Advanced Oxidation Process: Tearting Organic Pollutant

Abstract

Pollutants are chemicals or materials that get into the natural environment and harm ecosystems and living things. The Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) is an emerging technology for treating water contaminated with organic pollutants. AOPs are based on the generation of highly reactive hydroxyl radicals, which achieve the oxidation of robust organic compounds that resist degradation by traditional treatment processes. Hydroxyl radicals are produced in various ways, and AOPs include some of the methods that produce them. Fenton's reaction, photocatalysis, ozonation, and combinations such as UV/H₂O₂ systems or UV/TiO₂ are AOPs, and they are characterized by achieving the almost complete mineralization of the organic "parent" compound into harmless end products—principally, water and carbon dioxide—under quite mild conditions. This abstract presents the principles of operation of AOPs, their efficiencies in degrading various classes of organic contaminants, some key operational parameters, and some limitations. We also cover what appears to be an important trend: integrating AOP processes with traditional treatment systems. AOPs are versatile, scalable and can handle varying pollutant loads so are suitable for all water treatment needs. When combined with biological or physical methods they are more efficient, and research is focused on reducing energy consumption and operational costs. When combined with renewable energy like solar photocatalysis AOPs are also climate change mitigation and environmentally friendly solutions.