Advances & Trends in Advance Oxidation Processes and Their Applications

Abstract

AbstractExponential growth in industrialization, urbanization, and commercialization activities in last three decades have contributed to the increasing number of bio-refractory contaminants in the wastewater and this continuous admittance of toxic and persistent organic pollutants in the wastewater are imparting hazardous impacts on the environment. The conventional physical and biological treatment technologies are not very efficient in treating the wastewater having toxic and refractory pollutants and researchers worldwide are working to develop more efficient and sustainable technologies for the same. In recent years, advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have emerged to be efficient, promising and environmental-friendly methods for the treatment of wastewater having high degree of pollution in comparison to conventional wastewater treatment methods. AOPs have appeared as an important avenue of technologies involving treatment of recalcitrant pollutants through different pathways such as “Enhanced Electrolysis”, “Ultraviolet radiation”, “Ozonation”, “Sonolysis”, etc. Many AOPs are based on the in-situ generation of strong oxidants like hydroxyl radicals which can completely mineralize or degrade the organic pollutants into harmless products. This chapter reports the details about various AOPs including theirbasic principle, mechanism, advantages, and limitations of each method to gain better scientific understanding of the most feasible approach to treat industrial wastewater. The authors have tried to summarize some recent AOPs too, which are being practiced seeing the disadvantages of the conventional AOPs. The contents will help to understand the future sustainable challenges for wastewater treatment (WWT).KeywordsBio-refractory contaminantsAdvanced oxidation processesEnhanced ElectrolysisUltraviolet radiationOzonationSonolysisHydrodynamic Cavitation