Effect of H2O2 dosing strategy on sludge pretreatment by microwave-H2O2 advanced oxidation process

Considering characteristics of breaking down H(2)O(2) into water and molecular oxygen by catalase in waste activated sludge (WAS), the effect of H(2)O(2) dosing strategy on sludge pretreatment by the advanced oxidation process (AOP) of microwave-H(2)O(2) was investigated by batch experiments for optimizing H(2)O(2) dosage. Results showed that the catalase in sludge was active at the low temperature range between 15 degrees C and 45 degrees C, and gradually lost activity from 60 degrees C to 80 degrees C. Therefore, the H(2)O(2) was dosed at 80 degrees C, to which the waste activated sludge was first heated by the microwave (MW), and then the sludge dosed with H(2)O(2) was continuously heated till 100 degrees C by the microwave. Results at different H(2)O(2) dosages showed that the higher the H(2)O(2) dosing ratio was, the more the SCOD and total organic carbon (TOC) were released into the supernatant, and the optimum range of H(2)O(2)/TCOD ratio should be between 0.1 and 1.0. The percentages of consumed H(2)O(2) in the AOP of microwave and H(2)O(2) treating the WAS were 25.38%, 22.53%, 14.82%, 13.61% and 19.63% at different H(2)O(2)/TCOD dosing ratios of 0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, respectively. Along with the increasing H(2)O(2)/TCOD ratio, the contents of TCOD on particles, soluble substances and mineralization increased and the TCOD distribution on solids decreased.