Agro-industrial wastewater electrochemical advanced oxidation processes

Abstract

This research project target the wastewater treatment contaminated by fertilizers and pesticides; analyze the possible by-products formed and evaluate the ecotoxicological conditions to provide the water reuse in industrial production, aiming a decrease in costs. The concern about the environmental has been intensified in recent decades due to deterioration of water quality and lack of water, associated with higher awareness of the risks that impact human health. Among the wastewater contamination by agroindustry activities, the presence of organochlorine compounds, which are considered important aquatic contaminants by Environmental Protection Agency since 1976, due of their toxicity, persistence and bioaccumulation in aquatic organisms. New technologies have been studied to treat agroindustry wastewater in order to decrease environmental impact and cost reduction processes, through water reuse. Between these technologies, the Electrochemical Advanced Oxidation Processes (EAOP) can be highlighted, which is possible to be applied before treatment, directly in treatment or post-treatment of contaminants. These methods can easily being modulated to promote either high power to complete mineralize the pollutants or mild oxidize them to molecules with lower toxicity. In this project, we propose to apply the following EAOP: electrooxidation, photoelectrocatalysis, electro-Fenton and photoelectron-Fenton. For this, it will be prepared different compositions of oxide electrodes, evaluating the characteristics of each catalytic material. The oxidation grade will be followed by analytical techniques such as High Performance Liquid Chromatography, Gas Chromatography, Mass Spectrometry, Ion Chromatography, Demand Chemical and Biochemical Oxygen and Total Organic Carbon and ecotoxicological analyses, in order to reach the water quality necessary for water reuse. (AU)