Extraction of waste water from biomass gasification

A waste water mixture from the pyrolysis of cattle manure, wood residues and corn stover was examined. Some methods of waste water treatment were screened. Activated carbon adsorption and solvent (carbontetrachloride, methylene chloride, n-butyl alcohol and methyl ethyl ketone) extraction were the methods chosen to treat the waste water. The results showed that dual solvent extraction using methyl ethyl ketone as a polar solvent to extract the valuable pollutants from the waste water and nhexane as a volatile solvent to recover the dissolved, polar solvent from the extracted water is an effective method to treat the waste water. A computer program has been developed to aid in the design of a solvent extraction column.