ABSTRACT
Ozonation was investigated as a potential post-treatment step for biologically treated landfill leachate to enhance the biodegradability and observe the influence of the initial organic matter concentration and pH. Changes in COD, UV absorption at 254 nm (UVA254) and BOD content were measured during and after ozonation, and the ozone utilisation efficiency at different conditions was calculated. The initial COD concentration was found to influence the absolute removal of UVA254 significantly, but especially changes in pH influenced the ozone reactions. Increased pH (pH 10) most probably increased the overall hydroxyl radical production leading to a higher COD removal and a much better ozone utilisation compared to lower pH. This in contrast to initial COD variations which had little influence on the determined ozone utilisation. Regardless of initial COD content or pH, on average 10% of the initial COD content was converted to BOD, next to 10% COD that was removed.
Subject(s)
Ozone/chemistry , Water Pollutants, Chemical/chemistry , Biodegradation, Environmental , Hydrogen-Ion ConcentrationABSTRACT
This study experimentally examined the impact of oxidation on the properties of effluent organic matter (EfOM) using two different oxidation techniques: ozonation and UV/H2O2 treatment. Multiple surrogates for EfOM related to its spectral properties, molecular size, concentration, polarity and biodegradability were used to study the oxidant induced conversions. Spectral calculations as differential absorbance spectra (DAS) and absorbance slope index (ASI) were applied for the first time to describe EfOM oxidation and proved to be useful to unravel differences in working mechanism between ozone and hydroxyl radical (HO) induced transformation of EfOM. Effluent ozonation inherently led to significant HO production as a result of electron transfers between ozone and electron rich moieties of EfOM. HO production increased as function of ozone dose and was strongly correlated to UV absorption at 254 nm (UV254). During the UV moderated process, pseudo steady-state behaviour of the HO concentration was observed. Ozone decomposition was extremely sensitive to EfOM reactivity. Most likely, the degree of dissociation of EfOM controlled its reactivity towards ozone. The pH effect was quantified by calculating the pseudo-first order decay constant for ozone as function of reaction time and pH. Treatment with both processes led to more oxygen rich, less hydrophobic and more biodegradable EfOM.
