Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

The goal of my research is to develop a cost-effective integrated advanced oxidation technologies (AOTs) and biological processes for the treatment of actual complex wastewaters, focusing on winery wastewater (WWW) and confectionery wastewater (CWW). Wineries produce a large volume of WWWs. Currently; WWWs are directed to municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) for co-treatment, but they are not treated successfully within the WWTPs' biological systems due to the existence of non-biodegradable organics such as polyphenols and pesticides. Manufacturers of candy, chocolate and chewing gums produce large volumes of CWW with high chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentrations, in which many artificial sweeteners are non-biodegradable. The existence of these organics in WWW and CWW is a major health concern. To date, there is a lack of efficient treatment for these wastewaters, making this proposal unique in its kind. Due to the limitations of individual photochemical or biological processes in their effectiveness or economic feasibility, almost none is efficiently applicable on its own to treat such wastewaters. AOTs, generators of highly potent hydroxyl radicals, break down non-biodegradable, toxic, inhibitory and recalcitrant organics rapidly; however, they are not cost-effective on their own. In this research, WWW and CWWs will be pre-treated using appropriate AOTs to produce biodegradable/non-toxic components that are subsequently treated in an activated sludge bioreactor. The development, optimization, modeling and simulation, hydrodynamics, synergetic effects, economic analysis and the design of combined AOTs and bioprocesses for the treatment of these complex industrial wastewaters are main objectives of this research. Over the long-term, the results will lead to cost-effective applications of combined AOTs and biological processes so that the full-scale use of these high-efficient treatment technologies in industrial wastewater treatment plants is promoted for waste minimization and water reuse. In this research, kinetic models and degradation rates of actual wastewaters will be developed experimentally. A novel sonophotoreactor will be characterized and coupled with UV/H2O2 to be used for the wastewater pre-treatment. The optimized photochemical processes will be integrated with biological processes as either pretreatment, post-treatment or both. For the first time, a nonlinear controller will be also developed to control the H2O2 in the photoreactors so that its residuals are at a minimum level while the organic degradation is maximized. The nonlinear controller will be developed using measurable parameters such as pH. To optimize integrated processes, the total costs, degradation rates, residence time in each reactor, overall efficiency and synergetic effects are analyzed. These processes will be optimized by minimizing total treatment time, total costs, and sludge production while maximizing the overall degradation rates of pollutants.