SIMULTANEOUS MONITORING OF MULTIPLE WATER QUALITY PARAMETERS BY OPTICAL METHODS

Abstract

THIS THESIS EXPLORES ON-LINE WASTEWATER QUALITY MONITORING BY TWO SPECTROSCOPIC TECHNIQUES, NAMELY UV-VIS SPECTROSCOPY WITH VARIABLE OPTICAL PATHLENGTH MEASUREMENT AND FLUORESCENCE SPECTROSCOPY WITH EXCITATION AND EMISSION MATRIX (FEEM). FIRSTLY, THE EFFECT OF OPTICAL PATHLENGTH ON THE MONITORING PERFORMANCE BY UV-VIS SPECTROSCOPY WAS INVESTIGATED. A VARIABLE OPTICAL PATHLENGTH MEASUREMENT WAS THEREFORE PROPOSED FOR WASTEWATER QUALITY MONITORING. TWO NOVEL DATA ANALYSIS METHODS WERE DEVELOPED TO ANALYZE UV-VIS SPECTRAL DATA AND CORRELATED WITH WASTEWATER CHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (COD), RESULTING IN UP TO 42% ENHANCEMENT OF CORRELATION ACCURACY. AN ON-LINE WASTEWATER PROCESS MONITORING SYSTEM BASED ON VARIABLE OPTICAL PATHLENGTH WAS SUBSEQUENTLY DEVELOPED TO SIMULTANEOUSLY MONITOR FOUR PARAMETERS, NAMELY CHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (COD), TOTAL SUSPENDED SOLID (TSS), OIL AND GREASE (O&G) AND METHYLENE-BLUE ACTIVE SUBSTANCES (MBAS). FINALLY, FEEM WAS INVESTIGATED FOR THE WASTEWATER REMOVAL EFFI