Comparative study on classical and modified UV/H2O2 and Fenton reaction based methods for the removal of chemical pollutants in water treatment

Conventional methods are unable to remove many organic compounds. It becomes critical that the treatment technologies used are effective and do not create harmful by-products by reacting with the pollutants being removed. Such methods include advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), deep oxidation methods, which form highly reactive HO center dot radicals that are capable of reacting with all organic compounds. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the processes of AOPs in the degradation of micropollutants from model wastewater and effluent collected in one of the wastewater treatment plants of the Krakow agglomeration. The amount of micropollutants degradation was determined on the basis of changes in the chemical oxygen demand index. The UV/H2O2 method and the photocatalytic Fenton reaction were applied. The conducted experiments enabled the selection of the most optimal conditions for conducting AOPs processes (doses of H2O2, UV and the matrix effect). For the UV/ H2O2 method, after 2 h, a 90% removal of micropollutants in the model sewage was obtained, and in real wastewater it was 75%. The UV-Fenton reaction was modified by direct irradiation of H2O2. This innovative approach enabled a 30% removal of pollutants within 30 min, while for the UV/H2O2 method it was only 10%.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the effectiveness of AOPs processes in degrading micropollutants in wastewater, finding that both the UV/H2O2 method and photocatalytic Fenton reaction were able to effectively remove pollutants, with optimized conditions achieving high removal rates.