The Advanced Oxidation Process refers to a broad set of chemical treatment processes that can remove organic as well as inorganic (in some cases) materials present in wastewater by oxidation. The oxidation process occurs in the presence of hydroxyl radicals (OH). The AOPs convert the harmful substances present in wastewater into harmless substances. They work like tiny, diligent workers who scrub your water clean.
There are three major sub-heroes in the AOP technology: reactive oxygen (ROS), singlet oxygen, and hydroxyl radicals. These compounds are strong oxidants for wastewater treatment.
Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) act like a secret weapon in cleaning up wastewater. Let’s understand it’s working.
Before the AOP starts playing its role, the wastewater must be ready for it, i.e., it must have gone through processes like sedimentation or filtration. The pH levels should also be adjusted accordingly.
There is an AOP electro-catalytic reactor in which the prepped water enters. There are powerful oxidants in this reactor, such as the reactive oxygen and hydroxyl compounds. After the sediments settle and leave behind clear water, these chemicals act as little cleaning warriors, removing all remaining pollutants from your tertiary treated wastewater.
To ensure that no pollutant is left behind, the treated water goes through catalytic oxidation and post-filtration stages. Then, at the last stage, photo-catalytic UV action is employed. It can also be paired with a hydrogen peroxide/ozone combo for extra cleansing power.
In short, in the working of AOP, the wastewater must go through a sedimentation process, pH adjustment, and have the correct flow rate to go into AOP electric-catalytic reactors.
The AOP procedure has utility for wastewater treatment with a high presence of biologically toxic or non-degradable materials such as aromatics, pesticides, petroleum constituents, and volatile organic compounds (VOC). The contaminants undergo mineralization. In the mineralization process, they are mostly transformed into stable inorganic molecules such as salts, carbon dioxide, and water.
The purpose of wastewater purification using AOP processes is to reduce chemical pollutants and toxicity to the point where purified wastewater can be returned to receiving streams.
AOP wastewater treatment process can be used for removing contaminants of wastewater coming out from different industries, like:
There are various chemicals used in advanced oxidation processes, which make each process different from the other. Each chemical has a unique way to tackle pollutants.
This is a strong and straightforward oxidation process. In this method, only ozone is used to oxidize organic compounds and remove them from water. However, the combination of ozone with hydrogen peroxide is more fruitful as these two forces, when leveraged together, deliver better results.
The UV/ozone process combines the power of ultraviolet light with the strength of ozone. Ozonation under UV gives better clearance to the wastewater than ozonation alone.
Chemical oxidation processes using hydrogen peroxide, ozone, combined ozone & peroxide CLO2, Ultra Sound & Ultra-violet enhanced oxidation such as US/UV/ozone, US/UV/hydrogen peroxide, US/UV/air, and catalytic reagents.
There are many benefits of a powerful wastewater treatment process like the Advanced Oxidation Process. Let’s know about them:
Among all the oxidants, the OH molecule has the fastest reaction rate for the treatment of water pollutants due to its high oxidation potential and non-selective nature. In comparison to other conventional treatment processes, these quick reactions result in much lower retention times.
Due to the high oxidative nature of OH, the AOP processes require much less land area to process the needed flow rate for the system.
In the chlorine treatment processes, the by-products formed after treatment are toxic in nature. Before anything more can be done with the treated water, an additional de-chlorination procedure is frequently necessary to avoid these byproducts. Water can be produced by combining the ⦁OH molecule. A well-designed advanced oxidation process system can address the main problems, which are excess peroxide and bromate generation.
AOP can convert the organic materials within the water into stable inorganic compounds like water, carbon dioxide, and salts.
As OH* molecules are highly reactive in nature, they attack every organic material, resulting in the removal of many different contaminants, including some heavy metals.
When used with UV disinfection, AOPs’ oxidation ability makes them capable of acting as a disinfection step for any pathogens that may be present in the water.
There is no by-product like sludge is formed in the chemical treatment of AOP processes.
Since treatment methods like membranes only separate clean water from the pollutant components, they lead to higher concentrations of waste contaminants. In the meantime, the contaminants undergo a direct reaction with AOP, which turns them into innocuous molecules. As a result, this technique lowers their effluent concentrations.
The transformations in AOP technologies are paving the way for more sustainable wastewater treatment methods. AOP holds great potential to hold leachate among other wastewater treatment streams.
The versatility and adaptability of AOP make it highly attractive and make it a reliable wastewater treatment method for varying industries.
Even with this flexibility, there is still room for development and investigation. It requires research and patience to realize its full potential, just like any other technological innovation.
Both the development of new AOP techniques and the enhancement of current ones show encouraging tendencies. Similar to making a cake, you can always experiment with different recipes or make adjustments to your current one to maximize the outcome.
We can identify some new paths of innovation by tweaking the current procedures. For e.g., combining AOPs such as ozonation with UV/hydrogen peroxide treatments or electro-oxidation with ozone or hydrogen may result in some unanticipated high results.
These different combinations may result in high yields and stronger processes capable of dealing with highly stubborn pollutants or organics.
Apart from the existing techniques, we are also exploring new treatment methods that include radical species for wastewater treatment.
In this article, we have delved into various facets of the Advanced Oxidation Process including its working, benefits, and future perspectives. At Wipro Water, we constantly delve into making wastewater treatment methods easier to install, highly efficient, and high-yield. Our experts can help you achieve all the wastewater-related compliances by installing customized wastewater treatment plants that meet your specific needs. Let us know your requirements.