Neutralisation and Aqueous Treatment

Acidic wastes present in water can also contain metal compounds, which can be harmful if present above certain thresholds. By raising the pH level of an acidic material to neutral, the dissolved metals can combine with other materials and become insoluble, allowing for separation by filtration. The agents used to raise pH levels are typically alkaline in nature, which can be derived from wastes or arise as a product.

Neutralisation helps to reduce the hazardous properties of wastes, making them safer for treatment and disposal. By combining this process with filtration technology, solid build-up can be effectively removed, resulting in water that is lower in metal content and significantly less corrosive. This process is crucial in ensuring safe disposal of aqueous wastes and in protecting the environment.

Water-based liquids with high alkaline pH levels can be made less corrosive by lowering the pH towards neutral. This is done by adding acidic materials, which can come from waste acidic effluents or product acids. The treated water can then undergo further treatment through a wastewater treatment plant or undergo specialist treatment to remove minor contaminants before being discharged into the sewer network under a discharge consent.

Water Disposal, Solid Waste Filtration, and Reaction Control

Neutralisation processes generate water that can be disposed of through methods such as incineration, where the water is used in the cooling cycle as a quench water in place of primary supplies. This method is often considered a recovery process due to the displacement of primary sources.

When the neutralisation process produces large amounts of solid waste, filtration is required, and the separated cake is assessed for recovery as a mineral replacement or disposal through appropriate routes, including incineration and landfill.

Our purpose-built process equipment and infrastructure allow us to treat a wide range of effluents, including aggressive and difficult-to-treat materials such as acids and alkalis, within a fully contained system.

Neutralisation processes can generate energy and heat, which must be controlled and minimised during processing to prevent energetic adverse reactions and loss of containment. Our pre-treatment assessments include compatibility testing and modelling, giving us the ability to predict how materials will react in the process. We can then blend together suitable feedstocks that will interact safely and produce a post-treated material to a designed specification, which can be disposed of through appropriate downstream routes.