Pretreatment of landfill leachate in near-neutral pH condition by persulfate activated Fe-C micro-electrolysis system

Abstract

In this study, a novel persulfate combined with iron-carbon microelectrolysis (PS-ICME) system was explored to pretreat the landfill leachate. In the static batch experiments, response surface methodology (RSM) was used to determine the relationship between three independent variables (pH, the ratio of iron to carbon (Fe-C ratio), persulfate dosage) and response values (Chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency). Experimental results showed that the COD removal efficiency reached to 62.91% under the optimal conditions: initial pH 7, Fe-C ratio 3, and persulfate dosage 85 mM. The dissolved organic matter (DOM) in landfill leachate was characterized by three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix spectroscopy (3D-EEMs). Combined with electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrum investigation, the enhanced mechanism for landfill leachate pretreated by PS-ICE in near-neutral pH was elucidated. In the column continuous flow experiment, it had been confirmed that dissolved oxygen plays an important role in the PS-ICME system. Based on the above conclusions, PS-ICME system has a satisfactory performance on pretreatment of landfill leachate.

Keywords: Iron-carbon electrolysis; Landfill leachate; Near-neutral pH; Persulfate; Response surface methodology.