Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Non-catalytic and catalytic wet oxidation of landfill leachate over CuO and MoO3

  • NOTE
  • Published:
Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Leachate, a toxic and complex liquid, is a growing problem for municipal solid waste landfills. This study investigated non-catalytic and homogeneous catalytic (1 g/L MoO3 and CuO) wet oxidation (WO) for leachate treatment and examined the performance and reusability of the economical catalysts. Leachate was subjected to a 60-min WO at 180–240 °C. Catalysts’ performance was evaluated through a reduction in chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total nitrogen content (TN), production and degradation of volatile fatty acids (VFAs), colour change, and surface characterisation. The breakdown of organic matter, such as humic and fulvic substances, benefited from increased reaction time, temperature and the presence of the catalysts. The catalysts’ contribution to degradation was found to be greater with increasing temperature. A maximum reduction in COD and TN of approximately 50% was obtained at 240 °C with CuO. However, the catalysts experienced fouling, decreasing the performance by up to 50%, limiting its reusability.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig.1
Fig.2
Fig.3
Fig.4
Fig.5

Data availability

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

References

  1. Nanda S, Berruti F (2020) Municipal solid waste management and landfilling technologies: a review. Environ Chem Lett 19(2):1433–1456. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-020-01100-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Wijekoon P, Koliyabandara PA, Cooray AT, Lam SS, Athapattu BCL, Vithanage M (2022) Progress and prospects in mitigation of landfill leachate pollution: risk, pollution potential, treatment and challenges. J Hazard Mater 421:126627. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126627

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Coffin ES, Reeves DM, Cassidy DP (2022) "PFAS in municipal solid waste landfills: sources, leachate composition, chemical transformations, and future challenges. Curr Opin Environ Sci Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coesh.2022.100418

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Capolupo M, Sorensen L, Jayasena KDR, Booth AM, Fabbri E (2020) Chemical composition and ecotoxicity of plastic and car tire rubber leachates to aquatic organisms. Water Res 169:115270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2019.115270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Esterhuizen M, von Wolff MA, Kim YJ, Pflugmacher S (2022) Ecotoxicological implications of leachates from concrete demolition debris on oligochaetes: survival and oxidative stress status. Heliyon 8(10):e11237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e11237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Kang Y, Koch F, Gobler CJ (2015) The interactive roles of nutrient loading and zooplankton grazing in facilitating the expansion of harmful algal blooms caused by the pelagophyte, Aureoumbra lagunensis, to the Indian River Lagoon, FL, USA. Harmful Algae 49:162–173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hal.2015.09.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Li H-M, Tang H-J, Shi X-Y, Zhang C-S, Wang X-L (2014) Increased nutrient loads from the Changjiang (Yangtze) River have led to increased Harmful Algal Blooms. Harmful Algae 39:92–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hal.2014.07.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Kang K-H, Shin HS, Park H (2002) Characterization of humic substances present in landfill leachates with different landfill ages and its implications. Water Res 36(16):4023–4032. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0043-1354(02)00114-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Oulego P, Collado S, Laca A, Diaz M (2016) Impact of leachate composition on the advanced oxidation treatment. Water Res 88:389–402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2015.09.048

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Kulikowska D, Klimiuk E (2008) The effect of landfill age on municipal leachate composition. Bioresour Technol 99(13):5981–5985. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2007.10.015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Youcai Z (2018) Leachate generation and characteristics. In: Pollution control technology for leachate from municipal solid waste. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 1–30

  12. Garcia M, Collado S, Oulego P, Diaz M (2020) The wet oxidation of aqueous humic acids. J Hazard Mater 396:122402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.122402

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Yang X et al (2022) Enhanced removal of refractory humic- and fulvic-like organics from biotreated landfill leachate by ozonation in packed bubble columns. Sci Total Environ 807(1):150762. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150762

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Youcai Z (2018) Physical and chemical treatment processes for leachate. Pollution control technology for leachate from municipal solid waste. Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, pp 31–183

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  15. Tałałaj IA, Biedka P, Bartkowska I (2019) Treatment of landfill leachates with biological pretreatments and reverse osmosis. Environ Chem Lett 17(3):1177–1193. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-019-00860-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Wang K, Li L, Tan F, Wu D (2018) Treatment of landfill leachate using activated sludge technology: a review. Archaea 2018:1039453. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/1039453

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Song J et al (2020) A pilot-scale study on the treatment of landfill leachate by a composite biological system under low dissolved oxygen conditions: performance and microbial community. Bioresour Technol 296:122344. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2019.122344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Oloibiri V, De Coninck S, Chys M, Demeestere K, Van Hulle SWH (2017) Characterisation of landfill leachate by EEM-PARAFAC-SOM during physical-chemical treatment by coagulation-flocculation, activated carbon adsorption and ion exchange. Chemosphere 186:873–883. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.08.035

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Reshadi MAM, Bazargan A, McKay G (2020) A review of the application of adsorbents for landfill leachate treatment: focus on magnetic adsorption. Sci Total Environ 731:138863. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138863

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Bhargava SK, Tardio J, Prasad J, Föger K, Akolekar DB, Grocott SC (2006) Wet oxidation and catalytic wet oxidation. Ind Eng Chem Res 45(4):1221–1258. https://doi.org/10.1021/ie051059n

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. He S (2019) Catalytic wet oxidation: process and catalyst development and the application perspective. In: Catalysis, vol 31. The Royal Society of Chemistry, pp 37–71

  22. Shi L, Zhang Y, Lian S (2020) Catalytic wet oxidation treatment of landfill leachate. IOP Conf Ser Mater Sci Eng 768(2):022007. https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899x/768/2/022007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Baroutian S, Gapes DJ, Sarmah AK, Farid MM, Young BR (2016) Formation and degradation of valuable intermediate products during wet oxidation of municipal sludge. Bioresour Technol 205:280–285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2016.01.039

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Karimi B, Ehrampoush MH, Ebrahimi A, Mokhtari M (2013) The study of leachate treatment by using three advanced oxidation process based wet air oxidation. Iranian J Environ Health Sci Eng 10(1):1. https://doi.org/10.1186/1735-2746-10-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Ates H, Argun ME (2021) Advanced oxidation of landfill leachate: Removal of micropollutants and identification of by-products. J Hazard Mater 413:125326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.125326

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Gallezot P, Chaumet S, Perrard A, Isnard P (1997) Catalytic wet air oxidation of acetic acid on carbon-supported ruthenium catalysts. J Catal 168(1):104–109. https://doi.org/10.1006/jcat.1997.1633

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Gallezot P, Laurain N, Isnard P (1996) Catalytic wet-air oxidation of carboxylic acids on carbon-supported platinum catalysts. Appl Catal B 9(1–4):L11–L17. https://doi.org/10.1016/0926-3373(96)90070-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Bhaskar S, Matthews SJ, Jones MI, Baroutian S (2022) Catalytic wet oxidation of glucose as a model compound for organic waste using transition metal oxide powders. J Environ Chem Eng. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2022.107198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Parthenidis P, Evgenidou E, Lambropoulou D (2022) Wet and supercritical oxidation for landfill leachate treatment: a short review. J Environ Chem Eng. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2022.107837

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Fu J et al (2016) Bimetallic Ru–Cu as a highly active, selective and stable catalyst for catalytic wet oxidation of aqueous ammonia to nitrogen. Appl Catal B 184:216–222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2015.11.031

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Grasselli RK (2002) Fundamental principles of selective heterogeneous oxidation catalysis. Topics catal 21(1):79–88

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. van Santen RA, Tranca I, Hensen EJM (2015) Theory of surface chemistry and reactivity of reducible oxides. Catal Today 244:63–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cattod.2014.07.009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Thayagaraja R, Cheng SY, Jones MI, Baroutian S (2020) Catalytic wet oxidation of glucose as model compound of wastewater over copper/rare earth oxides catalysts. J Water Process Eng. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2020.101251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Shende RV, Mahajani VV (1997) Kinetics of wet oxidation of formic acid and acetic acid. Ind Eng Chem Res 36(11):4809–4814. https://doi.org/10.1021/ie970048u

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Wheeler A (1951) Reaction Rates and Selectivity in Catalyst Pores. In: Advances. Academic Press, pp 249–327

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Mr Raymond Hoffmann and Dr Matthew Sidford for technical assistance and helping with the chemical analyses.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, The University of Auckland, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand

    Bryan Li, Elizabeth Timings & Saeid Baroutian

  2. Circular Innovations (CIRCUIT) Research Centre, The University of Auckland, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand

    Saeid Baroutian

  3. NGĀ ARA WHETŪ Centre for Climate, Biodiversity and Society, The University of Auckland, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand

    Saeid Baroutian

Authors
  1. Bryan Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Elizabeth Timings
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Saeid Baroutian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Saeid Baroutian.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest in the publication of this study.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Li, B., Timings, E. & Baroutian, S. Non-catalytic and catalytic wet oxidation of landfill leachate over CuO and MoO3. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 25, 1239–1246 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-022-01585-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-022-01585-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation