Comparison of the chemical precipitation, UV/H2O2 and Fenton processes to optimize removal of chronic toxicity from kraft mill effluents Article

Jarpa, M, Rozas, O, Salazar, C et al. (2016). Comparison of the chemical precipitation, UV/H2O2 and Fenton processes to optimize removal of chronic toxicity from kraft mill effluents . DESALINATION AND WATER TREATMENT, 57(30), 13887-13896. 10.1080/19443994.2015.1061454

cited authors

  • Jarpa, M; Rozas, O; Salazar, C; Baeza, C; Campos, JL; Mansilla, HD; Vidal, G

abstract

  • Secondary Treatment Effluents (STE) from Kraft mill effluents are discharged into aquatic ecosystems with high color and chronic toxicity contents owing to the recalcitrance of compounds in the effluents. The goal of the study was to evaluate the chemical precipitation, UV/H2O2, and the Fenton processes (H2O2/Fe2+) for chemical oxygen demand (COD) and for removing chronic toxicity from STE. A circumscribed central composite model and a response surface methodology were used to evaluate the effects of variables such as Al2(SO4)3, Fe(II), and H2O2 concentration and pH range for each treatment. The optimal conditions were 984.2 mg Al2(SO4)3/L and pH 5.2 for chemical precipitation; 51.4 mM H2O2 and pH 5.1 for UV/H2O2; and 5.5 mM Fe(II): 25 mM H2O2 concentration and pH 2.8 for H2O2/Fe2+. Under such optimal conditions, COD removal was 84.7, 80.0, and 93.6%, with reaction times of 57, 75, and 10 min for the chemical precipitation, UV/H2O2, and H2O2/Fe2+ methods, respectively. This study recorded chronic toxicity in STE and sludge formed during chemical precipitation with maximum reductions in percentages of Allometric Growth Rate (AGR) of 11.5 for STE without dilution (100%, p < 0.05). For chemical precipitation sludge, the maximum reduction of AGR was 3.4% for a dilution of 75%. We concluded that all the assessed treatments effectively removed chronic toxicity in the treated effluents.

publication date

  • June 26, 2016

published in

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

start page

  • 13887

end page

  • 13896

volume

  • 57

issue

  • 30