A. A. Startsev

Wastewater Technologies and Hydrowave Method

Use of the cavitation hydrowave method (the Mustang installation) for the deep neutralization of persistent toxic compounds, pesticides and petroleum products in industrial wastewater.

The method

The hydrowave method was developed at TEROS-MEPhI (based at the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI since 2002) by V. S. Afanasyev, an inventor of the USSR and Honoured Designer. A hydrodynamic heat generator creates cavitation and a high-frequency, near-ultrasonic effect in the liquid flow. Three processes follow: the liquid is heated at temperatures well below 100 °C, it is sterilized, and the molecules of the contaminants are destroyed. The output is distilled water and a low-hazard sludge.

The method is used to remove surfactants, electroplating effluents, petroleum products, landfill leachate, pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls, and to desalinate sea and ground water without chemical pretreatment.

  • No consumables: no filters, membranes, reagents or sorbents, and no secondary waste.
  • Modular design: one module in a 40-foot container treats up to 1,200 m³ of water a day.
  • Power consumption of 5 to 10 kWh per cubic metre, depending on the task.

Promotion through UNIDO

since 2007

Since 2007 the UNIDO North-Western International Cleaner Production Centre and TEROS-MEPhI have promoted water treatment and desalination technologies based on the hydrowave method internationally, in UNIDO member states, with SUE Vodokanal of St. Petersburg as the base enterprise. The method's developer, V. S. Afanasyev, sits on the Centre's board.

As early as 2007–2008 the Mustang pilot installation treated electroplating effluents of Kolchugtsvetmet and industrial and recycled water of the Kirov Non-Ferrous Metals Processing Plant, bringing iron, copper and zinc below the permitted limits.

2013

A pilot project of the Centre for the UNIDO–UNEP Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production Network (RECPnet): a system for the biophysical treatment of wastewater based on the hydrowave method, with sludge decontamination and power generation, in partnership with Vodokanal. The same year the Centre proposed using the method within the Chemical Leasing model to purify agricultural effluents of pesticides (Chemical Leasing).

Tests at Vodokanal

2016–2019

Since 2015 the developer's successor, TERUS-MEPhI, based at the SPbPU Polytechnic Technopark, has been building a pilot installation as part of research and development at Vodokanal. The test programme at the Central Aeration Station (Bely Island) ran from April to October 2016; work on a working model of a local treatment plant continued until 2019. Dr Startsev presented the results in 2016–2017 on behalf of SPbPU, TEROS-MEPhI and the Centre, a Privileged Partner of UNIDO.

Table 1. Wastewater before and after treatment in the Mustang pilot installation (Central Aeration Station of SUE Vodokanal of St. Petersburg, April–May 2016)
ParameterBefore treatmentAfter treatmentEfficiency, %
Suspended solids, mg/dm³520.05.099.04
Petroleum products, mg/dm³3.30.196.97
COD, mg/dm³1,100.020.098.18
BOD, mg/dm³390.03.299.18
Total phosphorus, mg/dm³18.00.1599.17
Phosphate phosphorus, mg/dm³2.10.1194.76
Synthetic surfactants, mg/dm³3.80.1995.00
Chloride ions, mg/dm³280.01.899.36
Aluminium, mg/dm³5.90.08798.53

Source: A. A. Startsev, “Wastewater purification using a pilot hydrowave installation Mustang” (2016).

Patent

The technology is protected by the patent “Method and Apparatus for Hydrodynamic Cavitation Water Treatment and Disinfection (Hydrowave Method)”; see Patents.

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