Photochemical Degradation of Total Organic Carbon in Wastewater Treatment

The chemical and cost efficiency of the ozone with ultraviolet radiation (O3/UV) photochemical degradation of total organic carbon (TOC) was examined. The efficiencies were compared to other commonly used wastewater purification processes, hydrogen peroxide with UV (H2O2/UV) and titanium dioxide with UV (TiO2/UV). The O3/UV process appears to be the least cost-efficient process due to high chemical costs and high-energy costs; however, it is the most efficient at removing TOC from wastewater. The associated costs for O3/UV are 96.00 U.S. dollars/m 3 in chemical costs, a 2400 kWh/m 3 in energy demand leading to 374.40 US dollars/m 3 in energy costs, and a total cost of 470.40 U.S. dollars/m 3 [1]. The process is able to degrade 61% of TOC in the wastewater within 4 hours, an estimate of a larger scale degradation process [1]. The H2O2/UV and TiO2/UV processes appear to be more cost-effective than the O3/UV process; however, they are not as efficient at degrading the TOC in the wastewater.