A new approach to characterize biodegradation of organics by molecular mass distribution in landfill leachate.
This study provides biodegradability of organics in leachate according to their molecular mass distributions (<0.5, 0.5 to 1, 1 to 3, 10, and >10 KDa). Organics with molecular mass values lower than 0.5 KDa were the predominant species in the raw leachate filtrate, and the aerated lagoon process was very effective in treating these highly biodegradable organics; the Fenton's oxidation process was very effective in treating not-so-biodegradable organics with molecular mass values higher than 0.5 KDa, but a portion of these organics were converted into organics <0.5 KDa after Fenton's oxidation. An oxygen uptake measurement using a respirometer was more sensitive than a conventional biochemical oxygen demand measurement to evaluate bioactivities, especially when bioactivities were low.
Ha
Dong Yun
DY
Division of Environmental, Civil, and Transportation Engineering, Ajou University, Suwon, Korea.
Cho
Soon Haing
SH
Kim
Young Kwon
YK
Leung
Solomon W
SW