubble moves into the increasing
pressure zone of the venturi (outlet), condensation will occur followed by implosive size reduction of
the bubble, thus leaving empty spaces around the bubble. These empty spaces will be filled by high
speed liquid (with speed over 100 m/s), causing compression of the remaining gases locally. The
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SENTEN 2018 - Symposium of Emerging Nuclear Technology and Engineering Novelty IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1198 (2019) 062007 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1198/6/062007
strongly compressed gas (over 100 MPa) will then undergo an expansion, which causes an explosion
that rise the number of bubbles. During the explosion, due to the liquid’s inertia, the pressure drops
and repeated evaporating occur on the surface of the growing bubble. This is repeated even hundred
many times, causing the movement of cavitation zone beyond the constriction part.
3. Experimental
This research was conducted using ozonation, hydrodynamic cavitation, and combination of both
methods to process the tofu wastewater. The tofu wastewater used in this research was taken from a
home industry of tofu located in Jabodetabek. The treatment process of the tofu wastewater on each
variation methods was brought for as long as 180 minutes, with sampling of temperature, pH of feed,
and process effluent being taken on minute 30, 60, 120, and 180, also the sampling of ozone off gas on
minute 180. The variations used in this research were dosage of ozone for ozonation method and flow
rate (2, 3, and 4 LPM) for hydrodynamic cavitation method. Variation that produces the best result
from each ozonation and hydrodynamic cavitation method would be used for combination method.
The independent variables used in this research were: flow rate which was configured by changing
the opening of the pump outlet valve (2, 3, and 4 LPM) and dosage of ozone which was configured by
changing the configuration of ozonator being used. The dependent variables being identified in this
research were the degradation of the tofu wastewater’s BOD, COD, and TSS after the treatment
process
The main equipment used in this research were: a modified unit of commercial ozonator of X-Troy
type CHS 212, a Mazzei type 384 injector venturi, glass reactor with volume capacity of 500 mL, and
a Nocchi centrifugal pump. The experimental setup for this research is shown in Figure 3.
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SENTEN 2018 - Symposium of Emerging Nuclear Technology and Engineering Novelty IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1198 (2019) 062007 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1198/6/062007
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SENTEN 2018 - Symposium of Emerging Nuclear Technology and Engineering Novelty IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1198 (2019) 062007 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1198/6/062007
(filter cloth 350 mesh) towards the initial pollution load of the tofu wastewater. The results from this
initial characterization are shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Initial Characterization Results of Tofu Wastewater
Parameters Without Filtration With Filtration
pH 3.7 3.7
TSS (mg/L) 1816 1368
COD (mg/L) 9649 7412
BOD (mg/L) 339 39
The results in Table 1 show that the pre-treatment using physical filtration capable to lower the
initial pollution load of tofu wastewater quite significantly. It indicates that a portion of organic
compounds in tofu wastewater is in suspended solid phase. Table 1 also shows that the tofu
wastewater used in this research has a very small BOD to COD ratio, <0.2. It indicates the likely of
tofu wastewater to contain toxic compounds that cannot be degraded naturally.
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SENTEN 2018 - Symposium of Emerging Nuclear Technology and Engineering Novelty IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1198 (2019) 062007 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1198/6/062007
5.27 and 4.548 mg/L accordingly. In [HC] method, the OH radicals are produced through the reaction
of oxygen and water vapor thermal dissociation within the cavitation micro bubbles as shown in
Equation 8 and Equation 9 [17].
H2O → ●OH + H● (8)
●
O2 + 2 H2O → 4 OH (9)
[HC/O] method produces the biggest concentration of OH radicals amongst other methods, 8.67
mg/L on the 180th minutes. It was possible due to the increasing of O3 and oxygen solubility in system
by hydrodynamic cavitation, which increase the OH radicals produced from Equation 7 and Equation
8. Cavitation phenomenon from [HC] gives a turbulence effect which helps in the mixing process of
O3 and oxygen in the liquid phase of the system.
(a) (b)
Figure 6. Degradation of COD (a) dan TSS (b) by Ozonation [O] Method
(pH = 4.0, Flow rate = 2 LPM)
Figure 6 (a) and 6 (b) illustrate the degradation performance of COD and TSS from [O] method,
where the single variant capable of degrading 92 mg/L COD and 153 mg/L TSS, while the series
variant capable of degrading 136 mg/L COD and 233 mg/L TSS during 180 minutes of process. The
series variant had better performance in degrading COD and TSS, which was caused by the use of
higher concentration of O3. The higher the concentration of O3 being used, the more the oxidative
species that are produced which will positively affect the degradation of COD and TSS in the
wastewater. O3 reacts with TSS by forming flocs which serves to absorb the colloid within the
wastewater [18]. O3 doesn’t destroy TSS, but only plays as a coagulant agent which helps in
generating flocs of suspended solids. The generating of flocs will reduce the total TSS within the
system. However, the overall performance of [O] method in degrading COD and TSS was still
categorized as low. It was caused by the foams produced from the wastewater during the treatment,
which act as a trap for O3 in the system. The majority of the O3 were trapped inside the foams, brought
back to the reservoir, before finally released to the atmosphere.
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SENTEN 2018 - Symposium of Emerging Nuclear Technology and Engineering Novelty IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1198 (2019) 062007 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1198/6/062007
(a) (b)
Figure 7. Degradation of COD (a) dan TSS (b) by Hydrodynamic Cavitation [HC] Method
(pH = 4.0)
Figure 7 (a) and 7 (b) illustrate the degradation performance of COD and TSS from [HC] method.
The 4 LPM variant produced the best performance with degradation of 485 mg/L COD and 288 mg/L
TSS, followed by 3 LPM variant with 239 mg/L COD and 275 mg/L TSS, and 2 LPM variant with
221 mg/L COD and 259 mg/L TSS during the 180 minutes of process. During the process, the
cavitation micro bubbles from [HC] establishing a local extreme condition of pressure and temperature
which initiate the thermal dissociation reaction of water as illustrated in Equation 1 to Equation 6.
From these reactions, oxidative species such as OH radicals, hydrogen peroxide, and O3 are produced
[19]. The higher the flow rate being used, the stronger the cavitation phenomenon and the bigger the
quantity of oxidative species being generated in the system. The cavitation phenomenon also gives an
increase in contact area between oxidative species and pollutant compounds, thus causing a more
effective degradation process [20]. The local effects of extreme thermal-mechanic from cavitation
phenomenon are also involved in degrading the pollutant compounds. Those things made the
degradation performance of the [HC] method better than [O] method.
(a) (b)
Figure 8. Degradation of COD (a) dan TSS (b) by Combination [HC/O] Method
(pH = 3.8, Flow rate = 4 LPM, Ozonator = Series Variant)
Figure 8 (a) and 8 (b) illustrate the degradation performance of COD and TSS from [HC/O]
method, where this method was capable of degrading 943 mg/L COD and 293 mg/L TSS during 180
minutes of process. The result was even better than the sum of result from [HC] method 4 LPM
variant and [O] method series variant separately. This result match the statement which said that [HC]
and [O] method have a good synergy and could be combined to produce a more efficient oxidation
process [8]. The chemical effect in this [HC/O] method was better than other methods, where the
injected O3 was effectively dissolved to the system with the help of cavitation micro bubbles. It made
the quantity of O3 molecules involved in [HC/O] method was bigger than other methods. The
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SENTEN 2018 - Symposium of Emerging Nuclear Technology and Engineering Novelty IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1198 (2019) 062007 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1198/6/062007
characteristic of ozone as a selective oxidizer helped the process to degrade COD and TSS more
accurate and effective. The high concentration of OH radicals in [HC/O] method also helped in
degrading COD and TSS in the system.
5. Conclusions
The [O], [HC], and [HC/O] method are proven to have capability in degrading pollutant parameters of
tofu wastewater, where the [HC/O] method (4 LPM variant of flowrate and series variant of ozonator)
produced the best result with degradation of 943 mg/L COD and 293 mg/L TSS in 180 minutes
duration of process.
The flowrate being used has a positive impact on the COD and TSS degradation performance,
where the higher the flowrate then the better the degradation performance. The 4 LPM variant of [HC]
was found capable of degrading 485 mg/L COD and 288 mg/L TSS, while the 3 and 2 LPM variants
were only capable of degrading 239 mg/L COD and 275 mg/L TSS, 221 mg/L COD and 259 mg/L
TSS accordingly.
The dosage of ozone being used has a positive impact on the COD and TSS degradation
performance, where the higher the dosage of ozone then the higher the degradation performance. The
series variant of [O] method (128.92 mg/h O3) was found capable of degrading 136 mg/L COD and
233 mg/L TSS, while the single variant (58.04 mg/h O3) was only capable of degrading 92 mg/L COD
and 153 mg/L TSS.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by Hibah PITTA 2017 UI Contract No. 776/UN2.R3.1/HKP.05.00/2017.
The authors would like to thank Directorate of Research and Community Service UI for facilitating
this grant.
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IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1198 (2019) 062007 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1198/6/062007
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