Pretreatment of Afyon alcaloide factory's wastewater by wet air oxidation (WAO)

In this study, pretreatment of Afyon (Turkey) alcaloide factory wastewater, a typical high strength industrial wastewater (chemical oxygen demand (COD)=26.65 kgm(-3), biological oxygen demand (BOD(5))=3.95 kgm(-3)), was carried out by wet air oxidation process. The process was performed in a 0.75 litre specially designed bubble reactor. Experiments were conducted to see the advantages of one-stage and two-stage oxidation and the effects of pressure, pH, temperature, catalyst type, catalyst loading and air or oxygen as gas source on the oxidation of the wastewater. In addition, BOD(5)/COD ratios of the effluents, which are generally regarded as an important index of biodegradability of a high-strength industrial wastewater, were determined at the end of some runs. After a 2h oxidation (T=150 degrees C, P=0.65 MPa, airflowrate=1.57 x 10(-5)m(3)s(-1), pH=7.0), the BOD(5)/COD ratio was increased from 0.15 to above 0.5 by using the salts of metals such as Co(2+),Fe(2+),Fe(2+)+Ni(2+),Cu(2+)+Mn(2+) as catalyst.