Advanced Oxidation
Advanced Oxidation AOP
Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP) refer to a set of chemical treatment procedures which are designed to remove organic (and sometimes inorganic) materials in water and wastewater by oxidation through reaction with hydroxyl radicals. These oxidation processes are suitable for achieving the complete abatement and thorough mineralisation of even low reactive pollutants.
Belmar uses the Enviolet® – UV- Advanced Oxidation Process.
UV-AOP operates with UV-light, hydrogen peroxide and traces of Fe(II/III) sulphate. This process is a full catalytic process, where the only consumables are hydrogen peroxide and electricity. This process achieves oxidation in a number of ways:
• Direct photolysis (UV-light decomposes the Organic)
• Activation of H2O2 for the oxidation by UV-light (OH-radicals react with Organic)
• Activation of H2O2 for the oxidation by Fe(II) (OH-radicals react with Organic)
• Reduction of Fe(III) by UV-light under oxidation of the COD (Charge-Transfer-Reaction)
This complex network of well equilibrated reaction conditions lead to an effective and very economic oxidation process without increasing the salt load of the water or formation of sludge.
Please find more information HERE
Advanced Oxidation In Operation
Fig. 1: Phenolic Waste sample from pharmaceutical production. The picture above shows waste at the start of treatment (left) to the final waste ready of discharge (right).
A common misconception is that a UV based AOP requires the wastewater to be transparent and free from particles, without a clear fluid how would UV light pass through the solution? However, this only applies to UV disinfection. In contrast UV AOP uses absorption and a strong colour already indicates a good absorption of light.
Advanced Oxidation Applications
• Treatment of aqueous organic waste from the pharmaceutical, chemical and medical device industries. Many waste streams from these industries contain large amounts of water from Cleaning-In-Place CIP operations. Typically these wash down waters are contaminated with non-biodegradable materials and/or Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient API’s. The current treatment approach is typically incineration of these wastes, with associated high treatment costs. UV AOP destroys the complex organic species in the aqueous waste, and renders them biodegradable suitable for treatment through a biological effluent system.
• COD Reduction – reduction of COD and elimination of toxic substances to increase the bio-availability of the treated wastewater. This allows the system to be used as a pre-treatment step prior to a biological treatment plant.
• Elimination of active substances – by selective elimination of functional chemicals we can supply an economical solution for the destruction of active substances in chemical and pharmaceutical waste waters.
• Metal finishing and surface treatment applications – e.g. copper/nickel bath recycling, zinc/nickel/electroless nickel/copper waste chelate elimination as well as the treatment and detoxification of high strength cyanide contaminated wastewater.
