Laboratory and pilot plant scale study on the electrochemical oxidation of landfill leachate

Kinetic data regarding COD oxidation were measured in a laboratory scale cell and used to scale-up an electro-oxidation process for landfill leachate treatment by means of boron-doped diamond anodes. A pilot-scale reactor with a total BDD anode area of 1.05 m(2) was designed. Different electrode gaps in the laboratory and pilot plant cells resulted in dissimilar reactor hydrodynamics. Consequently, generalised dimensionless correlations concerning mass transfer were developed in order to define the mass transfer conditions in both electrochemical systems. These correlations were then used in the design equations to validate the scale-up procedure. A series of experiments with biologically pre-treated landfill leachate were done to accomplish this goal. The evolution of ammonia and COD concentration could be well predicted.