Removal of Pharmaceutical Residues from Water and Wastewater Using Dielectric Barrier Discharge Methods—A Review

Emile S. Massima Mouele, Jimoh O. Tijani, Kassim O. Badmus, Omoniyi Pereao, Omotola Babajide, Cheng Zhang, Tao Shao, Eduard Sosnin, Victor Tarasenko, Ojo O. Fatoba, Katri Laatikainen and Leslie F. Petrik
Additional contact information
Emile S. Massima Mouele: Environmental Nano Science Research Group, Department of Chemistry, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, Cape Town 7535, South Africa
Jimoh O. Tijani: Environmental Nano Science Research Group, Department of Chemistry, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, Cape Town 7535, South Africa
Kassim O. Badmus: Environmental Nano Science Research Group, Department of Chemistry, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, Cape Town 7535, South Africa
Omoniyi Pereao: Environmental Nano Science Research Group, Department of Chemistry, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, Cape Town 7535, South Africa
Omotola Babajide: Environmental Nano Science Research Group, Department of Chemistry, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, Cape Town 7535, South Africa
Cheng Zhang: Beijing International S&T Cooperation Base for Plasma Science, Energy Conversion, Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Tao Shao: Beijing International S&T Cooperation Base for Plasma Science, Energy Conversion, Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Eduard Sosnin: Institute of High Current Electronics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 634055 Tomsk, Russia
Victor Tarasenko: Institute of High Current Electronics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 634055 Tomsk, Russia
Ojo O. Fatoba: Environmental Nano Science Research Group, Department of Chemistry, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, Cape Town 7535, South Africa
Katri Laatikainen: Department of Separation Science, Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT, P.O. Box 20, FI-53851 Lappeenranta, Finland
Leslie F. Petrik: Environmental Nano Science Research Group, Department of Chemistry, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, Cape Town 7535, South Africa

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 4, 1-42

Abstract: Persistent pharmaceutical pollutants (PPPs) have been identified as potential endocrine disruptors that mimic growth hormones when consumed at nanogram per litre to microgram per litre concentrations. Their occurrence in potable water remains a great threat to human health. Different conventional technologies developed for their removal from wastewater have failed to achieve complete mineralisation. Advanced oxidation technologies such as dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) based on free radical mechanisms have been identified to completely decompose PPPs. Due to the existence of pharmaceuticals as mixtures in wastewater and the recalcitrance of their degradation intermediate by-products, no single advanced oxidation technology has been able to eliminate pharmaceutical xenobiotics. This review paper provides an update on the sources, occurrence, and types of pharmaceuticals in wastewater by emphasising different DBD configurations previously and currently utilised for pharmaceuticals degradation under different experimental conditions. The performance of the DBD geometries was evaluated considering various factors including treatment time, initial concentration, half-life time, degradation efficiency and the energy yield (G 50 ) required to degrade half of the pollutant concentration. The review showed that the efficacy of the DBD systems on the removal of pharmaceutical compounds depends not only on these parameters but also on the nature/type of the pollutant.

Keywords: pharmaceutical residues; water; wastewater; dielectric barrier discharge; advanced oxidation technologies; chemicals/contaminants of emerging concern (CEC); excilamp (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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