Biodegradability assessment of advanced oxidation processes by means of respirometric measurements

Advance Oxidation Processes are considered a promising technology in degrading hazardous organic compounds into readily biodegradable intermediates. In this context, a proper measurement tool to determine the enhancement of the biodegradability of the wastewater is necessary. In this study, the opportunities of respirometric measurements to determine the possible enhancement of biodegradability of toxic wastewaters due to ozone treatment was investigated. Phenol was chosen to represent organic toxic wastewaters. Firstly, the inhibitory effect of phenol on the respirometric oxygen consumption of unacclimated biomass has been determined. Further, a solution with a phenol concentration of 250 mg/l has been treated with ozone at pH 3 and pH 9. Based on the performed COD, TOC, BOD, phenol concentration and respirometric measurements, it can be observed that in this case the ozone treatment at pH 9 a lower ozone dosage was necessary to enhance the biodegradability of the phenol solution. Furthermore, the SOUR graphs shows a significant difference between the ozone treatments and the ozone dosages. Hence, respirometric measurements can be used to determine the enhancement of the biodegradability due to ozone oxidation. Further investigation on this topic is necessary to determine the effect of acclimated biomass on the respirometric measurements.status: publishe