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Evaluation of Integrated Anaerobic Digestion and Hydrothermal Carbonization for Bioenergy Production
Published on: June 15, 2014
Combining UASB technology and advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) to treat food processing wastewaters
G O Sigge1, J Britz, P C Fourie
1Department of Food Science, University of Stellenbosch, Matieland, South Africa.
Summary
Post-treatment using ozone and hydrogen peroxide with activated carbon effectively reduced chemical oxygen demand (COD) in fruit cannery and winery wastewater, making it closer to legal discharge limits.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Engineering
- Water Treatment Technologies
- Industrial Wastewater Management
Background:
- Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) treatment is feasible for fruit cannery and winery effluents.
- Treated effluents from UASB still exceed the legal chemical oxygen demand (COD) limit of 75 mg/L for direct discharge.
- Post-treatment is essential to further reduce COD levels in effluents.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate ozone and ozone/hydrogen peroxide as post-treatment options for UASB-treated fruit cannery and winery effluent.
- To assess the effectiveness of these methods in reducing residual COD and color.
- To determine if these methods can help achieve the legal discharge limit for COD.
Main Methods:
- UASB treatment was applied to fruit cannery and winery effluents.
- Post-treatment involved ozonation and combined ozone/hydrogen peroxide treatment.
- Granular activated carbon (GAC) contacting columns were used in conjunction with the oxidation processes.
Main Results:
- Color reduction ranged from 66% to 90%.
- Chemical oxygen demand (COD) reductions varied between 27% and 55%.
- The combination of ozone and hydrogen peroxide yielded superior results compared to ozonation alone.
Conclusions:
- Ozone and ozone/hydrogen peroxide post-treatment, combined with GAC, significantly improves effluent quality.
- The combined ozone/hydrogen peroxide method is more effective than ozonation alone for COD and color reduction.
- This post-treatment approach makes substantial progress towards meeting the legal COD discharge limit of 75 mg/L.
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