Performance of coupling an activated sludge reactor with heterogeneous photocatalysis (TiO2/UV) for removing the color of an industrial wastewater / Desempenho do acoplamento de um reator de lodo ativado à fotocatálise heterogênea (TiO2/UV) no descoramento de um efluente industrial

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2010

RESUMO

Generally, wastewaters can be easily treated by biological reactors with a good efficiency regarding organic matter removal. However, the process can be impaired in the presence of compounds that are toxic or have low biodegradability. Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) may be a choice to oxidize these compounds and minimize their toxicity and/or increase biodegradability. AOPs are based in the "in situ" generation of strong oxidants that reacts with the organic matter. The most important oxidant agent generated by AOPs is the hydroxyl radical (•OH), as they have a high oxidation potential. The aim of this work is to study, in laboratory scale, the decolorization achieved by the combination of an activated sludge reactor with heterogeneous photocatalysis (TiO2/UV), in the treatment of a woods industry wastewater, optimizing catalyst concentration, temperature, and pH, also observing the treatment sequence, that is, photocatalysis prior or after the activated sludge reactor. The wastewater and the sludge were collected at Faber-Castell, São Carlos. The Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) of the activated sludge reactor was 3 hours, with an interruption in the aeration of 30 minutes (same time used in the industry). Photocatalysis was carried out in a jacketed reactor with the irradiation of a medium pressure mercury lamp (250 W), away 20 cm from the wastewater surface (effective volume of 100 mL), magnetic stirred at 45 rpm. The biological reactor removed almost all COD of the effluent (85-90%), although color was not removed. When photocatalysis was used after the activated sludge reactor, color removal reached 93% in one hour of irradiation, as well as the complete detoxification of the wastewater. When photocatalysis as used as a pre-treatment, there was a color removal of 60% the ecotoxicity did not change. However, color removal increased to 90% with an irradiation time of 5 hours and 30 minutes. The photocatalytic decolorization kinetics (post-treatment) followed a first order model, with a constant (k) of (5.0 ± 0.57) × 10-2 min-1 and a R2 of 0.996. When the effluent was first treated with photocatalysis, the kinetics showed a zero order behavior, with a R2 = 0,992 and a of (2.60 ± 0.24) × 10-2 u.a. min-1. Photocatalysis is a good choice for removing the color of this effluent, regardless of the sequence tested. However, the best choice is to use photocatalysis prior to the biological treatement, as a 93% color removal was achieved, working with pH 7.0, 25°C and 2 g L-1 TiO2. Only 60% of color removal was observed when the wastewater was photocatalytic pretreated, with pH 5.7, 25°C, and 0.42 g L-1 TiO2.

ASSUNTO(S)

dye descoramento lodo ativado fotocatálise color removal corante activated sludge photocatalysis

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