Phenol wastewater remediation: advanced oxidation processes coupled to a biological treatment

• Published in: Water science and technology 2007-01, Vol.55 (12), p.221-227
• Main Authors: Rubalcaba, A, Suárez-Ojeda, M.E, Stuber, F, Fortuny, A, Bengoa, C, Metcalfe, I, Font, J, Carrera, J, Fabregat, A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activated carbon; Activated sludge; air; Biodegradability; Biodegradation; Biological activity; Biological effects; Biological wastewater treatment; carbon; Catalysis; catalysts; Chemical oxygen demand; Effluents; Fenton reaction; high performance liquid chromatography; Hydrogen peroxide; Hydrogen Peroxide - chemistry; Industrial effluents; Industrial wastewater; Iron - chemistry; Organic carbon; Oxidation; Oxidation-Reduction; Oxygen; Oxygen consumption; Oxygen uptake; phenol; Phenols; Phenols - chemistry; Phenols - metabolism; Temperature; Wastewater treatment; Wastewater treatment plants; Water Pollutants, Chemical - chemistry; Water Pollutants, Chemical - metabolism; Water Purification - methods; Water treatment plants; Wet oxidation process
• ISSN: 0273-1223; 1996-9732
• DOI: 10.2166/wst.2007.412

Nowadays, there are increasingly stringent regulations requiring more and more treatment of industrial effluents to generate product waters which could be easily reused or disposed of to the environment without any harmful effects. Therefore, different advanced oxidation processes were investigated as suitable precursors for the biological treatment of industrial effluents containing phenol. Wet air oxidation and Fenton process were tested batch wise, while catalytic wet air oxidation and H2O2-promoted catalytic wet air oxidation processes were studied in a trickle bed reactor, the last two using over activated carbon as catalyst. Effluent characterisation was made by means of substrate conversion (using high liquid performance chromatography), chemical oxygen demand and total organic carbon. Biodegradation parameters (i.e. maximum oxygen uptake rate and oxygen consumption) were obtained from respirometric tests using activated sludge from an urban biological wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The main goal was to find the proper conditions in terms of biodegradability enhancement, so that these phenolic effluents could be successfully treated in an urban biological WWTP. Results show promising research ways for the development of efficient coupled processes for the treatment of wastewater containing toxic or biologically non-degradable compounds.