Determination of pharmaceutical compounds in hospital wastewater and their elimination by advanced oxidation processes

AbstractTwo published criteria for analyzing and optimizing Advanced Oxidation Processes are compared with respect to their usefulness for process optimization and for determination of the most cost-effective of several candidate processes for a particular application. The Cumulative Efficiency (CE) method compares the amount of target contaminant removed per amount of oxidant used. The Electrical Energy per Mass (EE/M) method compares electrical energy required per kilogram of target pollutant removed. The methods were evaluated using data from treatability studies for DOC removal from a ground water contaminated with 50 mg/L of organic carbon, using processes consisting of combinations of ozone, hydrogen peroxide, and ultraviolet light. It was found that the CE method gave better information about how to manipulate the chemistry for optimization, while the EE/M method provided clearer guidance for process selection on economic grounds, making the methods complimentary in treatability studies. The CE method also predicted that a tandem process might function more efficiently than either of the component single processes, which was found experimentally to be the case.

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Determination of hydroxyl radicals in advanced oxidation processes with dimethyl sulfoxide trapping and liquid chromatography

Analytica Chimica Acta ◽

10.1016/j.aca.2004.08.019 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 527 (1) ◽

pp. 73-80 ◽

Cited By ~ 169

Author(s):

Chao Tai ◽

Jin-Feng Peng ◽

Jing-Fu Liu ◽

Gui-Bin Jiang ◽

Hong Zou

Keyword(s):

Liquid Chromatography ◽

Dimethyl Sulfoxide ◽

Hydroxyl Radicals ◽

Advanced Oxidation Processes ◽

Advanced Oxidation ◽

Oxidation Processes

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Electrochemical Technologies to Decrease the Chemical Risk of Hospital Wastewater and Urine

Molecules ◽

10.3390/molecules26226813 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 26 (22) ◽

pp. 6813

Author(s):

Ángela Moratalla ◽

Salvador Cotillas ◽

Engracia Lacasa ◽

Pablo Cañizares ◽

Manuel A. Rodrigo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Advanced Oxidation Processes ◽

Advanced Oxidation ◽

Environmental Risks ◽

Aquatic Environments ◽

Biological Processes ◽

Hospital Wastewater ◽

Oxidation Processes ◽

Electrochemical Advanced Oxidation Processes ◽

Current State ◽

Hospital Effluents

The inefficiency of conventional biological processes to remove pharmaceutical compounds (PhCs) in wastewater is leading to their accumulation in aquatic environments. These compounds are characterized by high toxicity, high antibiotic activity and low biodegradability, and their presence is causing serious environmental risks. Because much of the PhCs consumed by humans are excreted in the urine, hospital effluents have been considered one of the main routes of entry of PhCs into the environment. In this work, a critical review of the technologies employed for the removal of PhCs in hospital wastewater was carried out. This review provides an overview of the current state of the developed technologies for decreasing the chemical risks associated with the presence of PhCs in hospital wastewater or urine in the last years, including conventional treatments (filtration, adsorption, or biological processes), advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) and electrochemical advanced oxidation processes (EAOPs).

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