Post-treatment of Aerobically Pretreated Poultry Litter Leachate using Fenton and Photo-Fenton Processes

Fenton process is generally used to treat highly polluted wastewater or landfill leachate and is based on the addition of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and ferrous sulfate (FeSO4) at certain ratio. In this study, different doses of H2O2 and FeSO4 were applied as a post-treatment to aerobically pretreated poultry litter leachate to compare the treatment efficiency along with the application of UV radiation for removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD), color and hardness. The results revealed that the Fenton treatment of 0.1 mL H2O2 in the presence of 10 mg FeSO4 as a catalyst showed a maximum removal of COD, while increasing trend for COD removal was observed with the increase in H2O2 concentration. Maximum removal of color and hardness was observed at 1.0 mL H2O2 and 50 mg FeSO4 per liter of leachate. In general, Fenton treatment 1.0 mL H2O2 plus 50 mg FeSO4 was found to be the best among all the treatments for removal of color, hardness and COD. Exposure of Fenton treated leachate (1.0 mL H2O2 & 50 mg FeSO4) to UV light (Photo-Fenton process) accelerated the removal of COD, color and hardness of the leachate. These findings suggested that post-treatment of aerobically pretreated poultry litter leachate with low dose of Fenton reagent along with short exposure to UV radiation could be an effective tool for the treatment of poultry litter leachate. (C) 2011 Friends Science Publishers