Municipal solid waste landfill leachate treatment by fenton, photo-fenton and fenton-like processes: Effect of some variables

Abstract

Advanced oxidation processes like Fenton and photo-Fenton have been effectively applied to oxidize the persistent organic compounds in solid waste leachate and convert them to unharmful materials and products. However, there are limited data about application of Fenton-like process in leachate treatment. Therefore, this study was designed with the objective of treating municipal landfill leachate by Fenton, Fenton-like and photo–Fenton processes to determine the effect of different variables, by setting up a pilot system. The used leachate was collected from a municipal unsanitary landfill in Qaem-Shahr in the north of Iran. Fenton and Fenton-like processes were conducted by Jar-test method. Photo-Fenton process was performed in a glass photo-reactor. In all processes, H ₂O ₂ was used as the oxidant. FeSO ₄.7H ₂O and FeCl ₃.6H ₂O were used as reagents. All parameters were measured based on standard methods. The results showed that the optimum concentration of H ₂O ₂ was equal to 5 g/L for the Fenton-like process and 3 g/L for the Fenton and photo-Fenton processes. The optimum ratio of H ₂O ₂: Fe ⁺²/Fe ⁺³ were equal to 8:1 in all processes. At optimum conditions, the amount of COD removal was 69.6%, 65.9% and 83.2% in Fenton, Fenton-like and photo–Fenton processes, respectively. In addition, optimum pH were 3, 5 and 3 and the optimum contact time were 150, 90 and 120 minutes, for Fenton, Fenton-like and photo–Fenton processes, respectively. After all processes, the biodegradability (BOD ₅/COD ratio) of the treated leachate was increased compared to that of the raw leachate and the highest increase in BOD ₅/COD ratio was observed in the photo-Fenton process. The efficiency of the Fenton-like process was overally less than Fenton and photo-Fenton processes, meanwhile the Fenton-like process was at higher pH and did not show problems.