Landfill leachate treatment by sequential combination of activated persulfate and Fenton oxidation

Abstract

This work assesses the feasibility of sequential persulfate and Fenton oxidation for the decolorization and mineralization of landfill leachate (5600 mg L−1 TOC; pH0: 8.6) in a continuous batch-recirculation system. Firstly, it was analyzed the role of the operational conditions upon the persulfate activation evaluating the effects of electrolysis, ilmenite (FeTiO3) as a source of Fe(II) and UV-LED (at 365 nm). The studied variables include current density (j) (50–200 mA cm−2), persulfate dose (46.8–234 mM) and mineral concentration (500–1500 mg L−1). The increase in j enhanced the hypochlorite generation and PS conversion to SO4− and, consequently, decolorization efficiency increasing the penetration of light through the solution and the photoreduction of Fe(III) to Fe(II) in the FeTiO3 surface. The combined electrolysis/FeTiO3/UV-LED showed synergetic effect compared to the individual processes, achieving mineralization around 53% under the optimum operating conditions (1 g L−1 of FeTiO3, using 234 mM of PS at 200 mA cm−2 under UV-LED radiation). The subsequent Fenton oxidation once the pH decreased up to around 3, led to overall mineralization above 90% after 480 min, confirming the suitability of this combined treatment to deal with recalcitrant and highly colored effluents.