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Successful First Use of Large-Scale Biological Fluidized Bed for Wastewater Treatment Author/Source: Sinochem New Network Date: June 20, 2019 Clicks: 8 World Challenge in Treating Wastewater from Ethylene Glycol Production Solved A global challenge that has plagued the wastewater treatment sector in the coal chemical industry has been resolved recently. On June 17, He Qingsheng, the project leader of the Luoyang Technology R&D Center of Sinopec Refining & Chemical Engineering Group, said that China’s first large-scale industrial biological fluidized bed A/O wastewater treatment facility successfully passed the evaluation by a panel of experts in Yichang City, Hubei Province. The evaluation results showed that the overall technology is at an internationally advanced level. The expert panel organized by Sinopec concluded that the large-scale biological fluidized bed A/O wastewater treatment industrial system overcomes the traditional biochemical wastewater treatment methods, enabling a revolutionary approach to centralized and enclosed wastewater treatment. Compared with conventional processes, it reduces the required land area by 54%, exhaust gas emissions by 80%, excess sludge volume by 43%, operating costs by 30%, and investment costs by 16%; its overall technology is at an internationally advanced level. It is understood that many domestic companies are currently planning to build new or expand existing coal-based ethylene glycol production facilities. “The construction of coal-based ethylene glycol plants has created favorable market prospects for the wastewater treatment technologies associated with them. However, coal chemical industry wastewater is abundant in volume and complex in composition, and its treatment methods represent a global challenge. ”He Qingsheng said that, based on an analysis of the wastewater treatment practices in several large-scale coal chemical enterprises that are already in operation, there is currently no stable, effective, and cost-effective comprehensive wastewater treatment solution for coal chemicals. The successful industrial application of the biological fluidized bed A/O wastewater treatment technology opens up new options for coal-based ethylene glycol manufacturers when choosing appropriate wastewater treatment methods. It is reported that for a long time, traditional biological treatment tanks have been used in China to handle industrial wastewater. The biochemical tank is an open-type aeration tank that easily leads to the emission of large amounts of waste gas, severely polluting the surrounding atmospheric environment. At the same time, aeration tanks require a large amount of space, wastewater stays there for a long time, and the leaked sewage can easily contaminate the soil and groundwater. In April 2018, a new type of intelligent wastewater treatment system was put into operation at the 200 cubic meters per hour comprehensive wastewater treatment facility built as part of Sinopec Hubei Fertilizer Company’s coal-based ethylene glycol production project. “This marks the first industrial application of the biological fluidized bed A/O wastewater treatment technology, which can replace traditional biochemical tanks and significantly improve reaction efficiency, thereby bringing about substantial changes in wastewater treatment. ”He Qingsheng said. “Using this new process to treat industrial wastewater allows for the simultaneous removal of pollutants such as COD, ammonia nitrogen, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus from the wastewater. ”He Qingsheng told reporters that the core of this system is the use of a multi-stage intensified gas-liquid-solid three-phase fluidized bed to replace traditional aeration tanks, thereby enabling wastewater treatment to shift from a \"field-based\" approach to a \"plant-based\" one. “The successful industrial application of the biological fluidized bed A/O wastewater treatment technology marks a historic breakthrough in achieving higher efficiency, modular design, sealed operation, and intelligent control in wastewater treatment. To date, this technology has obtained 5 **patents for invention and 10 utility model patents. ”He Qingsheng said.