Catalytic Ozonation of the Secondary Effluents from the Largest Chinese Petrochemical Wastewater Treatment Plant—A Stability Assessment

Siyu Zhang, Hao Wang, Yuexi Zhou, Mohammadreza Kamali, Xuwen He, Mohammadreza Khalaj and Yu Xia
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Siyu Zhang: School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
Hao Wang: School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
Yuexi Zhou: Research Center of Water Pollution Control Technology, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China
Mohammadreza Kamali: Process and Environmental Technology Lab, Department of Chemical Engineering, KU Leuven, J. De Nayerlaan 5, 2860 Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Belgium
Xuwen He: School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
Mohammadreza Khalaj: Center for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM), University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Yu Xia: School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 4, 1-14

Abstract: Effluents discharged from petrochemical facilities are complex and composed of various types of highly toxic contaminants, which necessitates the development of sustainable treatment technologies. Stability is among the most important sustainability criteria of the wastewater treatment processes. In the present manuscript, the standard-reaching rate (η) index was used to evaluate the stability of the catalytic ozonation process for treating the secondary effluent from the petrochemical industry. A pilot-scale device was designed and implemented for catalytic ozonation. The effluents were taken from the secondary sedimentation tank of a petrochemical wastewater treatment plant in China. A commercially available γ-Al 2 O 3 was used as the catalyst after a pre-treatment heating step. The catalyst was characterized using scanning electron microscopy. Three mathematical statistics indexes, discrete coefficient (V σ ), skewness coefficient (C so ), and range coefficient (V R ), were used to analyze the results achieved from the catalytic ozonation process. Continuous operation of the pilot-scale device was monitored for 9 months under an ozone concentration of 36 mg/L and the contact oxidation time of 1 h. The results demonstrated that the stability evaluation grades of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and suspended solids (SS) in the effluent of the catalytic ozonation system were both 3 and A, indicating that the process was relatively stable over a long period of application. The effluent COD compliance grade was also calculated as B, indicating that the effluent COD does not meet the standard and the process parameters need to be further optimized. When the reflux ratio is 150%, the removal rate of COD is the highest (38.2%) and the COD of effluent is 49.34 mg/L. Meanwhile, to enhance the efficiency and stability of the system, the ozone concentration and the two-stage aeration ratio are 40 mg/L and 4:1, respectively. Moreover, the presence of SS in the water of the catalytic ozonation system will result in the waste of ozone and reduce the utilization rate of ozone.

Keywords: catalytic ozonation; petrochemical industry; secondary effluent; stability evaluation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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