Desalination 255 (2010) 175–178

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Desalination
j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s e v i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / d e s a l

Cement kiln dust and coal filters treatment of textile industrial effluents
Esawy Kasem Mahmoued
Tanta University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Soil and Water Science, Egypt

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Effluent discharge from textile industries to neighbouring water bodies and wastewater treatment systems is
Received 27 October 2009 currently causing significant health concerns to environmental regulatory agencies. This study records lab
Received in revised form 18 December 2009 scale experiments to test efficiency of cement kiln dust (CKD) and CKD + Coal filters in removing a colour,
Accepted 30 December 2009
turbidity, and organic substances (BOD and COD) and heavy metals from textile wastewater. The results
Available online 4 February 2010
showed that the negligible difference between the CKD filter at hydraulic loading 0.5 and 1.0 m3/m2 h in the
Keywords:
removal efficiency COD and colour and increasing of seed germination for treated of textile industrial
Textile effluents effluents. The higher efficiency of CKD + Coal than CKD filters for COD and colour removal of textile
Seed germination wastewater at hydraulic loading of 1.0 m3/m2 h. CKD + Coal filter could remove about 97% of colour, 76% of
Cement kiln dust turbidity, 84% of COD, 77% of BOD and 94% of PO4−3 from raw textile wastewater and it's increased in seed
Hydraulic loading germination of cress (Lepidium sativum) to 100%. The experimental results confirmed that CKD + Coal filter
Dyes can be adopted as a decolorization and heavy metals of textile industrial effluents.
Crown Copyright © 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Wastewater from dye houses can have strong impacts on the
aquatic environment. Due to its complex chemical structure, dye is one
of the most difficult constituents in the textile wastewater to treat. The
treatment of dye house wastewater constitutes major economical and
environmental issues [1]. Textile industries consume substantial
volumes of water and chemicals for wet processing of textiles. These
chemicals are used for desizing, scouring, bleaching, dyeing, printing
and finishing. They range from inorganic compounds and elements to
polymers and organic products. There are more than 8000 chemical
products associated with the dyeing process listed in the colour index
[2,3]. These dyes include several structural varieties of dyes, such as
acidic, reactive, basic, disperse, azo, diazo, anthraquinone-based and
metal-complex dyes. Interest in the pollution potential of textile dyes
has been primarily prompted by concern over their possible toxicity
and carcinogenicity [4]. Process wastewater from textile manufactur-
ing is typically alkaline and has high BOD and COD loads. Pollutants in
textile effluents include suspended solids, organic and inorganic
compounds. Effluent streams from dyeing process are typically hot and
colored and may contain significant concentrations of heavy metals
[5].
Government legislation is becoming more stringent in the
developed countries regarding the removal of dyes from industrial
effluents, which is in turn becoming an increasing problem for the
textile industries. Environmental-protection agencies in Egypt are
promoting prevention of transferral of pollution problems from one
E-mail address: dr_3esawe@yhaoo.com.
part of an environment to another. This means that for most textile
industries, developing on-site or in-plant facilities to treat their own
effluents before discharge is fast approaching actuality. Recently, state
and federal agencies in the USA have been requiring lower effluent
colour limits (b200 units of American Dye Manufacturers Institute,
ADMI) [6]. Presence of colour in the wastewater is one of the main
problems in the textile industry. Colours are easily visible to human
eyes even at very low concentration. Hence, colour from textile wastes
carries significant esthetic importance. Most of the dyes are stable and
has no effect of light or oxidizing agents. They are also not easily
degradable by the conventional treatment methods. Removal of dyes
from the effluent is a major problem in most of the textile industries.
The physical and chemical techniques include electrochemical,
membrane — filtration, ion-exchange, irradiation and ozonation
used for textile effluent treatment. Some of these techniques have
been shown to be effective, although they have shortcomings. Among
these are: excess amount of sludge generation with obvious disposal
problems; costly plant requirements or operating expenses; lack of
effective colour reduction, particularly for sulfonated azo dyes; and
sensitivity to a variable wastewater input [7].
Most of the contaminants in industrial effluents are poorly soluble
in water, resist biological degradation, and may exert significant
toxicity toward the mixed microbial communities within biological
treatment systems [8].
Recently, Sen and De [9] reviewed a wide variety of low-cost
adsorbents for the removal of heavy metals and dyes. Activated
carbon is the most popular adsorbent, which is capable of adsorbing
many dyes with a high adsorption capacity. But it is expensive and the
costs of regeneration are high because desorption of the dye
molecules is not easily achieved. The high cost of activated carbon

0011-9164/$ – see front matter. Crown Copyright © 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.desal.2009.12.025
176 E.K. Mahmoued / Desalination 255 (2010) 175–178

has inspired a search for suitable low-cost adsorbents. A low-cost Table 1

adsorbent is defined as one which is abundant in nature, or is a by- Characteristics of textile effluent from El-Amerya for spinning and weaving com.

product or waste material from another industry. Some of the low- No. Sample pH TDS Turbidity BOD COD BOD/COD
cost adsorbents already reported for the removal of dyes and Hg (II) mg l−1 NTU mg l−1 mg l−1
are fly ash [10], coal [11,12], tree bark and fertilizer waste [13], and 1 27/3/2008 10.0 1365 46 430 830 0.52
used tea leaves [14]. 2 11/5/2008 11.0 1360 54 450 850 0.53
The aim of this study was to find out the effectiveness of CKD and 3 30/9/2008 10.0 1360 16 480 1800 0.26
4 7/11/2008 12.3 1967 563 500 3700 0.13
CKD + Coal filters on germination test of cress (Lepidium sativum) and
5 5/12/2008 10.5 1920 95 300 5733 0.05
removal colour, turbidity, organic substances (BOD and COD) and 6 5/3/2009 12.5 1884 76 432 1179 0.37
heavy metals of textile wastewater generated in El-Amerya for Range 10.0–12.5 1360–1967 16–563 300–500 830–5733 0.13–0.53
spinning and weaving com. Egypt.

2. Materials and methods
2.1. Experimental equipment and flow process
Batch laboratory adsorption studies provide useful information on
the application of adsorption to the removal of organic and inorganic
pollutants from textile wastewater. Laboratory columns were used to
determine the treatment capacity of cement kiln dust (CKD) and
(CKD + Coal mixed by 1:1 V/V ratio) filters to treat industrial textile
wastewater. Filters were constructed from PVC columns (140 cm
length and 7.62 cm diameter) packed with 100 cm CKD or (CKD +
Coal). On top and at the bottom of the materials, a layer of 10 cm
washed, crushed stones (c.1 cm in diameter) were placed in order to
improve influent distribution and effluent drain. CKD and coal were
used without any pretreatment (particle size b1 mm). CKD is
obtained from El-Amerya of cement plants. Cement kiln dust (CKD)
is an alkaline waste material and its main components are calcium
carbonate of 47.6%; oxides of aluminum of 4.2%; iron of 2.8% and
magnesium of 2.3%; free lime of 4.8% and some alkali salts such as
sodium and potassium. Its specific gravity was 2.92 and specific
surface area 4440 cm2/g. A flow rate was adjusted by using a
peristaltic pump. The hydraulic loading rate is presented as volume
per day applied over a surface area, such as m3/m2 h. Tow hydraulic
loading rate (HL) of 0.5 and 1.0 m3/m2 h were used to study the effects
of hydraulic loading rate on treated textile wastewater. The analytical
procedures, including COD, BOD, colour, pH, EC and heavy metals
were as outlined in the Standard Methods for the Examination of
Water and Wastewater [15]. Germination test was measured in
triplicate using cress (L. sativum) as described by Mathur et al. [16].
Tissue paper layers of 2 cm thickness were laid in Petri dishes with 50
cress seed, covered with filter paper, and then soaked to treated and
raw textile wastewater saturation for the percent germination and
use distilled as control.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Characteristics of textile wastewater
Table 1 presents the characteristics of textile wastewater from El-
Amerya, Alexandria governorate for spinning and weaving com., the
average wastewater turbidity was ranged from 16 to 563 NTU.
Turbidity may be caused by dyes and pigments, binder, solvents and
others inorganic substances and also caused by a wide variety of
suspended materials (as colloidal and sub colloidal).
Concentrations of BOD and COD ranged from 300 to 500 mg l−1
and 830 to 5733 mg l−1, respectively, which would classify the
wastewater as high strength [17]. The calculated 0.05–0.52 as range of
BOD to COD ratio indicates that they may have toxic components.
With a BOD to COD ratio of 0.5 or greater, the wastewater is
considered to be easily treatable by biological means [17,18]. If the
ratio is below 0.3, either wastewater may have some toxic
components or acclimated microorganisms may be required in its
stabilization.
The total dissolved solids (TDS) ranged from 1360 to 1967 mg l−1
with 1643 average, whereas the water used is within 333 mg l−1.
Increase in the mineral content of the textile wastewater was
resulting from raw materials used in dyeing process and other
processes, it reuses potential, especially for irrigation. The wastewater
was highly alkaline (pH 10.0–12.5). This may be due to the use of
sodium hydroxide and silica in the dyeing process. Concentration of
heavy metals such as Zn, Cd and Pb in the suspended solids (ss) was
higher than in the dissolved form (Table 2). The high heavy metal
concentrations in suspended solids (ss) could be attributed to its
bound with humic substance [19]. Suspended solids occur as carriers
to heavy metals and other sources of contaminants in aquatic system.
3.2. Effects of hydraulic loading on the efficiency of CKD filter for COD
and colour removal of textile wastewater
Table 3 showed that the effects of hydraulic loading on the
efficiency of CKD filter for COD, colour removal of textile wastewater.
It can be seen that the use of hydraulic loading at 0.5 m3/m2 h resulted
in a better removal efficiency of COD and colour than the hydraulic
loading at 1.0 m3/m2 h. The results reveal that hydraulic loading at
0.5 m3/m2 h could remove about 81% of COD and 95% of colour. During
filtration, the removal of the suspended solids, colour and COD are
accomplished by a complex process involving one or more mecha-
nisms such as straining, sedimentation, interception, impaction, and
adsorption [20]. The COD adsorption mechanism is complicated and,
although the attraction is primarily physical, is a combination of
physical, chemical, and electrostatic interactions between the CKD
and the organic compounds. Adsorption of organics by precipitation is
the more dominant mechanism at higher pH [21].
3.3. Effects of CKD filter on seed germination of textile wastewater
Seed germination of cress (L. sativum) was used to obtain
feasibility reuse of treated textile wastewater in irrigation. Seed
germination index (GI) is a good indicator for phytotoxicity [22]. The
results showed that seed germination for raw textile wastewater
ranged from 15 to 40% (Table 3). While, seed germination of the
treated effluents was about 100% for hydraulic loading of 0.5 and
1.0 m3/m2 h. Thus, hydraulic loading of 1.0 m3/m2 h was chosen for
the next phase of experiments. Decrease of the seed germination in
raw textile wastewater reflects the wastewater phytotoxicity.
Table 2
Average concentration of heavy metals such as Zn, Cd and Pb (mg l−1) in the suspended
solids and dissolved water of textile wastewater at sample time (11/5/2008, 30/9/2008,
7/11/2008, 5/12/2008, and 5/3/2009).
Elements Average concentration of heavy metals Total heavy metals
Dissolved Suspended solids(ss)
Zn 0.02 780.2 780.22
Cd 0.05 40.6 40.65
Pb 1.02 840.2 841.22
 E.K. Mahmoued / Desalination 255 (2010) 175–178 177

Table 3 Table 5
Effect of hydraulic loading rate on the efficiency of CKD filter for COD, colour removal Characteristics of treated effluent by (CKD + Coal) filter at hydraulic loading of
and germination index of textile wastewater. 1.0 m3/m2 h.

Samples Date Hydraulic loading rate Hydraulic loading rate Parameters Units Crude sewage, (CKD + Coal) Removal Water criteria
at 0.5 m3/m2 h at 1.0 m3/m2 h average filter, average % of irrigationa
(n = 10) (n – 10)
COD Colour GI COD Colour GI
mg/l PCU % mg/l PCU % pH 11.1 8.03 6.5–8.4
TDS mg l−1 1528 1986 2000
Raw 5/3/2009 1179 1220 20 1179 1220 20
Colour PCU 1366 34 97 b 200
Treated 240 52 100 263 111 100
Turbidity NTU 103 4.6 96
Removal,% 79.6 95.7 77.7 90.9
COD mg l−1 1244 203 84 60b
Raw 9/4/2009 892 1010 15 892 1010 15
BOD mg l−1 458 106 77 40b
Treated 162 44 100 173 83 100
PO4 mg l−1 17.45 0.98 94
Removal,% 81.8 95.6 80.6 91.8
Fe mg l−1 0.07 5.00
Raw 16/7/2009 645 218 40 645 218 40
Zn mg l−1 0.01 2.00
Treated 118 26 100 130 38 100
Mn mg l−1 0.09 0.20
Removal,% 81.7 88.1 79.8 82.6
Cu mg l−1 0.03 0.20
Cd mg l−1 0.01 0.01
Pb mg l−1 0.35 5.00
Ni mg l−1 0.12 0.20
Phytotoxicity can result from several factors the most important of a
US. EPA 1993.
which are toxic organic compounds such as dyes, low molecular b
Egypt (48/1982).
weight organic acids [23,24], phenolic acids [25], salts, ammonia, and
heavy metals [26,27].
and heavy metal concentration of treated effluents are within the
acceptable range for irrigation [29]. In fact, heavy metals were
3.4. Comparison between CKD and (CKD + Coal) filters for treated textile reduced during CKD + Coal filter, presumably due to adsorption/
wastewater precipitation reactions. Reduction of heavy metals by CKD may be
attributed to adsorption of heavy metals on calcium carbonate
The higher efficiency of CKD + Coal than CKD filters for COD and existing in CKD. In the formation of surface metal-complexes, these
colour removal of textile wastewater at hydraulic loading of 1.0 m3/ complexes may be formed due to the interaction of metal with surface
m2 h was shown in (Table 4). The results reveal that (CKD + Coal) sites of oxides such as Fe–OH, Al–OH and Si–OH that are found in CKD
filter could remove about 81–87% of COD and 100% of colour. Seed and may also be reduced by precipitation with high pH. CKD + Coal
germination of treated water by CKD + Coal filter was higher than filter is expected to remove phosphorus from wastewater by surface
CKD filter. Mixed CKD and coal had been improved effluents quality of adsorption and precipitation reactions. A surface phase may form with
textile effluents for removal COD and colour (Tables 3 and 4). These a composition that varies continuously between that of the original
improvements may be attributed to the increase of surface area of coal solid and that of a pure precipitate of the adsorbing ion [30].
for adsorption of toxic organic and inorganic compounds of concern in In the CKD–wastewater system, pH was increased to about 12.
these effluents. Similar effects have been previously noted with Similar effects have been found in the treatment of municipal
activated carbon in the treatment of various industrial wastewaters wastewater [31]. The increases in the pH of effluents may be due to
[28]. CaCO3 and some alkali salts that are found in CKD. The pH of treated
effluents decreased to about 8.03 after 1 h from the effluent
3.5. Characteristics of treated effluent downward. These decreases may be attributed to the buffer capacity
of effluents by the CO2–HCO3–CO3 equilibrium [21] and may also be
The characteristics of textile wastewater samples before and after decreased by interaction between CO2 and H2O to formed H2CO3.
treatment, using CKD + Coal filter at hydraulic loading of 1.0 m3/m2 h BOD and COD concentrations in CKD + Coal filter are higher than
compared to water criteria for irrigation was shown in (Table 5). The in the Egyptian guideline for irrigation. But most dissolved organic
results reveal that CKD + Coal filter could remove about 97% of colour, matter (DOM) in the effluents of CKD + Coal filter is presumed to be
76% of turbidity, 84% of COD, 77% of BOD and 94% of PO4−3. Salinity mainly in the form of low molecular weight organic molecules, as they
are not favorably removed by the CKD + Coal filter compared to the
more complex molecules. These simple organic molecules are easily
biodegradable; thereby BOD of the treated water is expected to
Table 4
Comparison between CKD and (CKD + Coal) filters for treated textile wastewater at decrease after discharge to the receiving waters. It is worth noting
hydraulic loading of 1.0 m3/m2 h. that over limited values of BOD and COD in treated wastewaters have
no harmful effect on growing plants (as GI values). These improve-
Samples Date CKD + Coal (1:1 V/V) CKD
ments may be attributed to the adsorption of toxic organic and
COD Colour GI COD Colour GI
inorganic compounds of concern in these effluents by CKD which
mg/l PCU % mg/l PCU %
caused phytotoxicity for growing plants.
Raw 13/8 1046 495 17 1046 480 17
Treated 197 0 100 286 10 100
4. Conclusion
Removal,% 81 100 73 98
Raw 4/11 1260 1782 18 1260 1782 10
Treated 201 10 100 310 69 93 This study showed that the addition of coal to CKD at a hydraulic
Removal,% 84 99 75 96 loading rate of 1.0 m3/m2 h was effective in the removing of colour,
Raw 26/10 1836 1989 15 1836 1989 15
COD, BOD and heavy metals from textile industrial effluents and
Treated 230 13 100 400 96 86
Removal,% 87 99 78 95 increasing of seed germination for treated effluents compared to CKD
Raw 4/11 899 1216 20 899 1216 20 only. Salinity and heavy metal concentration of treated effluents by
Treated 150 11 100 205 58 100 CKD + Coal filter are within the acceptable range for irrigation. Thus,
Removal,% 83 99 77 95 CKD + Coal filter can be used as a simple technology and a low-cost
Removal range 81–87 99–100 73–78 95–98
effective treatment of textile industrial effluents.
178 E.K. Mahmoued / Desalination 255 (2010) 175–178
Acknowledgement
I wish to thank the Misr El Ameria for spinning and weaving com.
Egypt for providing the wastewater samples and Tanta University,
Tanta Agricultural, Egypt, for funding and support in realizing this
work.
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