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Industrial Wastewater Treatment, Recycling, and Reuse: An Overview 63

Figure 1.19 Comparison of carbon adsorption and bio-treatment methods for
steel plant.

in situations involving dilute separations such as wastewater treatment, bio-
separations, and gas separation technologies. It is a widely accepted fact that
significant improvements can be obtained for most of the separation pro-
cesses with proper scientific modifications, either through material modifi-
cations or through process modification. Zeolite is an excellent example
where huge benefits have been obtained through material modifications,
whereas a process such as pressure-swing adsorption is an excellent example
of a huge transformation in separation science through process modifica-
tion—in both cases, a number of commercial processes have been in opera-
tioninchemicalandalliedindustriesintoday’sworld.Apartfromengineering
key modifications in the existing separations, process integration is an inter-
estingandfairlywideopenareaforresearchanddevelopmentwhereinthereis
a huge possibility for the intelligent combination of two or more operations.
The advent of nanomaterials has also increased the scope of investigating
advancedseparationswith altogethernew perspectives.Thus,thereareample
possibilities for development of new/novel materials such as adsorbents,
resins, membranes, hybrid membranes, cavitation devices, and nanomaterials
quiteapartfromprocessintegrationoptionsforencompassingtheentirespec-
trum of separation science and technology in chemical and allied industries.