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Application of electro-Fenton process for treatment of composting plant leachate: kinetics, operational parameters and modeling

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Abstract

Background

Composting plant leachate is considered as one of the highly polluted wastewaters which is necessary to be treated by simple, economic, fast and environmentally compatible methods. In this study, treatment of fresh composting plant leachate by electro-Fenton (EF) process was investigated.

Methods

The effect of various input variables like pH (2–7), DC currents (1.5–3 A), H2O2 concentrations (theoretical ratio H2O2/COD: 0.1–0.6), TDS changes (4–6%), feeding mode, and BOD/COD ratio at the optimal point were studied. The settling characteristics of the waste sludge produced by the treatment (sludge volumes after 30-min sedimentation: V30) were also determined. Artificial neural network (ANN) approach was used for modeling the experimental data.

Results

Based on the results, the best removal rate of COD was obtained at pH: 3, 3 A constant DC current value, 0.6 theoretical ratio H2O2/COD and the feeding mode at four step injection. BOD/COD ratio at the optimal point was 0.535 and the maximum COD removal was achieved at TDS = 4%. In the optimal conditions, 85% of COD was removed and BOD/COD ratio was increased from 0.270 to 0.535. The data follow the second-order kinetic (R2 > 0.9) and neural network modeling also provided the accurate prediction for testing data.

Conclusion

Results showed that EF process can be used efficiently for treatment of composting plant leachate using the proper operating conditions.

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Acknowledgements

The present manuscript was obtained from M.Sc. thesis of Mr. Ghasem Alkhamis [project number ETRC-9313]. Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences (AJUMS) supported financially this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental and Occupational Hazards Control Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Nadali Alavi

  2. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Nadali Alavi

  3. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Student Research Committee, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran

    Mahboobeh Dehvari

  4. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran

    Mahboobeh Dehvari, Ghasem Alekhamis, Gholamreza Goudarzi & Abdolkazem Neisi

  5. Environmental Technologies Research Center (ETRC), Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran

    Gholamreza Goudarzi, Abdolkazem Neisi & Ali Akbar Babaei

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  1. Nadali Alavi
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  2. Mahboobeh Dehvari
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Correspondence to Ali Akbar Babaei.

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Alavi, N., Dehvari, M., Alekhamis, G. et al. Application of electro-Fenton process for treatment of composting plant leachate: kinetics, operational parameters and modeling. J Environ Health Sci Engineer 17, 417–431 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40201-019-00361-2

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