ELECTRO-PEROXONE PROCESS USING ELECTRODES DOPED WITH GRAPHENE-BASED MATERIALS FOR ROC TREATMENT

Abstract

Reverse Osmosis (RO) concentrate (ROC) is a by-product of the RO process, and is required to be treated to avoid discharging recalcitrant organic pollutants. Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs), more specifically, electrochemical AOPs (EAOPs), are deemed to be promising for removing these contaminants in the ROC. EAOPs are less selective than conventional AOPs, and can treat the contaminants with ease. EAOPs are useful to treat ROC as ROC is produced in small volumes and the high concentrations of ions allow the EAOPs to take place. As part of the electrochemical oxidation process, the formation of bromate and chlorinated by-products may occur. Furthermore, the industrial ROC used in this study contains elevated concentrations of bromide and chloride ions, which may give accelerate the formation of bromate and chlorinated by-products. However, part of this study aims to reduce and control the formation of bromate and chlorinated by-products while keeping the electro-peroxone process cost-effective.