The aim of this research was to evaluate the viability of cationic polymers for the treatment of commercial dishwasher wastewater. Commercial dishwashers use large quantities of fresh water during regular use, and produce significant amounts of high-strength oily wastewater in the process. When treating this wastewater, the particles in the dispersed phase often require destabilization to facilitate their separation via gravity. Alum and other metallic salts are generally used for this purpose, though relatively large doses are required. Cationic polymers, which can destabilize colloids at much smaller doses, were herein investigated as a potential alternative to alum. Experimentation was conducted within a single-stage dissolved air flotation column. Out of the eight cationic polymers tested, only one was capable of outperforming alum. This polymer, poly(dimethylamine-co-epichlorohydrin), sold by the product name Superfloc C-572, yielded the greatest removal efficiencies when compared to alum and the seven other cationic polymers tested. Under optimal conditions, a C-572 dose of 0.10 mg L⁻¹ was able to remove up to 87% of the oil and 90% of the turbidity from the wastewater samples. The removal efficiencies were further increased when the polymer and alum were used together. A C-572 dose of 0.10 mg L⁻¹ with an alum dose of 200 mg L⁻¹ yielded removal efficiencies of 95.6%, 94.6%, 73.0%, and 94.4% for oil, turbidity, chemical oxygen demand, and 5-day biochemical oxygen demand, respectively. However, the combined use of alum and polymer produced inconsistent results when treating a range of wastewaters that varied in strength. The C-572 polymer was less sensitive to the effects of dilution and produced more consistent results when treating these wastewaters. The C-572 polymer was also able to operate at a much higher pH range which eliminated the need to adjust the pH of the wastewater prior to treatment. The pH adjustment step was required when using alum. On balance, it was determined that C-572 was a suitable alternative to alum for the demulsification of commercial dishwasher wastewater.

这项研究的目的是评估阳离子聚合物在处理商用洗碗机废水中的可行性。商用洗碗机在常规使用期间会使用大量淡水，并且在此过程中会产生大量的高强度含油废水。当处理这种废水时，分散相中的颗粒通常需要去稳定化，以利于它们通过重力分离。明矾和其他金属盐通常用于此目的，尽管需要相对大的剂量。本文研究了阳离子聚合物，它可以以较小的剂量使胶体失稳，可作为明矾的潜在替代品。实验是在单级溶解气浮塔中进行的。在测试的八种阳离子聚合物中，只有一种能胜过明矾。与明矾和其他7种阳离子聚合物相比，这种聚合物名为Superfloc C-572的聚（二甲胺-共-表氯醇）具有最高的去除效率。在最佳条件下，C-572剂量为0.10 mg L^-1能够从废水样品中去除多达87％的油和90％的浊度。当聚合物和明矾一起使用时，去除效率进一步提高。C-572剂量为0.10 mg L ^-1，明矾剂量为200 mg L ^-1对油，浊度，化学需氧量和5天生化需氧量的去除效率分别为95.6％，94.6％，73.0％和94.4％。但是，当处理一系列强度各不相同的废水时，明矾和聚合物的组合使用会产生不一致的结果。当处理这些废水时，C-572聚合物对稀释的影响较不敏感，并产生了更一致的结果。C-572聚合物还能够在更高的pH范围内运行，从而无需在处理之前调节废水的pH。使用明矾时，需要进行pH调节步骤。总体而言，确定了C-572是明矾用于商业洗碗机废水破乳的合适替代品。