Life cycle assessment of homogeneous Fenton process as pretreatment for refractory pharmaceutical wastewater

doi:10.1007/s11705-024-2408-2

Front. Chem. Sci. Eng.

2024, Vol. 18

Issue (5) : 49 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-024-2408-2

Life cycle assessment of homogeneous Fenton process as pretreatment for refractory pharmaceutical wastewater

Maojun Zou¹, Jie Wei^2,⁴, Yuanyuan Qian^2,³, Yanjing Xu^2,³, Zhihuang Fang^2,³, Xuejing Yang^2,⁴(

), Zhiyuan Wang¹(

)

¹. School of Energy and Power Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
². Shanghai Engineering Laboratory of Lean Operational Technologies for Full Water System, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
³. Mcwong Environmental Technology Company Limited, Shanghai 200135, China
⁴. National Engineering Laboratory of High Concentration and Refractory Organic Wastewater Treatment Technology, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China

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Abstract

The applicability of the life cycle assessment (LCA) to the Fenton process should be considered not only at the laboratory-scale but also at the full-scale. In this study, the LCA process was applied to evaluate the homogeneous Fenton process for the treatment of high salinity pharmaceutical wastewater. The potential environmental impacts were calculated using Simapro software implementing the CML 2001 methodology with normalization factors of 1995 world. Foreground data obtained directly from the full-scale wastewater treatment plant and laboratory were used to conduct a life cycle inventory analysis, ensuring highly accurate results. By normalized results, the Fenton process reveals sensitive indicators, primarily toxicity indicators (human toxicity, freshwater aquatic toxicity, and marine aquatic toxicity), as well as acidification and eutrophication impacts, contributed by hydrogen peroxide and iron sludge incineration, respectively. Overall, hydrogen peroxide and iron sludge incineration contribute significantly, accounting for at least 78% of these indicators. In sludge treatment phase, treatment of iron mud and infrastructure of hazardous waste incineration plants were the key contributors of environmental impacts, adding up to more than 95%. This study suggests the need to develop efficient oxidation processes and effective iron sludge treatment methods to reduce resource utilization and improve environmental benefits.

Keywords advanced oxidation processes full-scale life cycle assessment Fenton process pharmaceutical high-salinity wastewater

Corresponding Author(s): Xuejing Yang,Zhiyuan Wang

Just Accepted Date: 17 January 2024 Issue Date: 15 March 2024

Cite this article:

Maojun Zou,Jie Wei,Yuanyuan Qian, et al. Life cycle assessment of homogeneous Fenton process as pretreatment for refractory pharmaceutical wastewater[J]. Front. Chem. Sci. Eng., 2024, 18(5): 49.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fcse/EN/10.1007/s11705-024-2408-2
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fcse/EN/Y2024/V18/I5/49

Tab.1 Characteristics of pharmaceutical wastewater subjected to Fenton treatment

Fig.1 Homogeneous Fenton process flow (1-level control, 2-wastewater tank, 3-flow meter, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18-pump, 5, 8, 11, 14,16, 20-flow control, 7-H₂O₂ tank, 10-acid tank, 13-ferrous tank, 15-Fenton reactor, 17, 22-ORP and pH control, 19-alkali tank, 21-neutralization tank, 23-settler).

Tab.2 LCA for the homogeneous Fenton process during the treatment of one FU of wastewater

Fig.2 Characteristic analysis results for the life cycle of the Fenton-based AOP wastewater treatment system.

Fig.3 Results of the normalized analysis for the life cycle of the Fenton-based AOP wastewater treatment system.

Fig.4 Contribution analysis of various LCA indicators for the Fenton-based AOP wastewater treatment system.

Fig.5 Characteristics analysis for the LCA of the operation phase of the Fenton-based AOP wastewater treatment system.

Fig.6 Characteristics analysis for the LCA of the sludge treatment phase of the Fenton-based AOP wastewater treatment system.

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