title: Ozonation as polishing treatment of mature landfill leachate.
abstract: Mature landfill leachate is typically resistant to biological processes. In order to enhance the biodegradability of a pre-treated mature landfill leachate, ozonation treatments in a lab-scale column were assayed under different ozone concentrations, contact time, initial pH, and hydrogen peroxide concentrations. Degradation of the landfill leachate by ozone was favoured at higher pH values and with the addition of H(2)O(2), both consistent with the enhanced production of the hydroxyl radical under such conditions. The highest organic reduction and biodegradability improvement was observed with the O(3)/H(2)O(2) process at 600 mg H(2)O(2) L(-1). This system was able to remove 63% of chemical oxygen demand (COD), 53% of total organic carbon (TOC), 42% of aromatic content (UV(254)) and increased the leachate 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD(5)) to COD ratio from 0.01 to 0.17. Ozone combined with H(2)O(2) contributed significantly to remove and change the recalcitrant organic matter and improved leachate biodegradability, which makes this process very attractive as pre-biological treatment.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal. susana cortez@deb.uminho.pt
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cortez
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.forename: Rosário
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mota
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000737:chemistry; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D010126:Ozone / Q000737:chemistry*; D012037:Refuse Disposal
chemical_list: D010126:Ozone; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide