WO2012176190A1

WO2012176190A1 - Method for pretreatment of wastewater and recreational water with nanocomposites

Info

Publication number: WO2012176190A1
Application number: PCT/IL2012/000245
Authority: WO
Inventors: Giora Rytwo
Original assignee: Gavish-Galilee Bio Applications Ltd
Priority date: 2011-06-23
Filing date: 2012-06-21
Publication date: 2012-12-27
Also published as: EP2723690B1; EP2723690A1; US20140042100A1; ES2859754T3; IL230108A; CN103764572A; US9546102B2; EP2723690A4

Abstract

A single step pretreatment of wastewater or recreational water is provided comprising treatment with nanocomposites consisting of an anchoring particle such as a mineral clay and a polymer, preferably a polycationic polymer.

Description

METHOD FOR PRETREATMENT OF WASTEWATER AND RECREATIONAL

WATER WITH NANOCOMPOSITES

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to treatment of wastewater or recreational water with a high organic load. In particular, it relates to a method for pretreatment of wastewater or recreational water using nanocomposites.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There is an urgent need to process specific industrial or agricultural effluents (such as olive mills, wineries, piggeries, soy or coffee bean industries) that are unsuitable for discharge into standard sewage treatment plants due to the large amounts of organic and suspended matter. The disposal of such effluents without any treatment is known to cause serious environmental problems. Wineries are major producers of organically laden wastewater, yielding about 1000-3000 L per ton of grapes characterized by high contents of organic material and nutrients, high acidity, and large variations in seasonal flow production. The very high values of organic matter, suspended solids, and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) make such water inadequate for disposal in common sewage systems.

Colloidal particles that tend to clog filtering devices are one of the problems with such effluents. In most cases, colloidal stability (i.e., the colloids' tendency to remain dispersed) of the effluents is due to the fact that the particles are very small and negatively charged, thus, the mutual repulsion forces keep the particles in suspension. In several cases pretreatment processes in wastewater involve use of chemicals for the neutralization, flocculation, and precipitation of those colloids. In most cases such treatments are based on two separate stages; (a) neutralization of the charges (a step industrially known as "coagulation") and (b) bridging between several relatively small particles to form larger aggregates that, due to their size and density, sink at the bottom of the vessel, leaving a clarified effluent (step known as "flocculation").

Such destabilization of the colloidal suspension, inducing flocculation of large amount of suspended matter, lowers values of total suspended solids (TSS), turbidity, and even the chemical oxygen demand (COD). This, in turn, improves the efficiency of following water treatments, thereby reducing environmental hazard.

Clays and organoclays (clay minerals treated with organocations) have been widely used for the pretreatment of effluents (Amuda and Amoo, 2007; Beall, 2003). Combination of clay minerals and organic compounds efficiently removed colloidal solids in paper mill wastewater. Several studies used cationic or anionic polyelectrolytes, combinations of coagulants and polyelectrolytes, or even combination of clay minerals and organic quaternary ammonium ions (Mousavi et al., 2006) for the removal of organic contaminants from olive mill wastewater. In all cases, considerable changes in the colloidal properties of the effluent, including reduction in turbidity, TSS, COD and other quality parameters was achieved.

US 6,447,686 discloses a high speed coagulant-flocculant and sedimentation method for treating waste water. The method is based on an arrangement of tanks comprising a mixing tank, an agitating tank, a polymer aggregation tank and a sedimentation tank successively connected, wherein the mixing tank comprises an aggregating agent which is based on clay minerals.

The term "nanoparticle" is usually used for a combined material which has at least on one dimension a size of 100 nm or less. Thus, most clay minerals are considered nanop articles. The use of clays as building-blocks for assembling organic species at the nanometer range yields useful hybrid nanostructured materials. Nanocomposite materials consisting of polymer molecules and natural or layered minerals like clays can be prepared and designed by the combination of clay minerals with organic polymers interacting at the molecular level (Ruiz-Hitzky, 2001).

In previous studies, we demonstrated the ability of suitable nanoparticles for very efficient removal of phenolic compounds similar to components of olive mill or winery wastewater (Rytwo et al., 2007). Other studies (Rytwo et al., 201 1a) presented a very effective pretreatment based on combination of organoclay nanoparticles and crude clay, which changed the colloidal stability of winery and pickle industry effluents, reducing TSS and turbidity for several cycles by means of a two-step process: a first step performed with an organoclay, and a second step performed by adding raw clay. In general, that process was similar to that used nowadays in the industry: (a) a coagulation step, performed in industry with cationic polymers, or with aluminium sulphate or other inorganic polycations (in that case, the coagulant was based on an organoclay), and (b) a flocculation step performed in the industry with flocculants in several cases based on cationic or anionic polyacrylamide derivatives (in that case, the flocculant was a raw clay mineral).

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

It has now been found, in accordance with the present invention, that by using nanocomposites comprised of an anchoring particle and a polymer as "coagoflocculants", a very rapid and efficient pretreatment of wastewater with a high organic load can be achieved in one single treatment step.

The present invention thus relates to a one-step method for pretreatment of wastewater or recreational water with a high organic load, said method comprising the treatment of said wastewater or recreational water with a nanocomposite consisting of an anchoring particle and a polymer.

The anchoring particles may be clay minerals, non-clay clay minerals, diatomaceous earth or powdered activated carbon.

In certain embodiments, the clay mineral is an aluminium or magnesium phyllosilicate that may be selected from sepiolite, palygorskite, smectite, montmorillonite, hectorite, laponite, bentonite, saponite and the like. In certain embodiments, the clay mineral is sepiolite or bentonite.

According to other certain embodiments, the anchoring particles are non-clay minerals such as zeolites. According to other certain embodiments, the anchoring particles consist of diatomaceous earth (diatomite or kieselguhr) or of powdered activated carbon.

The polymer for use according to the invention is preferably a polyelectrolyte, more preferably a polycationic polymer. Examples of polycationic polymers for use herein include, but are not limited to: (i) a linear water-soluble polymer such as polydiallyl- dimethylammonium chloride (herein poly-DADMAC or PDADMAC) and cationic polyacrylamide; (ii) a polyquaternium having quaternary ammonium centers in the polymer such as quaternized hydroxyethylcellulose ethoxylate (Polyquaternium 10) and poly [(2-ethyldimethylammonioethyl methacrylate ethyl sulfate)-co-(l -vinylpyrrolidone)] (Polyquaternium 10); (iii) cationic biopolymers such as cationic guar gum and chitosan; and (iv) polymers with aromatic rings such as poly-4-vinyIpyridine-co-styrene and other styrene-based cationic copolymers.

The method according to the invention is suitable for pretreatment of wastewater or recreational water with a high organic load. The wastewater may be from olive oil mill, wineries, piggeries, cowsheds, slaughterhouses, fruit and vegetable processing industry, or soy or coffee bean industry, and the recreational water may be coastal or fresh water such as a coastal beach, lake, river or pond.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

In the figures and their description below, the following abbreviations are used

Abbreviations: NC, PD-S9 or poly-DADMAC-sepiolite nanocomposite; NV, poly- DADMAC-bentonite nanocomposite; NH, chitosan-sepiolite nanocomposite; OMW, olive oil mill wastewater; poly-DADMAC, polyallyl dimethylammonium chloride; S9, sepiolite; WE, winery effluents; WW, winery wastewater

Figs, 1A-1B show schematic structures of a single block and connected blocks, respectively, of sepiolite comprising silicate block (1), structural defect (2), zeolitic channel (3), charged sites (4), and neutral sites (5). The 2 nm size bar is given as a relative dimension.

Figs. 2A-2B show schematic structures of a low-charge nanocomposite suitable for winery effluents (A) and a high-charge nanocomposite suitable for olive mill effluents (B). The ribbons illustrate the polymer chains with positive charges distributed throughout.

Fig. 3 is a graph depicting charge of the nanocomposites as a function of the amount of polymer in mg/g of clay. A. - poly-DADMAC-sepiolite nanocomposites; ■ - poly-DADMAC-bentonite nanocomposites; and · - chitosan-sepiolite nanocomposites.

Fig. 4 is a graph depicting the harmonic mean sedimentation velocity of winery wastewater upon addition of 0.1 % poly-DADMAC-sepiolite nanocomposite as a function of the polymer/clay ratio.

Fig. 5 is a graph depicting the harmonic mean sedimentation velocity of olive oil mill wastewater upon addition of 0.1 % poly-DADMAC-sepiolite nanocomposite as a function of the polymer/clay ratio.

Fig. 6 is a graph depicting relative light attenuation of winery effluents as a function of time, upon addition of 0.1 % alum (■), 0.1 % poly-DADMAC-sepiolite nanocomposite (♦), and the equivalent amounts of sepiolite (clay) ( A ) or poly-DADMAC (polymer), separately (·).

Figs. 7A-7B are graphs depicting the influence of the amount of added poly- DADMAC in mg/g clay, to the c-spacing of the structure of sepiolite S9 (7A) or bentonite (7B). In Fig. 7A, the bottom curve represents the raw sepiolite S9, while the curves above it represent addition of 32 mg, 97 mg, 194 mg, or 1620 mg polymer per gram clay, respectively. In Fig. 7B, the bottom curve represents the raw bentonite, while the curves above it represent addition of 16 mg, 32 mg, 97 mg, 130 mg, 162 mg, 245 mg or 450 mg polymer per gram clay, respectively.

Fig. 8 (panels A-I) shows environmental scanning electron microscope images of two incorporated amounts of poly-DADMAC (32 mg/g: panels B, E, H; and 1620 mg/g: panels C, F, I) on sepiolite 89 fibers, compared with the raw mineral (panels A, D, G). Three levels of magnifications: xlOOO (panels A, B and C), x5000 (panels D, E and F), x20000 (panels G, H and I), are presented.

Fig. 9 is a graph depicting relative turbidity removal for OMW (white bars) and WE (black bars) wastewater, following cycles of consecutive additions of effluents and a low boosting dose of poly-DADMAC-sepiolite nanocomposites.

Figs. 10A-10B are graphs depicting relative light intensity trough the upper part of a test tube as a function of time (in minutes) for olive mill wastewater (OMW) treated with NC (10A) or NH (10B) nanocomposites added at a 1 g/L clay dose. Centrifugation was performed at a centrifugal force equivalent to 32.8g.

Figs. 11A-11F are graphs depicting recorded evolution (from left to right) of time dependent transmission profiles of raw OMW sample (11 A), nanocomposites with 100 mg poly-DADMAC/g sepiolite (11B) or 800 mg poly-DADMAC/g sepiolite (11C), and nanocomposites with 120 mg chitosan/g sepiolite (11D), 600 mg chitosan/g sepiolite (HE), and 1000 mg chitosan/g sepiolite (11B). Profiles were taken every 10 s at a RCF of 32.8g (500 rpm).

Figs. 12A-12C are graphs depicting average light intensity measured between 1 and 3 minutes each 10 seconds, through the upper part of a test tube, for WE treated with poly-DADMAC-sepiolite (12A); chitosan-sepiolite (12B) or poly-DADMAC-bentonite (12C) nanocomposites added at a 1 g/L clay dose at different polymer/clay ratios. Centrifugation was performed at a centrifugal force equivalent to 5.2g.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is drawn to the use of nanocomposites comprising anchoring particles and a polymer for efficient and fast reduction of total suspended solids (TSS) and turbidity in highly loaded organic wastewaters such as olive oil mill, wineries, piggeries, soy or coffee bean industry, etc, in a single step. The use of such nanocomposites, sometimes referred herein as as "coagoflocullants", combines the advantages of a coagulant together with the advantages of a fiocculant by neutralizing the charge of the suspended particles while bridging between them and anchoring them to more dense particles such as mineral clay as anchoring particles, thus enhancing their precipitation.

The rationale in the use of the nanocomposites is the combination of neutralization of the colloids (coagulation), achieved by the polymer's charged sites, and the bridging of the neutralized particles (flocculation), achieved by the fact that the polymer chains are connected to denser and larger anchoring particles. According to the invention, suitable nanocomposites based on anchoring particles including, but not limited to, clay minerals, zeolites, diatomaceous earth, and activated carbon, and organic polymers/polyelectrolytes, adapted to the charge of the effluent, yield very efficient pretreatment of wastewater for the reduction of TSS and COD in one single treatment step.

The method of the invention is also suitable for treatment of recreational water with high organic load and such pretreatment of recreational water is encompassed within the scope of the present invention.

In previous studies, we showed that organoclays presented an effective "double mode mechanism" adsorption of phenolic compounds such as picric acid, with very high affinity at low concentrations, and partition effect at larger amounts (Gonen and Rytwo, 2006). We then showed adsorption of phenolic compounds (trinitrophenol and trichlorophenol) by nanocomposites similar to those described herein (Ganigar et al., 2010), with very fast sorption kinetics similar to values showed previously for organoclays, and two-three orders of magnitude faster than for activated carbon (Rytwo and Gonen, 2006).

However, removal of phenolic compounds is only a by-side additional beneficial effect. The main purpose of the coagofiocculants used in the present invention is to achieve substantial, i.e., two orders of magnitude, reductions in TSS and turbidity, in very short time (minutes to tens of minutes) in a single step. Specific adaptation of the nanocomposites is needed for use with specific effluents, but the choice of the suitable nanocomposite might easily be made by calibration-preliminary experiments using suitable instruments as presented below in the examples, or similar calibration experiments can be performed using conventional "jar test" procedures (von Homeyer et al., 1999). Organoclays (not nanocomposites, namely, the organic molecule is not polymeric) have been disclosed by the inventor as efficient for pretreatment of organic effluents in a two-step process (Rytwo et al., 2011). The nanocomposites disclosed herein allow obtaining similar results in just one step, whereas conventional techniques as the use of aluminum sulfate ("alum") or polymers alone yields similar results but only after considerably longer periods of time.

The present invention thus relates to a method for treatment of industrial highly loaded organic effluents or recreational water for substantial reduction of total suspended solids and turbidity, said method comprising a single step treatment of said organic effluents or recreational water with nanocomposites of a polymer adsorbed on anchoring particles.

The stability of a dispersion is related to the size of the particles, their density and their charge. Since in organic effluents the colloids usually have a negative charge, the polymer should have positive charges to neutralize the negative charge of the colloids. In addition, the polymer should have medium to long chains with charges dispersed along/throughout to allow the bridging effect. The polymer should also be relatively soluble in water to allow its efficient distribution in the effluents.

Thus, according to certain embodiments the polymer is a water-soluble polycationic polymer, with medium to long chain (500-5000 monomers) and charges dispersed along throughout the polymer.

According to certain embodiments, the polycationic polymer is selected from: (i) a linear water-soluble polymer selected from poly(diallyl dimethylammonium) chloride (herein poly-DADMAC or PDADMAC) and cationic polyacrylamide; (ii) a polyquaternium selected from quaternized hydroxyethylcellulose ethoxylate and poly [(2- ethyldimethylammonioethyl methacrylate ethyl sulfate)-co-(l -vinylpyrrolidone)]; (iii) cationic biopolymers selected from cationic guar gum and chitosan; and (iv) polymers with aromatic rings such as poly-4-vinylpyridine-co-styrene and other styrene-containing polymers. In preferred embodiments, the polymer is poly-DADMAC or chitosan.

For efficient coagofloculation the anchoring particles should have the following properties:

(i) a size/diameter of less than 0.5 micron at least in one dimension, resulting in a large specific area;

(ii) the ability to adsorb cationic polymers in strong interactions; and (iii) the bulk density of the particles should be larger than the density of the effluents.

According to certain embodiments the anchoring particles are clay minerals (aluminium or magnesium phyllosilicates). The clay minerals can be acicular (needle-like) clay minerals such as sepiolite and palygorskite, or clay smectites such as bentonite, montmorillonite, hectorite, laponite and saponite. According to other embodiments the anchoring particles are non-clay minerals such as zeolites, diatomaceous earth or powdered activated carbon.

The schematic structure of a single block and connected blocks of sepiolite are shown in Figs. 1A and IB, respectively. All corners are connected to adjacent blocks, but in outer blocks some of the corners form neutral sites (5) accessible to organic molecules. In addition to that, some isomorphic substitutions in the lattice of the mineral form negatively charged adsorption sites (4). These characteristics of sepiolite make it a powerful sorbent.

Poly-DADMAC is a homopolymer of the formula I (below) used in effluent treatment, water purification, and paper industry.

In certain embodiments, the nanocomposite for use in the method of the invention is comprised of a mineral clay and a polycationic polymer. In certain embodiments, mineral clay is sepiolite or bentonite and the polycationic polymer is poly-DADMAC or chitosan. Examples of such nanocomposites include poly-DADMAC-sepiolite, poly- DADMAC -bentonite and chitosan-sepiolite.

The quantitative ratio between the polymer and the clay is very important. In certain embodiments, the nanocomposite is: (i) poly-DADMAC-sepiolite and the quantitative ratio between poly-DADMAC and sepiolite is in ranges selected from between 3 to 3000 mg/g, 30 to 2400 mg/g, 80 to 1800 mg g, 500 to 1000 mg g; (ii) poly- DADMAC-bentonite and the quantitative ratio between po!y-DADMAC and bentonite is in ranges selected from between 3 to 500 mg/g, 30 to 490 mg/g, 130 to 165 mg/g; and (iii) chitosan-sepiolite and the quantitative ratio between chitosan and sepiolite is in ranges selected from between 3 to 1200 mg/g, 120 to 1000 mg/g, 500 to 600 mg/g.

According to certain embodiments the quantitative ratio between the polymer and the anchoring particles is adapted to the type of the industrial organic effluent or recreational water to be treated. For example, if the wastewater is from wineries, the nanocomposite poly-DADMAC-sepiolite should preferably be used at the ratio of 70 mg polymer/g of clay. If the wastewater is from olive oil mills, the nanocomposite poly- DADMAC-sepiolite should be used at the ratio of 1800 mg polymer/g of clay.

Thus, the present invention facilitates the design of various nanocomposites which are tailored to efficiently adsorb specific pollutants/colloids, characteristically found in different types of industrial organic effluents or of recreational water. By controlling the charge of the nanocomposites (dependent on the type of polymer, the type of anchoring particle, and the quantitative ratio between them) it is possible to optimize the pretreatment of various organic effluents or of recreational water.

The invention further relates to the possibility of further use of the nanocomposite after the first use for additional coagoflocculation of the effluent. This can be made by boosting the used nanocomposite with a small dose of fresh nanocomposite, for example, 10 to 25% of the original amount of the nanocomposite

The invention will now be illustrated by the following non-limiting Examples. EXAMPLES

Materials.

Olive mill wastewater was kindly supplied by Ein Kamonin Olive Mill (Lower Galilee, Israel). Winery effluents were obtained from Ga l MountainWinery (Yiron, Upper Galilee, Israel). Sepiolite S9 (<200 mesh) was provided by Tolsa S.A. (Madrid, Spain), with 99% pure mineral content, and poly(diallyldimethylammonium) chloride (poly- DADMAC; medium and high molecular weight 200,000 to 350,000 and 400,000 to 500,000, respectively, was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (Israel). Chitosan (medium molecular weight, 75-85% deacetylated) was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (Israel). Bentonite (Food Grade Volclay^® KWK, fine granular sodium bentonite with an average particle size between 20 and 70 mesh) was purchased from American Colloid Company (Arlington Heights, US). All materials were used without further treatment or purification. Example 1. General method for preparation of the nanocomposites

Nanocomposites were prepared at loads ranging between 3 and 2400 mg polymer/g clay at 100 g clay per kg (10%) suspension for NC, 3 and 1200 mg polymer/g clay at 50 g clay per kg (5%) suspension for NH, and 3 and 500 mg polymer/g clay at 20 g clay per kg (2%) suspension for NV. Clay and polymer concentrations were chosen to obtain a sufficiently fluid suspension, allowing accurate and efficient application.

Example 2. Preparation of nanocomposites comprising sepiolite S9 and poly- DAD AC, herein identified as NC

Nanocomposites were prepared from sepiolite and poly-DADMAC at loads ranging between 3 and 2400 mg polymer/g clay. Concentrated batches containing 100 g clay/kg (10%) suspension were prepared. To produce the nanocomposites, a solution containing the requested amount of polymer was prepared according to the desired amount of polymer per g of clay. As an example, the procedure for the preparation of a 10% stock suspension of 50 g nanocomposite with 100 mg poly-DADMAC/g sepiolite S9 was as follows. The concentrated polymer (poly-DADMAC, usually 40% w/w) was dissolved in a suitable amount of warm water to obtain a final volume of 500 ml, containing 5 g of the polymer. The solution was placed in a sonication bath to obtain a homogeneous solution. Upon complete dissolution, the polymer solution was poured into a container with 50 g of sepiolite and agitated vigorously for 2 hours. Preparation was complete when clay aggregates were no longer observed, and the viscosity of the suspension was relatively low. Increased viscosity indicates that the polymer is not well dissolved or that the process is not yet complete, since a 10% suspension of most clay minerals in water (without polymer) yields a paste that cannot be efficiently used.

Example 3. Preparation of nanocomposites comprising sepiolite S9 and chitosan, herein identified as NH nanocomposites

NH nanocomposites were prepared as described in Example 1, but at loads ranging between 3 and 1200 mg polymer/g clay at 50 g clay/kg (5%) suspension for NH. Example 4. Preparation of nanocomposites comprising Volclay sodium bentonite and poly-DADMAC, herein identified as NV nanocomposites

NV-nanocomposites were prepared as described in Example 1 , but at loads ranging between 3 and 500 mg polymer/g clay at 20 g clay/kg (2%) suspension for NV.

Example 5. Analytical Measurements - Electrokinetic Charge Measurements

Electrokinetic charge of the nanocomposite suspensions and the effluents before and after treatment were measured by means of a particle charge detector (Miitek PCD 03) with an automatic titration unit (Miitek titrator T2) using charge-compensating polyelectrolytes as described by Rytwo et al. (201 1 ). Electrokinetic effects occur whenever there is a distortion of counter ions due to movements of charged particles relative to the surrounding solution, and they are widely used to characterize the charge distribution around colloidal particles in an aqueous solution. Results were normalized to

tmol_c/g (micromoles of charges per gram) of nanocomposite or to mmol_c/L of effluent, accordingly. All experiments were performed in triplicate.

Fig. 3 presents the charges (mmol/Kg of the nanocomposite suspensions with an amount of polymer ranging from 0-800 mg/g of clay. For the NC and NH nanocomposite samples, the charge of suspensions with higher polymer/clay ratios presented a linear function of the amount of polymer in the composite, with a slope of 5.3 mmol_c/ g polymer for NC (NC- 5.29x-35.8; R² - 0.999), and 4.8 mmol_c/ g for NH (NH=4.78x-227; R² = 0.996). Slope for NV (NV=5.37x-272; R²=0.9777) was almost identical to NC values. Such results should be expected, since the same polymer i.e., poly-DADMAC, was used for both nanocomposites.

Theoretical slopes for poly-DADMAC and chitosan according to the molecular weight of the charged monomers should yield 6.2 and 5.6 mmol_c/ g polymer, respectively. Thus it appears that the efficient charges are about 85%-90% of the monomers. Such evaluation fits the manufacturers' data for chitosan.

Example 6. Analytical Measurements - Harmonic mean sedimentation velocity

The poly-DADMAC-sepiolite nanocomposites were tested for their influence on the sedimentation rate of olive oil mill and winery wastewaters (OMW and WW, respectively). Sedimentation velocities were measured by means of a LUMiSizer instrument. The instrument records the NIR (near infrared) light transmission during centrifugation over the total length of a cell containing the suspension, it automatically determines the time dependence position of the interface panicle-free fluid/suspension or sediment by a special algorithm. The transmission profile enables characterizing the smallest deviations in size of dispersed particles and quantifying the degree of polydispersity at high-volume concentrations. Stability prediction at an accelerated rate for different dispersions at their original concentrations has been proven in previous studies (Lerche, 2002). The harmonic mean sedimentation velocity in the first 60 seconds of the process was chosen as a useful parameter to compare between treatments. High sedimentation velocities were measured when fast precipitation was observed. The reason to focus on the first 60 s is because in the efficient treatments, complete clarification was observed after that period of time. Such experiments allow evaluating the efficiency of the wastewater treatment by a very fast and accurate procedure as compared with the conventional "jar test" (Homeyer et al, 1999). Experiments were performed three times.

Fi s. 4 and 5 present such sedimentation rates for winery wastewater (WW) and olive oil mill wastewater (OMW), respectively, as a function of the polymer/clay ratio. It can be seen that winery wastewater sedimentation rate was increased almost 10 folds by adding poly-DADMAC-sepiolite nanocomposites with approximately 70 mg polymer per g clay. Olive oil mill wastewater is considerably more charged (see Table 1 ) and nanocomposites that increase sedimentation rates in winery wastewater did not enhance sedimentation in olive oil mill wastewater. However, highly charged poly-DADMAC- sepiolite nanocomposites (1800 mg polymer/g clay) sped up sedimentation more than 10 folds the sedimentation rate of raw effluents.

Table 1 shows changes in physicochemical parameters in batch experiments, before and 30 minutes after addition of the suitable nanocomposites to each effluent. Whereas the pH remained unchanged and the electric conductivity was reduced by 5-20%, complete neutralization and even charge reversal of both effluents (up to values of about 5% of the absolute initial charge) were observed. The more important feature of the nanocomposites was a 97% reduction in TSS and turbidity in less than 1 h. It should be mentioned that a 90% reduction in total jeldahl N and a 40% reduction in chemical oxygen demand (COD) was also measured (not shown). Table 1 ; Physicochemical parameters of effluents upon addition of 0.1% of a suitable coago-flocculant

Example 7. Analytical measurements - Flocculation kinetics in winery effluents treated with nanocomposites, its components separately, or alum.

To compare the efficiency of flocculation of nanocomposites with other widely used treatments, 0.1 % nanocomposites with 60 mg poly-DADMAC/g sepiolite was added to winery effluents, and the relative absorbance of the effluent (the ratio of the optical density at a given time related to the optical density before the addition of coagulant/flocculant) was compared to that of the nanocomposite components (sepiolite and poly-DADMAC) separately at the same added amounts of active compound. The efficiency of flocculation by 0.1 % aluminum sulfate (alum) was also determined for comparison, since it is a widely used flocculant. Measurements were performed at three wavelengths (420, 450, and 480 nm), and the average relative absorbance values were evaluated.

Fig. 6 is a graph showing flocculation kinetics (relative light attenuation) as a function of time in winery effluents, upon addition of 0.1 % nanocomposite with 60 mg poly-DADMAC-sepiolite composite (♦), 0.1 % alum (■), and the equivalent amounts of sepiolite ( A ) or poly-DADMAC (·) separately.

Strong temporal fluctuations were due to large floes, which could be clearly seen with the naked eye, that initially floated up in the tube and eventually sank to the bottom. The nanocomposites achieved almost complete clarification in a range of minutes. It should be emphasized that at long equilibration times (24 h), clay and alum treatments produced more or less the same results, whereas the polymer alone at that added rate did not enhance clarification. However, the observed rapid (on the order of minutes) flocculation is the main feature of the nanocomposites of the present invention: this might enable continuous flow in treatment plants, thereby eliminating the large sedimentation tanks necessitated by the long periods required for sedimentation to occur. Thus, the results presented here indicate that the nanocomposites of the invention might speed up precipitation process. By reducing clarification time from several hours to minutes, the need of large precipitation tanks required for slow treatments might be avoided, making the wastewater treatment an almost continuous process.

Example 8. Physical characterization of the nanocomposites.

In order to further investigate the structure of the nanocomposites, X-ray diffraction (X D) and electron microscopy measurements were performed (we thank Dr. Stefan Dultz, Hannover University, Germany for his assistance).

8.1 XRD measurements

For the XRD measurements a Siemens-diffractometer (D 500) with Bragg- Brentano geometry 143 and Co α-radiation was used. Samples were dispersed in deionized water, sedimented on 144 glass slides and air-dried.

X-ray diffraction was measured in samples of poly-DADMAC-sepiolite S9 nannocomposites comprising the following ratios of polymer/clay: raw sepiolite S9, 32 mg/g, 97 mg/g, 194 mg/g and 1620 mg/g, and its influence on the c-spacing of the composite structure.

Fig. 7A shows the influence of the amount of added poly-DADMAC in mg polymer/g clay on the c-spacing of the structure. It can be observed that even very large amounts of poly-DADMAC incorporated in sepiolite S9 did not change the distance between the needles of the mineral, and the general structure remained unchanged. Schematic diagrams of raw sepiolite (the first curve from the bottom), sepiolite with low amount of polymer (32, 97, or 194 mg polymer/g clay), and sepiolite with high amount of polymer (1620 mg/g, the first curve from the top) are presented in the figure. In another experiment, the samples consisted of poly-DADMAC-Volclay smectitic bentonite (NV samples) comprising the following ratios of polymer/clay: raw bentonite, 16 mg g, 32 mg/g, 97 mg/g, 130 mg/g, 162 mg/g, 245 mg g and 490 mg/g. The results are depicted in Fig. 7B. Schematic diagrams of raw bentonite (first curve from the bottom), bentonite with low amount of polymer, and bentonite with high amount of polymer are presented in the figure. A clear increase in the basal spacing was observed from raw bentonite (c-spacing of -1.3 nm, first curve from the bottom) to bentonite with 490 mg polymer per g clay (first curve from the top), where c-spacing increased to more than 2.7 nm. In samples prepared with high molecular weight poly-DADMAC c-spacing at large loads increases even further (3.2 nm at 490 mg polymer per g clay) (results not shown).

8.2 Electron microscopy measurements

For determination of the po!y-DADMAC-sepiolite nanocomposite microstructure an environmental scanning electron microscope (Fei, Quanta 200) was used. Back scattered electron images of the samples were taken at room temperature and at high vacuum. Fig. 8, panelas A-I, shows the influence of incorporated amounts of poly- DADMAC on the general microstructure of the sepiolite fibers. It can be seen that at low amounts of poly-DADMAC (32 mg/g: panels B, E and H, nanocomposites suitable for the treatment of winery effluents), "flakes" of sepiolite fibers glued by the polymer can be observed. At high polymer amounts (1620 mg/g: panels C, F and I, nanocomposites suitable for the treatment of olive oil mill effluents), instead of flakes, a "ropes^{^}-like structure is formed, and a complex network of such ropes can be clearly observed at the xlOOO magnification (panel C).

Example 9. Sequential additions of nanocomposites to effluents

After sedimentation of the organic solids upon treatment of effluents with the nanocomposites of the invention, the same nanocomposites can be used in further pretreatment cycles of the effluents after addition of a boost of the same nanocomposite. In this way, several cycles of effluents can be applied to the same flocculants dose, and efficient turbidity reduction can be obtained for several cycles.

The following procedure was used: to the first cycle of effluent a dose of 20 mL/L of a 5% suspension of the suitable nanocomposites (as determined and described in Example 6, herein above, and Examples 10-1 1 , herein after) was added. The effluent was stirred for 30 s and then centrifuged at 50g for 10 minutes. The supernatant was removed and its turbidity was measured and evaluated as "relative turbidity" by comparing it to the turbidity of the raw effluents after 10 minute centrifugation at 50g. To the sediment a new cycle of effluents was added. A "boosting" dose of 5 mL/L 5% nanocomposites suspension was added to the effluents. The process was repeated and several cycles were performed until relative turbidity was higher than 10%, thus the turbidity-removal as compared with the raw centrifuged effluents decreased from 90%.

Fig. 9 shows relative turbidity removal for OMW (white bars; collected from Kadoori Olive Mill, in December 201 1) and winery effluent (WE) (black bars; collected from Galil Mountains Winery, April 2012). Initial turbidity of centrifuged untreated OMW was 1570±99 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU), using poly-DADMAC-sepiolite S9 nanocomposites with 970 mg polymer/g clay. Initial turbidity of centrifuged untreated WE was 754±37 NTU, using the poly-DADMAC-sepiolite S9 nanocomposites with 50 mg polymer/g clay.

It can be seen that if efficient turbidity removal is defined as higher than 90%, then

6 and 7 cycles can be performed for WE and OMW, respectively. Total doses added were 40 and 44 mL/L of a 5% nanocomposite suspension, equivalent to a total of 2 and 2.2 g clay, respectively. Thus, less than 0.35 kg of clay as nanocomposite would yield efficient turbidity reduction from 1 m³ of effluents.

In the case of winery effluent, the coagoflocculation process presented herein was performed in a field experiment combining coagoflocculation and constructed wetlands (not shown). The process used nanocomposites based of PDADMAC and sepiolite at ratios of 35 to 70 mg polymer/g clay, over more than 40 m³, with >90% reduction in turbidity and TSS. Several cycles were applied with an initial dose equivalent to 1 kg clay/m , followed by boosting doses of 0.25 kg clay/m³ in up to 0 consecutive cycles. The average dose was approximately 0.32 kg clay/m .

Example 10. Evaluation of different nanocomposites on olive oil mill effluents (OMW)

As shown in Example 6, poly-DADMAC-sepiolite nanocomposites (NC) have been proven efficient in fast coagoflocculation of OMW. A dispersion analyser instrument was used to determine sedimentation rates by recording NIR (near infrared) light transmission during centrifugation over the total length of a cell containing the suspension. The same procedure above was used to test additional nano composites. Effluents from Kadoori olive oil mill collected during December 201 1 were tested for clarification, using PDADMAC-sepiolite (NC) or chitosan-sepiolite (NH) nanocomposites. Figs. 10A- 10B show relative light intensity through the upper part of a test tube, as a function of time, for OMW treated with NC nanocomposites (Fig. 10A) or with NH nanocomposites (Fig. 10B) added at a 1 g/L clay dose. Centrifugation was performed at a centrifugal force equivalent to 32.8g.

It can be seen that intensity of light through raw OMW samples was approximately 10% (dashed black line). NC nanocomposites with 100 mg polymer/g clay ratio (dotted black line) did not improve much, and light intensity after 5 minutes of centri fugation was increased to about 30%. Increasing polymer/clay ratios improved efficiency of clarification, and at ratios of 800 (solid green line) and 970 (dashed sky blue line) mg polymer/g clay, light intensity of about 60% was measured after 5 minutes of centrifugation.

Chitosan-sepiolite nanocomposites (Fig. 10B) showed an even more impressive performance. More specifically, at low polymer/clay ratios, e.g. 100 (dotted black line) or 200 ("·^■-· '-"purple line) mg polymer/g clay, light intensity of 30-40% was measured, at 490 (dashed red line) and 650 (solid green line) mg polymer/g clay a light intensity of more than 60% was measured after only 2 minutes of centrifugation. It should be emphasized that very high polymer/clay ratios in NH sample reduce performance. For example, in samples with 970 (dashed sky-blue line) mg polymer/g clay light intensity went down to 55% and 28%, respectively, after 2 min of centrifugation.

Figs. 11A-11F show recorded evolution (from left to right) of time dependent transmission profiles of several samples from those described in Figs. 10A-10B. Profiles were taken every 10 s at a relative centrifuge force (RCF) of 32.8g (500 rpm), for 30 minutes. Particle migration due to centrifugal force results in a variation of the local particle concentration and correspondingly local and temporal variations of light intensity through the sample occur. Each 10 s a light intensity profile of each individual sample was recorded by a sensor. Sensor resolution allowed detecting small changes of the position of an interface between two phases. The first profile (Fig. 11 A) depicts the position of the interface immediately after the start of the centrifuge (10s). The overlay of profiles at the right side (thickening of the line) documents that the sedimentation process came to its end and marks the position of the sediment (Lerche, 2002). The fluctuation in position of approximately 108 mm indicates the meniscus between the suspension and the air above, whereas decreased light intensity in positions> 125mm indicates the sedimented particles. Sediment thickness can be evaluated according to the light intensity values at the bottom of the tubes.

It can be seen that intensity through the raw OMW sample (Fig. 11 A) almost does not change due to centrifugation. Addition of any type of nanocomposites changes the behavior. NC with 100 mg polymer/g clay (Fig. 11B) yielded even after a long time a light intensity of about 40%. NH with 120 mg polymer/g clay (Fig. 11D) depicted a similar behavior. NH with high polymer/clay ratio (1000 mg/g, Fig. 11F) showed very fast sedimentation, but light intensity remains low (about 30%). NC with 800 (Fig. 11C) yielded light intensity of about 60%, whereas NH with 600 mg polymer/g clay (Fig. HE) yielded more or less the same final results, but sedimentation was faster than for NC. Thus, nanocomposites based on chitosan and sepiolite appear to be effective at least as those based on PDADMAC-sepiolite. Example 11. Evaluation of different nanocomposites on winery effluents (WE)

As shown in Example 6, poly-DADMAC-sepiolite nanocomposites have been proven efficient also in WE. This present example shows results measured by a dispersion analyzer on WE treated with three different types of nanocomposites. Effluents from Galil Mountain Winery were collected during December 201 1 and tested for clarification, using poly-DADMAC-sepiolite (NC), chitosan-sepiolite (NH) or poly-DADMAC-bentonite (NV) nanocomposites. Figs. 12A-12C show average light intensity measured between 1 and 3 minutes each 10 seconds, through the upper part of a test tube, for WE with NC (Fig. 12A) or NH (Fig. 12B) nanocomposites added at a 1 g/L clay dose at different polymer/clay ratios. Centrifugation was performed at a centrifugal force equivalent to 5.2g.

Light intensity through distilled water was about 94% whereas for untreated WE, only 22%. Efficiency of the clarification varied considerably: for NC samples the best effect was obtained at 50 mg poly-DADMAC per g sepiolite, whereas very high and very low polymer/clay ratios yielded light intensities similar to the raw effluents. NH samples behaved similarly, and even slightly better. More specifically, polymer/clay ratios of 40-60 mg chitosan per g sepiolite yielded light intensity of almost 80%. NV samples (Fig. 12C) were still very efficient, even though optimal values were slightly lower than those measured for NC and NH. Efficient clarification was observed, at higher polymer/clay ratio (130-165 mg poly-DADMAC per g bentonite).

All three nanocomposites yielded efficient clarification of WE at different polymer/ clay ratios, however, for all three nanocomposites the efficient particles had a similar charge as measured by the PCD device mentioned in Example 5, of approximately 100-150 mmol_c kg clay. This suggests that the main parameter for the sedimentation of WE effluents is the neutralization of the colloids. In the case of the OMW (Example 10) the efficient flocculants have completely different charge (5000 and 3500 mmol_c kg clay for NC and NH, respectively), indicating that other interactions might play very important role in olive mill effluents.

Example 12. Coagoflocculation process in recreational water

Coagofiocculation process was also tested in water from a recreational natural pond in Northern Israel. The pond is a small depression of 5000 m and 2 m deep in the basalt layer, exposing aquifer water, that is open to the public as a scenic attraction including pedal boats, numerous birds, and several other animals (deer, sheep, alpacas, llamas, etc.) During peak seasons (weekends and holidays) it might host up to several hundred tourists each day. During spring and summer, water from this site was reported to contain large amount of algae and high photosynthetic activity, large amounts of nitrogen phosphate concentrations were well above eutrophic limits, allowing development of large algae populations.

Coagoflocculation tests were performed on recreational water of the source mentioned above, collected during the last week of May 2012, with nanocomposites ranging polymer/clay ratios between 0-500 chitosan/sepiolite or poly-DADMAC/sepiolite. Results analyzed using a LUMISizer dispersion analyzer led to the conclusion that the most efficient treatment may be performed using nanocomposites based on 200 mg chitosan per g sepiolite, added at a dose equivalent to 0.5 g clay/L. Influence of such proposed treatment on several environmental parameters 15 minutes after treatment is shown in Table 2. As can be observed, the coagoflocculation process removed completely the turbidity. An 80% reduction in TSS, 90% reduction in nitrate, and 60% reduction in phosphate were also observed. COD was reduced by only 20%, but as mentioned above- the main goal of the coagoflocculation process was the reduction of turbidity and suspended solids, which allowed following treatments to be more effective. Table 2: Physicochemical parameters of recreational water upon addition of 0.05% of a 200 mg chitosan/g sepiolite coago-flocculant

REFERENCES

Amuda O.S., Amoo I.A., (2007) Coagulation/flocculation process and sludge conditioning in beverage industrial wastewater treatment. Journal of Hazardous Materials 141: 778-783

Beall, G.W. (2003) The use of organo-clays in water treatment. Appl. Clay Sci. 24:

1 1 -20.

Ganigar, . R two, G. Gonen, Y. Radian, A. and Mishael, Y.G. (2010) Polymer- clay mineral nanocomposites for the removal of trichlorophenol and trinitrophenol from water. Applied Clay Sciences, 49: 31 1-316.

Gonen and Rytwo, (2006). Using the dual-mode model to describe adsorption of organic pollutants onto an organoclay. J Colloid Interface Sci. 299(1):95-101.

Homeyer A. Von, Krentz D. O., Kulicke W. M., and Lerche D., (1999),

Optimization of the polyelectrolyte dosage for dewatering sewage sludge suspensions by means of a new centrifugation analyser with an optoelectronic sensor, Colloid & Polymer Science, vol. 277, no. 7, pp. 637-645.

Lerche, D. (2002) Dispersion stability and particle characterization by sedimentation kinetics in a centrifugal field, J. Dispers. Sci. Technol. 23 699-709,

Ruiz-Hitzky, E. (2001). Molecular access to intracrystalline tunnels of sepiolite, J. Mater. Chem. 11, 86-91.

Rytwo, G. and Gonen, Y. (2006). Very fast sorbent for organic dyes and pollutants.

Colloid and Polymer Science, 284: 817-820.

Rytwo, G. ohavi, Y. Botnick, I. and Gonen, Y. (2007). Use of CV- and TPP- motmorillonite for the removal of priority pollutants from water. Applied Clay Science, 36: 182-190.

Rytwo, G. Rettig, A. and Gonen, Y. (201 1). Organo-sepiolite particles for efficient pretreatment of organic wastewater: application to winery effluents. Applied Clay

Sciences, 51: 390-394.

von Homeyer, A., D. Krentz, W. Kulicke and D, Lerche. (1999) Optimization of the polyelectrolyte dosage for dewatering sewage sludge suspensions by means of a new centrifugation analyser with an optoelectronic sensor. Colloid & Polymer Science 277:637-

6.45

Claims

1. A one-step method for pretreatment of wastewater or recreational water with a high organic load, said method comprising the treatment of said wastewater or recreational water with a nanocomposite consisting of an anchoring particle and a polymer.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the anchoring particle is selected from clay minerals, non-clay clay minerals such as zeolites, diatomaceous earth or powdered activated carbon.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein said clay mineral is an aluminium or magnesium phyllosilicate selected from sepiolite, palygorskite, smectite, montmorillonite, hectorite, laponite, bentonite, and saponite.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the clay mineral is sepiolite or bentonite.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the polymer is a polyelectrolyte, preferably a polycationic polymer.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the polymer is a polycationic polymer selected from: (i) a linear water-soluble polymer selected from poly(diallyl dimethylammonium) chloride (herein poly-DADMAC or PDADMAC) and cationic polyacrylamide; (ii) a polyquaternium selected from quaternized hydroxyethylcellulose ethoxylate and poly [(2-ethyldimethylammonioethyl methacrylate ethyl sulfate)-co-(l - vinylpyrrolidone)]; (iii) cationic biopolymers selected from cationic guar gum and chitosan; and (iv) polymers with aromatic rings such as poly-4-vinylpyridine-co-styrene.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the polymer is polyDADMAC or chitosan.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the pretreatment of said waste water or recreational water with said composite results in substantial reduction of the total suspended solids and decrease of the turbidity of said wastewater or recreational water.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the wastewater is from olive oil mill, wineries, piggeries, cowsheds, slaughterhouses, fruit and vegetable processing industry, or soy or coffee bean industry, and the recreational water is a coastal beach, lake, river or pond.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the nanocomposite is comprised of a mineral clay and a polycationic polymer.

1 1. The method according to claim 10, wherein said mineral clay is sepiolite or bentonite and said polycationic polymer is poly-DADMAC or chitosan.

12. The method according to claim 1 1 , wherein said nanocomposite is selected from: poly-DADMAC- sepiolite, poly-DADMAC-bentonite and chitosan-sepiolite.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the nanocomposite is: (i) poly- DADMAC-sepiolite and the quantitative ratio between poly-DADMAC and sepiolite is in ranges selected from between 3 to 3000 mg/g, 30 to 2400 mg/g, 80 to 1800 mg/g, 500 to 1000 mg/g; (ii) poly-DADMAC-bentonite and the quantitative ratio between poly- DADMAC and bentonite is in ranges selected from between 3 to 500 mg/g, 30 to 490 mg/g, 130 to 165 mg/g; and (iii) chitosan-sepiolite and the quantitative ratio between chitosan and sepiolite is in ranges selected from between 3 to 1200 mg/g, 120 to 1000 mg/g, 500 to 600 mg/g.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the quantitative ratio between the polymer and the anchoring particles is adapted to the type of the wastewater or the recreational water.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the wastewater is from: (i) wineries and the nanocomposite is poly-DADMAC-sepiolite at the ratio of 70 mg/g: (ii) olive oil mills and the nanocomposite is poly-DADMAC-sepiolite at the ratio of 1800 mg/g:.

16. The method of any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein the nanocomposite is boosted with a small dose of fresh nanocomposite for further use, wherein said small dose comprises 10 to 25% of the original amount of the nanocomposite.