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Title: Review on landfill leachate treatment by electrochemical oxidation: Drawbacks, challenges and future scope

Journal Article · · Waste Management

Highlights: • Comparison is made between conventional and bioreactor landfill leachate. • Organics and ammonium nitrogen removal mechanism have been described. • Various influencing factors of EO process have been discussed. • Application of EO combined with biological/physicochemical process is reviewed. • Incorporation of LCA in LL treatment technology selection is proposed. - Abstract: Various studies on landfill leachate treatment by electrochemical oxidation have indicated that this process can effectively reduce two major pollutants present in landfill leachate; organic matter and ammonium nitrogen. In addition, the process is able to enhance the biodegradability index (BOD/COD) of landfill leachate, which make mature or stabilized landfill leachate suitable for biological treatment. The elevated concentration of ammonium nitrogen especially observed in bioreactor landfill leachate can also be reduced by electrochemical oxidation. The pollutant removal efficiency of the system depends upon the mechanism of oxidation (direct or indirect oxidation) which depends upon the property of anode material. Applied current density, pH, type and concentration of electrolyte, inter-electrode gap, mass transfer mode, total anode area to volume of effluent to be treated ratio, temperature, flow rate or flow velocity, reactor geometry, cathode material and lamp power during photoelectrochemical oxidation may also influence the system performance. In this review paper, past and present scenarios of landfill leachate treatment efficiencies and costs of various lab scale, pilot scale electrochemical oxidation studies as a standalone system or integrated with biological and physicochemical processes have been reviewed with the conclusion that electrochemical oxidation can be employed as a complementary treatment system with biological process for conventional landfill leachate treatment as well as a standalone system for ammonium nitrogen removal from bioreactor landfill leachate. Furthermore, present drawbacks of electrochemical oxidation process as a landfill leachate treatment system and relevance of incorporating life cycle assessment into the decision-making process besides process efficiency and cost, have been discussed.

OSTI ID:
22742172
Journal Information:
Waste Management, Vol. 69; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2017 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0956-053X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English