Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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WASTE TREATMENT COMPOSITION AND METHOD
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The use of bacteria .in waste treatment is well known in the art.
Effluent from organic material often cannot be pumped into streams
because the levels of pollutants such as organic waste (for example,
sugar and carbohydrates) are too high. The level of these and other
pollutants in water is measured as "biological oxygen demand" or BOD.
The BOD is the amount of biological activity required to break down
pollutants present in the effluent.
The pollution potential which results from a very high biological
oxygen demand (BOD) is generated wherever there is an excess of
carbohydrates, sugars or organic materials. Various industries, such as
pulp and paper mills, municipal treatment plants, lagoon systems,
biodigesters, and chemical companies produce such effluent with high
BOD. In addition, high BOD is generated from food processing plants
(i.e., beets, cotton and the like), hog farms and chicken farms. ' For
example, if the effluent from a paper or pulp plant were released into a
stream or lake, the bacteria present in the stream or lake would begin to
breakdown and consume the sugars in the effluent. In doing so, the
bacteria would also consume much of the oxygen in the stream or lake,
thus robbing the oxygen needed for aquatic plant and animal life. Often,
fish kills and down stream pollution result.
In the pulp and paper industry, water is used to wash or clean the
raw wood pulp of sugars and carbohydrates, which are naturally,
present in the raw material wood. This "wash water" results in effluent
from the process, which contains high amounts of sugars and
carbohydrates. To lower the BOD, the water must first be cleaned by
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removing or lowering the level of sugars and carbohydrates present.
This is accomplished by treating the effluent in a waste water treatment
plant or pond. The resulting treated water may then be released into
open streams and lakes.
In the paper and pulp industry, the treatment process often
involves a series of holding ponds connected to a water treatment plant.
Additional bacteria are added to the holding pond wafer to speed the
consumption and breakdown of the sugars in, the effluent. It is known
in the art that the performance of the treatment system and the bacteria
therein is significantly enhanced by adding proper amounts of nitrogen
(N) and phosphorous (P) to the water in' the holding ponds. This creates
an environment where the bacteria enjoy a more properly balanced
source of nutrient. The bacteria are in turn stimulated to grow and
reproduce more rapidly resulting in higher consumption of the
undesirable sugars and carbohydrates.
The prior art solutions to these problems have normally used
anhydrous ammonia and phosphoric acid for the sources of nitrogen and
phosphorous, respectively. Inclusion of the anhydrous ammonia and
phosphoric acid into the waste water is typically accomplished by
separately pumping a desired amount of each of the chemicals into the
settling ponds where the bacteria are preseht. A major drawback to
these solutions is that each chemical must be typically stored and
handled separately, thus requiring separate storage tanks, pumping and
handling systems.
While the prior art process is and has been used for years, still
other problems arise with the use of anhydrous ammonia and phosphoric
acid, particularly in today's environmentally conscious world. Both
anhydrous ammonia and phosphoric acid are classified and labeled as
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hazardous. Each requires special storage vessels and handling
precautions. Ammonia is a caustic and toxic gas and can be very
dangerous if a leak occurs. Further, ammonia is classified as an
inhalation hazard. U.S. EPA considers anhydrous ammonia an
"extremely hazardous substance" and tracks its use closely. Anhydrous
ammonia is therefore very hazardous. As the raw ammonia gas is
pumped into a treatment pond, it is not unusual to have gas released
into the air. This, of course, creates problems with respect to
complaints from surrounding areas and neighbors. Also, anhydrous
ammonia must be stored under pressure in special anhydrous ammonia
storage tanks. This use of anhydrous ammonia requires extra personnel
to handle the separate storage and delivery system together with special
training of personnel.
Phosphoric acid, while comparatively safer than ammonia gas (a
caustic base), is a caustic acid and is also classified as a hazardous
material. Phosphoric acid also requires its own separate storage and
handling system, including special training of personnel; special handling
procedures, special plumbing, and special storage tanks with proper
secondary containment. The phosphoric acid is typically pumped
directly into the settling ponds and can also be an environmental
problem if spilled.
While the above process of combining anhydrous ammonia and
phosphoric acid does ultimately work to decrease the organic pollutants
and improve the BOD levels, there are other problems with this prior art
process. The use of the phosphoric acid and the anhydrous ammonia
provides a caustic combination of acid and base that tends to kill a
proportion of the bacteria. The bacteria population must then replenish
itself which takes time and energy. Therefore, there is a need for a
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composition, which is more efficient and less, detrimental to the
beneficial bacteria being used to treat the waste.
A need also exists for a treatment system that addresses all the
environmental concerns presented by biological waste, while at the
same time not involving high capital costs.
A need exists for a product which presents less risks to handlers
and which is environmentally friendly and employee safe. It would be of
great environmental benefit to have an inexpensive and safe
composition and method for reducing biological oxygen demand (BOD)
in waste.
There is a further need to provide a product that can be delivered
in a convenient and safe manner to the end user.
There is a further need to provide a waste treatment, composition
and method, which are less caustic in nature to the waste material being
treated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a composition and a method
of treating waste which reduces many of the problems of the prior art,
particularly the environmental problems. The composition and method
of treating waste according to the present invention are classified as
neither toxic nor hazardous. The composition and method may be used
in all types of waste treatment systems where it is desired to add
nitrogen (N) and/or phosphorous (P) to stimulate proper bacteria growth.
The composition and method supplies both the required nitrogen
and phosphorous to waste treatment ponds or treatment plants. The
composition is supplied to the ponds as a single product and only
requires a single, simple storage and handling system. The composition
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is a clear liquid, which has no odor and has a desired relatively neutral
pH in the range of about 5.6 to about 6.8. The composition comprises,
in combination, preferred amounts of urea ammonium nitrate,
ammonium phosphate, water and free urea (urea liquor).
5 The present inverition comprises a composition and a method,
which is especially useful in the treatment of waste water having
beneficial bacteria added thereto. In such treatments of waste water,
the bacteria have been added to the waste water to break down and
consume the plant or organic biological material, thereby reducing the
BOD. The composition and method, while useful in stimulating bacteria
for use in the organic waste treatment systems, can also be used
effectively for any waste water treatment system where sugars,
carbohydrates, proteins or other undesirable factions are to be
consumed, reduced, or removed by the appropriate bacteria.
The composition of the present invention has a combination of
nitrogen and phosphorous which provides a pH balanced composition
which is more palatable .to the beneficial bacteria. The composition of
the present invention is not caustic and does not kill bacteria and,
therefore works more efficiently. In various test examples it has been
shown that use of the composition of the present invention uses up to
85% less material than prior art products. Since less of the composition
of the present invention is necessary to produce favorable results, the
cost of using the composition is less than currently available methods of
treating waste.
One major advantage of the present invention is that the
composition of the present invention can be mixed together by a
producer and sent to the end user in a single tank. There is no need to
keep separate the ingredients such as in the prior art wherein anhydrous
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ammonia and phosphoric acid had to be separately delivered to the end
user and stored in separate areas until use.
Further, the present invention allows the end user to have
delivered a product which is ready to use and can be readily modified
according to the needs of the waste being treated. For example, when
the temperature, rainfall, or amount of waste product being, produced
changes or where different trees or pulp that have different amounts of
carbohydrates and sugar are part of the waste, the end user must vary
the amounts of nitrogen and phosphorous being delivered. According to
the present invention, the composition can be readily changed to meet
the needs of the end user.
Another advantage of the present invention is that a portion of
the nitrogen present in the composition is in the form of nitrate nitrogen.
This is a significant and key difference in the formulation of the present
invention over prior art formulations. The amount of nitrate nitrogen in
the composition of the present invention has the following advantages.
There are at least two important forms of nitrogen molecules:
ammonium (NH4) and nitrate (N03) molecules. Bacteria prefer to
consume both nitrate and ammonium nitrogen and the bacteria perform
better when the bacteria have access to both forms of nitrogen.
Since the bacteria live in an aerobic environment and require
oxygen to survive, much of the oxygen comes from the free oxygen in
the water. Bacteria may also get some of the required oxygen while
consuming the nitrate form of nitrogen because the nitrate molecules
N03 contain three units of oxygen along with the nitrogen. The absence
of nitrate nitrogen in the water requires bacteria to live solely on
ammonium nitrogen, which prevents optimum efficiency in the
consumption sugars and carbohydrates.
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In order to have the most efficient reduction in BOD, there must
be a proper balance of NH4, N03 and 02 present in the waste water.
When oxygen in the water is low or in short supply, the bacteria begin
to seek out other sources of oxygen in the water. Normally the ,bacteria
seek nitrate (N03) molecules since they are a source of both oxygen and
nitrogen. If both oxygen and NO'3 molecules are low or in short supply,
bacteria seek out oxygen from sources such as sulfate (S04) molecules,
which are often naturally present in most waste water. In this case, the
bacteria will remove the oxygen from the S04 molecule. Removal of the
oxygen from the sulfate molecules eventually results in the formation of
hydrogen sulfide gas. This gas results in undesirable odors since
hydrogen sulfide gas has a smell of rotten eggs. Thus, the absence of
sufficient oxygen along with low or no nitrates in the water can result in
increase in undesirable odors from the treatmerit system.
If there is no or insufficient nitrate nitrogen in the water, the
bacteria can convert the urea nitrogen into the nitrate form in order to
have nitrates available for consumption. However, this conversion of
urea nitrogen to the nitrate form by the bacteria requires time and
energy which makes the conversion process a less efficient method.
The formulation of the present invention may include a preferred
amount of nitrogen already in the nitrate form. The presence of the
nitrogen in a nitrate form improves the efficiency of the bacterial
conversion of sugars and carbohydrates in the waste water. In
preferred embodiments, the nitrates in the composition are present at
about 10 to about 25% of all 'nitrogen in the composition.
Another advantage of the present invention is that desired ratios
of nitrogen to phosphorous present in the composition are optimized. It
is to be understood that the ratio of nitrogen to phosphorous in the
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composition of the present invention can range from, about 10 to 35
nitrogen to about 10 to 0 phosphorous, depending on the desired use of
the composition. Certain preferred embodiments have the following
ranges of nitrogen to phosphorous ratios: about 7-8 nitrogen to 1
phosphorous; 7 nitrogen to 3 phosphorous; 8 nitrogen to 3
phosphorous, 10 nitrogen to 0 phosphorous; 14 nitrogen to 1
phosphorous, 9-10 nitrogen to 1 phosphorous; and 17-18 nitrogen to 1
phosphorous.
In certain embodiments, a preferred maximum percent of nitrogen
to phosphorous in the ingredients of the composition is shown in the
Table I below.
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Table I
N P
Urea Ammonium Nitrate (UAN) 32% 0
Ammonium Polyphosphate (APP) 11 % 37%
Water and free urea (Urea Liquor - UL) 25% 0%
Table II shows the results of use of the waste water treatment
composition of the present invention in treating pulp and paper mill
effluent throughout a one-year period of time as compared to a previous
year. The percent reduction in nutrients steadily increased throughout
the year.
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The present invention also provides an improved method for
treatment of waste water by combining the ingredients of the
composition together into a single product, which can then be stored in
a single tank. The composition is added to a waste treatment tank or pond
where the desired bacteria are present. As shown in Table II, the
composition and method of the present invention provides a non-toxic,
neutral pH composition, which is non-hazardous and non-corrosive. Use
of the composition is employee friendly, bacteria friendly and
environmentally friendly. There are no special handling needs and the
material is useable without needing to be transported or stored under
pressure. The composition requires no mixing by the end user prior to
being added into the waste water. Further, no special equipment is
required in order to receive, store, handle or deliver the composition into
the waste water system.
The .ingredients in the composition, according to the invention,
can be present in different amounts, depending on the need to stimulate
bacteria growth and/or the waste being treated. Table III below shows
various ranges in parts by weight, of the ingredients, which are useful.
Table III
Broad Intermediate Narrow
Urea Ammonium Nitrate (UAN) 0-100% 40-55% 44-50%
Ammonium Polyphosphate (APP) 0-25% \ 3-15% 4-8%
Water and Free Urea (urea liquor-UL) 0-100% 30-57% 46-52%
Table IV shows one preferred embodiment of the composition
designed specifically for the paper and pulp industry.
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Table IV
Parts By Weight
Urea Ammonium Nitrate (UAN) 46%
Ammonium Polyphosphate (APP) 8%
Water and Free Urea (urea liquor-UL) Balance
The composition in Table IV has a specific gravity of 1.20 and a
pH of 6.00-6.25. The nitrogen to phosphorous ratio is 8:1. It should be
understood, however, in treating different types of wastes, different
ratios of nitrogen and phosphorous may be present in the composition
product. Tables V and VI show further compositions, in parts by
weight, of ingredients that are also useful.
Table V
UAN 45.3
APP 7.7%
Urea Liquor 47%
Table VI
UAN 50.0%
APP 4.5
Urea Liquor 45.2%
It is to be understood that the composition of the present
invention and its use is compatible with growth enhancers and
biostimulants, which are used to aid in the growth of the beneficial
bacteria. The growth enhancers have optimum amounts of essential
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nutrients. The choice and amount of biostimulant varies as a function
of various factors including type of bacteria present, the composition's
ingredients, the composition of the waste water being treated, and
climatic and environmental conditions. In certain embodiments it is
useful to include certain biostimulants such as organic acids and/or
auximones, including humic and fluvic acids which improve palatability
and digestion of waste material, as well as amino acids, amino purines,
butyric acid, gibberellic acid and folic acids for additional carbon and
energy sources. Additionally, certain embodiments may also include
other biostimulants such as enzymes, cytokinins, glycine betaine, and
methyl glucoside for increased metabolism, and iron and other trace
elements for proper energy conversion and bacterial community health.
Many revisions may be made to the ranges in the composition, as
indicated in the Examples above without departing from the scope of
the present invention.
