The applications of ozone-based advanced oxidation processes for wastewater treatment: A review

The rise in population and industrialization accounts for the generation of a huge amount of wastewaters. The treatment of this wastewater is obligatory to safeguard the environment and various life forms. Conventional methods for high strength wastewater treatment coming out to be ineffective. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) for such wastewater treatment proved to be very effective particularly for the removal of various refractory compounds present in the wastewater. Ozone based AOPs with its high oxidizing power and excellent disinfectant properties is considered to be an attractive choice for the elimination of a large spectrum of refractory compounds. Furthermore, it enhances the biodegradability of wastewaters after treatment which favors subsequent biological treatments. In this review, a detailed overview of the AOPs (like the Fenton process, photocatalysis, Electrochemical oxidation, wet air oxidation, and Supercritical water oxidation process) has been discussed explicitly focusing on ozone-based AOPs (like O-3, O-3/H2O2, O-3/UV, Ozone/Activated carbon process, Ozone/Ultrasound process, O-3/UV/H2O2 process). This review also comprises the involved mechanisms and applications of various ozone-based AOPs for effective municipal/industrial wastewaters and landfill leachate treatment. Process limitations and rough economical analysis were also introduced. The conclusive remarks with future research directions also underlined. It was found that ozonation in combination with other effective AOPs and biological methods enhances treatment efficacies. This review will serve as a reference document for the researchers working in the AOPs field particularly focusing on ozone-based AOPs for wastewater treatment and management systems.