Produção de biocoagulante a partir de sementes de moringa oleífera para substituição de sulfato de alumínio no tratamento de águas em ETAs

Abstract

The distribution of water with a quality standard and extreme importance, for this purpose water treatment is carried out where the particulate material suspended in the water body comes from, it is known that as suspended there, they are a potential vehicle for the transport of pathogenic microorganisms. To carry out the water treatment, conventional processes that involve the stages of coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation and filtration are used. The coagulation step occurs from the addition of a coagulant, synthetic or natural under rapid and then slow synthesis, followed by the sedimentation and filtration step. The choice of coagulant depends on the characteristics of the water body to be treated and on its technology, efficiency and cost. Synthetic chemical coagulants are the most used in Water Treatment Plants (WTP) due to their efficiency in the process, but several problems related to their use, such as the amount of sludge generated, potential risk to human health, operational problems and added value to the coagulant . In view of this, several studies for the development of natural coagulants have been carried out as an alternative to the use of coagulants. White acacia (Moringa oleífera) is a natural tree from northern India and found in subtropical regions, the species produces fruits with seeds, these seeds are of environmental interest because they are rich in cationic protein, exploited in the production of biocoagulant. The use of ground Moringa oleifera seeds as a biocoagulant allows the removal of microorganisms in distilled water for human consumption, in addition to generating biodegradable sludge. Therefore, this course conclusion work aims to obtain a biocoagulant based on Moringa oil seeds as a substitute for Aluminum Sulphate in the treatment of water in WTP. With the result of the physical characterizations a Sauter diameter of 0.6675 mm was obtained, a real specific mass of 0.530 g/cm3 and a moisture content of 6.65% present in the dry seed. The results obtained with the morphological analysis, were an irregular, light yellow colored, oily and fibrous seed. The different concentrations of biocoagulant solutions produced were efficient in reducing the parameters of pH, color, turbidity, total dissolved solids, dissolved oxygen and electrical conductivity of the raw water analyzed. When compared to Aluminum Sulfate, the biocoagulant proved to be more effective in the treatment of water intended for human consumption.