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Coupling digestion in a pilot-scale UASB reactor and electrochemical oxidation over BDD anode to treat diluted cheese whey

  • Advanced oxidation processes for environmental protection
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Abstract

The efficiency of the anaerobic treatment of cheese whey (CW) at mesophilic conditions was investigated. In addition, the applicability of electrochemical oxidation as an advanced post-treatment for the complete removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) from the anaerobically treated cheese whey was evaluated. The diluted cheese whey, having a pH of 6.5 and a total COD of 6 g/L, was first treated in a 600-L, pilot-scale up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor. The UASB process, which was operated for 87 days at mesophilic conditions (32 ± 2 °C) at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 3 days, led to a COD removal efficiency between 66 and 97 %, while the particulate matter of the wastewater was effectively removed by entrapment in the sludge blanket of the reactor. When the anaerobic reactor effluent was post-treated over a boron-doped diamond (BDD) anode at 9 and 18 A and in the presence of NaCl as the supporting electrolyte, complete removal of COD was attained after 3–4 h of reaction. During electrochemical experiments, three groups of organochlorinated compounds, namely trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetonitriles (HANs), and haloketons (HKs), as well as 1,2-dichloroethane (DCA) and chloropicrin were identified as by-products of the process; these, alongside free chlorine, are thought to increase the matrix ecotoxicity to Artemia salina.

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Acknowledgments

This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European Social Fund—ESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program “Education and Lifelong Learning” of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)—Research Funding Program: Heracleitus II. Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Crete, Polytechneioupolis, 73100, Chania, Greece

    Αthanasia Katsoni & Evan Diamadopoulos

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Patras, Caratheodory 1, University Campus, 26504, Patras, Greece

    Dionissios Mantzavinos

Authors
  1. Αthanasia Katsoni
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  2. Dionissios Mantzavinos
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  3. Evan Diamadopoulos
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Correspondence to Dionissios Mantzavinos.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Katsoni, Α., Mantzavinos, D. & Diamadopoulos, E. Coupling digestion in a pilot-scale UASB reactor and electrochemical oxidation over BDD anode to treat diluted cheese whey. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 12170–12181 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-2960-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-2960-2

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