Application of synthetic polyamine flocculants for dye wastewater treatment

Polyamine flocculants were synthesized and applied for the removal of color , turbidity, and organic compounds from dye wastewater. The effect of polya mine on color removal was investigated by comparing 2 treatments: 1) alum a lone and 2) alum/polyamine in combination. The effects of polyamine floccul ant, concentration, types, and pH on the removal efficiency of colored mate rials were investigated. Polyamine flocculants were highly efficient in the removal of color and turbidity from dye wastewater. Compared with alum alo ne treatment, an addition of 25 mg/L of polyamine could reduce alum dosage by more than 50% and improve the color and turbidity removal efficiency. Hi ghly efficient color removal was obtained by adding polyamine as a floccula nt at widely different pH ranges. Results indicate that the use of polyamin e flocculant is cost effective in dye wastewater treatment because it minim izes the amount of sludge produced as the dosage of inorganic coagulant is highly reduced. Effects of zeta potential and pH are also discussed in the paper.