Depth treatment of coal-chemical engineering wastewater by a cost-effective sequential heterogeneous Fenton and biodegradation process

Abstract

In this study, a sequential Fe⁰/H₂O₂ reaction and biological process was employed as a low-cost depth treatment method to remove recalcitrant compounds from coal-chemical engineering wastewater after regular biological treatment. First of all, a chemical oxygen demand (COD) and color removal efficiency of 66 and 63% was achieved at initial pH of 6.8, 25 mmol L⁻¹ of H₂O₂, and 2 g L⁻¹ of Fe⁰ in the Fe⁰/H₂O₂ reaction. According to the gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) and gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID) analysis, the recalcitrant compounds were effectively decomposed into short-chain organic acids such as acetic, propionic, and butyric acids. Although these acids were resistant to the Fe⁰/H₂O₂ reaction, they were effectively eliminated in the sequential air lift reactor (ALR) at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 2 h, resulting in a further decrease of COD and color from 120 to 51 mg L⁻¹ and from 70 to 38 times, respectively. A low operational cost of 0.35 $ m⁻³ was achieved because pH adjustment and iron-containing sludge disposal could be avoided since a total COD and color removal efficiency of 85 and 79% could be achieved at an original pH of 6.8 by the above sequential process with a ferric ion concentration below 0.8 mg L⁻¹ after the Fe⁰/H₂O₂ reaction. It indicated that the above sequential process is a promising and cost-effective method for the depth treatment of coal-chemical engineering wastewaters to satisfy discharge requirements.