Sequential two-column electro-Fenton-photolytic reactor for the treatment of winery wastewater

Abstract

The high amount of winery wastewaters produced each year makes their treatment a priority issue due to their problematic characteristics such as acid pH, high concentration of organic load and colourful compounds. Furthermore, some of these effluents can have dissolved pesticides, due to the previous grape treatments, which are recalcitrant to conventional treatments. Recently, photo-electro-Fenton process has been reported as an effective procedure to mineralize different organic contaminants and a promising technology for the treatment of these complex matrixes. However, the reactors available for applying this process are scarce and they show several limitations. In this study, a sequential two-column reactor for the photo-electro-Fenton treatment was designed and evaluated for the treatment of different pesticides, pirimicarb and pyrimethanil, used in wine production. Both studied pesticides were efficiently removed, and the transformation products were determined. Finally, the treatment of a complex aqueous matrix composed by winery wastewater and the previously studied pesticides was carried out in the designed sequential reactor. The high removals of TOC and COD reached and the low energy consumption demonstrated the efficiency of this new configuration.

Advanced oxidation processes for the treatment of winery wastewater: a review and future perspectives

“…Application of electro‐Fenton on synthetic WiWW has led to 82% COD decrease within 24 h of treatment, 53 while photo electro‐Fenton has shown higher performance being able of reducing COD, TOC, and toxicity up to 77, 67, and 76.5% after 12 h of treatment 54–56 …”