Wastewater treatment stations for dairy plants and cheese-making plants

All areas of milk collection and cooling of modern dairy plants are necessarily equipped with treatment facilities. Skimming stations, where raw material is processed into products like fermented baked milk, sour cream, kefir, etc., are no exception. Today, no milk canning plant, or powdered or condensed milk plant, or cheese-making or oil-pressing factory can work without such equipment.

Brief description of the technology of wastewater treatment with REEF-made stations at dairy processing plants

All wastewater pollutants are conveyed onto the TehGrid mechanical bar screen, which filters large objects. At the next stage, the wastewater is clarified from unemulsified oils and greases in the fat catching and sedimentation unit, or primary clarifier. Rising greases are removed by a special scraper mechanism. All greasy mass is conveyed into a special dumpster and is intended for disposal. While the sediment remain in the sludge collector tank.

The following stage is the equalization tank (TehTank). It is necessary to create working pH values during coagulation and chemical neutralization of all wastewater to achieve required maximum allowable concentration (TLV) (as pH is far from normal values of 6.5–8.5) before it is carried forward for flotation.

The control of pH is done with an automated pH-meter, and the TehSP reagents feeder station brings pH values in equalization tank to the necessary values with necessary solution of neutralizing substance. The compressor specially provided for by the company mixes wastewaters to prevent the deposition of sediment and to decrease the concentration of rotting smells.

After that, the waste flow from equalization tank flows into the TehFlo foam and floatation separation unit. After the wastewater has passed two phases through first and second stage flotation units, a higher degree of treatment will be achieved.

All wastewater flow in the foam and floatation separation unit is clarified from light and hydrophobic suspended solids. At the same time the foam is removed by sludge removing mechanism and is dumped into the sludge collector tank.

Besides, to accelerate the entire process of treatment, a 0.1% water solution of flocculant is introduced (also through the Chemicals Management Complex) into wastewater flow in the dose of 1-2 g/m³, the preparation and dosage of which is also done by reagents feeder station.

The processing of wastewater with special reagents is mandatory at the two stages of physical and chemical treatment. The wastewater to be discharged (through special pumping unit in the end of second stage flotation unit) is the one that has passed the two-stage floatation treatment. This pumping unit ensures the functioning of flotation unit in recirculation mode.