Removal of organic compound from pharmaceutical wastewater using advanced oxidation processes

Abstract

Further polishing of effluent (pharmaceutical wastewater) from an aerobic reactor using different types of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) were presented and discussed. Four types of processes were evaluated, i.e. ozonation (O₃), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), ultraviolet (UV) and Fenton reagent, and a combination of these AOPs (O₃/UV, H₂O₂/UV, O₃/H₂O₂ and O3/H2O2/UV) for organic compound (as chemical oxygen demand, COD) removal have also been studied. The additional treatment of the activated sludge reactor effluent contributed substantially to overall COD removal of the pharmaceutical wastewater. Among the AOPs used in this study, O₃/H₂O₂/UV alternative resulted in the highest COD removal (59%) from the activated sludge effluent. In specific, around 450 mg.L^-1 of COD had been removed in the O₃/H₂O₂/UV process giving a final COD of 300 mg.L^-1 in the treated effluent. Other processes (Fenton, O₃, O₃/UV, O₃/H₂O₂ and H₂O₂/UV) showed nearly constant maximum removal of 38 – 43%.