Aluminized surface to improve solar light absorption in open reactors: Application for micropollutants removal in effluents from municipal wastewater treatment plants

Elizangela P Costa; Melina Roccamante; Patricia Plaza-Bolaños; Isabel Oller; Ana Agüera; Camila C Amorim; Sixto Malato

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142624

Aluminized surface to improve solar light absorption in open reactors: Application for micropollutants removal in effluents from municipal wastewater treatment plants

Sci Total Environ. 2021 Feb 10;755(Pt 2):142624. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142624. Epub 2020 Sep 30.

Authors

Elizangela P Costa¹, Melina Roccamante², Patricia Plaza-Bolaños³, Isabel Oller², Ana Agüera³, Camila C Amorim¹, Sixto Malato⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Research Group on Environmental Applications of Advanced Oxidation Processes, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos, 6627, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 31270-901, Brazil.
² Solar Energy Research Centre (CIESOL), Joint Centre University of Almería-CIEMAT, Carretera de Sacramento s/n, E-04120 Almería, Spain; Plataforma Solar de Almería, CIEMAT, Carretera Senés Km. 4, E-04200 Tabernas, Almería, Spain.
³ Solar Energy Research Centre (CIESOL), Joint Centre University of Almería-CIEMAT, Carretera de Sacramento s/n, E-04120 Almería, Spain; Department of Chemistry and Physics, University of Almería, Carretera de Sacramento s/n, E-04120 Almería, Spain.
⁴ Solar Energy Research Centre (CIESOL), Joint Centre University of Almería-CIEMAT, Carretera de Sacramento s/n, E-04120 Almería, Spain; Plataforma Solar de Almería, CIEMAT, Carretera Senés Km. 4, E-04200 Tabernas, Almería, Spain. Electronic address: Sixto.malato@psa.es.

PMID: 33045600
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142624

Abstract

This work proposes the evaluation of an aluminized surface on the bottom of open reactors to perform a photo-Fenton process, at circumneutral pH (using Fe III-Ethylenediamine-N,N'-disuccinic acid complex), for elimination of micropollutants (MPs) in real effluents from municipal wastewater treatment plants (EMWWTP). Firstly, the strategy was to initially investigate the real EMWWTP spiked with several MPs (acetaminophen, diclofenac, carbamazepine, caffeine, trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole) with 20 and 100 μg L^-1 in a laboratory scale (evaluated by HPLC-UV) using a solar simulator. Finally, the removal of all MCs present in the real EMWWTP was monitored (evaluated by HPLC-MS) in a pilot-scale (90 L) in a raceway pond reactor (RPR). The treatment time required for degradation above 80% for the investigated MPs was over 30 min, and the predominant effect could be mainly associated with organics present in the real EMWWTP due to the light attenuation and scavenging of radical species. Moreover, the results confirmed that chloride and sulfate would most likely equally not affect the process. The use of an aluminized surface on the bottom of RPRs has been confirmed as a suitable option to improve the photo-Fenton reaction, enabling the use of lower doses of iron. Up to 60 different MPs found in EMWWTP have been successfully degraded using 0.1 mM of Fe at circumneutral pH with a consumption of 30 mg L^-1 H₂O₂ with less than 45 min.

Keywords: EDDS; Neutral photo-Fenton reactions; Organic micropollutants; Raceway pond reactor; Real secondary effluent.