Treatment of hospital wastewater by supercritical water oxidation process

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Top S., Akgün M., Kıpçak E., Bilgili M. S.

WATER RESEARCH, vol.185, 2020 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 185
  • Publication Date: 2020
  • Doi Number: 10.1016/j.watres.2020.116279
  • Journal Name: WATER RESEARCH
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, PASCAL, Aerospace Database, Analytical Abstracts, Applied Science & Technology Source, Aqualine, Aquatic Science & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA), BIOSIS, Biotechnology Research Abstracts, CAB Abstracts, Chemical Abstracts Core, Chimica, Communication Abstracts, Compendex, Computer & Applied Sciences, EMBASE, Environment Index, Food Science & Technology Abstracts, Geobase, MEDLINE, Metadex, Pollution Abstracts, Veterinary Science Database, Civil Engineering Abstracts
  • Keywords: Medical waste, Hospital wastewater, Pharmaceuticals, Supercritical water oxidation, HYDROTHERMAL TREATMENT, AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT, TREATMENT PLANTS, SEWAGE-SLUDGE, REMOVAL, PHARMACEUTICALS, OZONATION, MUNICIPAL, MICROPOLLUTANTS, DETOXIFICATION
  • Yıldız Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Hospital wastewater contains several micro and macro pollutants that cannot be removed efficiently by conventional treatment processes. Thus, generally hybrid and multistage treatment methods are suggested for the treatment of hospital wastewater. Supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) is a promising method for the removal of emerging organic pollutants from hospital wastewater in one step and a very short reaction time. In this study, supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) process was used for the removal of pharmaceuticals in addition to conventional pollutants from real hospital wastewater. As a result of a series of preliminary studies, the optimum conditions were selected as 450 degrees C, 60 s, and 1:1 for temperature, reaction time, and oxidant ratio (H2O2/COD), respectively, for the treatment of hospital wastewater at 25 +/- 1 MPa. The removal rates were determined above 90% for COD, BOD, TOC, TN, and SS from hospital wastewater. Phosphorus removal was greater than 90%, while the removal rates were around 80% for phenol, AOX, and surfactants in hospital wastewater. A total of 9 pharmaceuticals were observed in the real hospital wastewater samples. The highest removal rate was obtained for Paracetamol as 99.9%, while the lowest removal rate was obtained for Warfarin as 72% after SCWO treatment of hospital wastewater. As a result, it can be concluded that SCWO process is sufficient for the treatment of hospital wastewater without the need of additional treatment steps, with high removal rates in a short reaction time. (c) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.