Abstract

PH plays an important role in determining product quality in industries like various chemical, petrochemical, petroleum refineries, fertilizer, pharmaceutical, food industries, effluent treatment, and in many other organic and inorganic plants. For instance, in any industrial wastewater treatment plant, PH is monitored and controlled by manipulating the acid or base stream which is a strong acid or strong base. Modern treatment plant involves physical and chemical precipitation/flocculation along with biological treatment in aerators/trickle filters, membranes, etc, where the control of PH is the key factor for efficient treatment. In chemistry, PH is ameasure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a PH close to 7.0 at 25 degree Celsius. Solutions with a PH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a PH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline. PHmeasurements are important in medicine, biology, chemistry, agriculture, forestry, etc. By PH control we mean to maintain the PH value during continuous operation at a specific desired value through manipulating the alkaline flow rate. Usually in most industrial applications, the desired value is chosen to be around 7. This is the safest value for portable water, utility water used in industry, or waste disposing water.