Chemical oxidation process for the treatment of antibiotic wastewater

Abstract

There is growing concern from the scientific community that pharmaceutical compounds are not treated sufficiently by current wastewater treatment methods and therefore trace amounts of such compounds are being identified in surface water, ground water and sewage effluents. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are now being proposed for the specific treatment of industrial wastewaters and wastewaters containing pharmaceutical products. The AOP treatment for the antibiotic wastewater was researched following an anaerobic digestion. Various combinations of AOPs were considered using ozone (O3), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), ultra-violet (UV) and Fenton’s reagent. Chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC) and sulphate analysis were carried out to evaluate the efficiency of the AOPs. Results showed that the UV/H2O2 and UV/H2O2/O3 AOPs were considered to be most effective for this particular wastewater. A 70% COD removal and a 56% TOC removal were recorded for the UV/H2O2 processes, a 66% COD removal and a 56.6% TOC removal were recorded for the UV/H2O2/O3 processes. Sulphate concentrations increased during all AOPs due to oxidation of hydrogen sulphide (H2S).