The customer, a large Egyptian sugar producer, developed and built a new beet sugar factory in Alexandria, Egypt from 2007 to 2010. In order to treat the wastewater from the beet sugar factory, a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) had to be constructed.

H+E UK was awarded the contract due to our really extensive experience with wastewater treatment for the beet sugar industry (14 anaerobic plants built in recent years).

The highly polluted wastewater from beet washing first has to undergo a solids separation process. Solids are separated in a ‘Bruckner’ tank and the resultant sludge is dewatered with centrifuges. This solution has a considerably smaller footprint than the settling ponds commonly used in the sugar industry. Moreover, centrifugation prevents the formation of unpleasant odours due to uncontrolled fouling in the ponds.

The pre-treated wastewater is then transferred to the anaerobic stage, consisting of a hydrolysis reactor and an anaerobic contact sludge reactor (ANAFIT-CS) with biogas injection system. This reactor is particularly suited for wastewater with high calcium content. It operates reliably and avoids operational problems due to calcium carbonate clogging, which are common in sugar wastewater treatment.

The effluent from the anaerobic stage is treated together with the second wastewater stream (condensate wastewater) in the aerobic nitrification / denitrification stage (equipped with a non-clogging aeration system AEROFIT-D). Remaining organic pollution and nitrogen are eliminated in this stage.

The start up and commissioning phase demonstrated that the anticipated COD reduction of more than 90 % in the anaerobic stage alone was perfectly achievable. The treated water complies with stringent effluent standards, eg COD < 100 mg/l, NH4-N < 10 mg/l and PO4-P < 2 mg/l.

References are available on request. We will happily organise a visit to one of our clients for you to see an opeating plant if you wish.