COMPANY SOLVES LATEX WASTE PROBLEM
James E. Kerr, Executive Vice President
Para-Chem Southern, Inc.
Simpsonville, South Carolina 29681
Craig H. Lockhart, Market Specialist
The Permutit Co., Inc.
Paramus, New Jersey 07652
INTRODUCTION
Para-Chem Southern, Inc. produces chemicals, such as latex compounds, acrylic latices,
and adhesives at their manufacturing facility in Simpsonville, South Carolina. These compounds are custom blended for their customers on a demand basis, and are used primarily
by manufacturers of textiles, furniture, and floor and wall coverings.
Waste from this plant is predominantly rinse water that has been used to clean the latex
blending vessels. Due to the constant changes in the compounds produced, wide variations
occur in the type of latex found in the rinse water and the solids content and pH of the
waste stream. Typically, the rinse water may contain between 1.0 and 4.0% solids, have a pH
range of 6.0 to 11.0, and the raw waste may or may not include some adhesives.
Both latex and adhesive wastes were lagooned onsite until 1976. At that time, Para-Chem
Southern initiated a program to design and install a waste treatment system which would
meet the approval of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control
(DHEC). The DHEC required that a bladeable waste be produced which would be suitable
for landfilling. Working with J. L. Rogers and Callcott Engineers of Greenville, South Carolina, The Permutit Company, Inc. developed a system for flocculation, flotation and de-
watering of the plant wastes which would meet that requirement.
PROCESS DESCRIPTION
The waste treatment system begins with a rinse water collection system which funnels the
waste stream to a flume that carries the waste water by gravity from the manufacturing
facility to the waste treatment plant.
At the treatment plant the flume splits into two sections, each discharging into a 26,000-
gallon equalization and holding tank. A slide gate allows one tank to be filled at a time.
As one tank collects the rinse waters produced in one day, the wastewater collected the previous day is processed through the waste treatment system.
Single-speed agitators mounted over the center of each holding basin keep the waste
material mixed. This batch type treatment scheme minimizes the variability of the influent
to the waste treatment equipment. Since each batch changes characteristics from day to day,
jar tests are conducted each day to determine the proper chemical dosages required to properly flocculate that particular sludge.
A positive displacement pump transfers the sludge from the equalization tank to the first
of three 1200-gallon fiberglass contact tanks, where the chemicals are fed and the proper
contact time is maintained. Alum (aluminum sulfate) is added in tank 1 to drop the pH to
approximately 4.2 to 4.5 to break the emulsion. At the same time, alum acts as a coagulant,
which assists in the final flocculation of the sludge. The introduction of caustic (sodium hydroxide) in tank 2 raises the pH to approximately 6.5, which puts the waste stream within
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