Performance evaluation of the UV activated chlorite process on trimethoprim: Degradation efficiency, energy consumption and disinfection by-products formation.

As the primary inorganic by-product species of ClO2, chlorite is believed to have negative toxicological effects on human health and therefrom greatly limits the wide application of ClO2 in water treatment. The synergistic trimethoprim (TMP) removal concerning degradation efficiency, energy consumption and disinfection by-products (DBPs) formation in the UV activated chlorite process accompanied by the simultaneously elimination of chlorite was comprehensively evaluated. UV/chlorite integrated process removed TMP far more rapidly than UV (1.52%) or chlorite (3.20%) alone due to the endogenous radicals (Cl•, ClO• and •OH), the contributing proportions of which were 31.96%, 19.20% and 44.12%. The second-order rate constants of TMP reaction with Cl•, ClO• and •OH were determined to be 1.75 × 1010, 1.30 × 109 and 8.66 × 109 M-1 s-1. The effects of main water parameters including chlorite dosage, UV intensity, pH as well as water matrixes (nature organic matter, Cl- and HCO3-) were examined. kobs obeyed the order as UV/Cl2>UV/H2O2≈UV/chlorite>UV, and the cost ranking via electrical energy per order (EE/O, kWh m-3 order-1) parameter was UV/chlorite (3.7034) > UV/H2O2 (1.1625) >UV/Cl2 (0.1631). The operational scenarios can be optimized to achieve the maximum removal efficiencies and the minimum energy costs. The destruction mechanisms of TMP were proposed by LC-ESI-MS analysis. The overall weighted toxicity in subsequent disinfection was assessed as UV/Cl2>UV/chlorite > UV, the values of which in post-chlorination were 6.2947, 2.5806 and 1.6267, respectively. Owing to the vital roles of reactive chlorine species (RCS), UV/chlorite displayed far higher TMP degradation efficiency than UV, and concurrently presented much less toxicity than UV/Cl2. In an effort to determine the viability of the promising combination technology, this study was devoted to reduce and reuse chlorite and synchronously realize the contaminants degradation efficiently.

Comparison of UV-induced AOPs (UV/Cl2, UV/NH2Cl, UV/ClO2 and UV/H2O2 ) in the degradation of iopamidol: Kinetics, energy requirements and DBPs-related toxicity in sequential disinfection processes.

The UV-induced advanced oxidation processes (AOPs, including UV/Cl2, UV/NH2Cl, UV/ClO2 and UV/H2O2 ) degradation kinetics and energy requirements of iopamidol as well as DBPs-related toxicity in sequential disinfection were compared in this study. The photodegradation of iopamidol in these processes can be well described by pseudo-first-order model and the removal efficiency ranked in descending order of UV/Cl2  > UV/H2O2  > UV/NH2Cl > UV/ClO2  > UV. The synergistic effects could be attributed to diverse radical species generated in each system. Influencing factors of oxidant dosage, UV intensity, solution pH and water matrixes (Cl- , NH4 + and nature organic matter) were evaluated in detail. Higher oxidant dosages and greater UV intensities led to bigger pseudo-first-order rate constants (Kobs) in these processes, but the pH behaviors exhibited quite differently. The presence of Cl- , NH4 + and nature organic matter posed different effects on the degradation rate. The parameter of electrical energy per order (EE/O) was adopted to evaluate the energy requirements of the tested systems and it followed the trend of UV/ClO2  > UV > UV/NH2Cl > UV/H2O2  > UV/Cl2 . Pretreatment of iopamidol by UV/Cl2 and UV/NH2Cl clearly enhanced the production of classical disinfection by-products (DBPs) and iodo-trihalomethanes (I-THMs) during subsequent oxidation while UV/ClO2 and UV/H2O2 exhibited almost elimination effect. From the perspective of weighted water toxicity, the risk ranking was UV/NH2Cl > UV/Cl2 > UV > UV/H2O2 > UV/ClO2 . Among the discussed UV-driven AOPs, UV/Cl2 was proved to be the most cost-effective one for iopamidol removal while UV/ClO2 displayed overwhelming advantages in regulating the water toxicity associated with DBPs, especially I-THMs. The present results could provide some insights into the application of UV-activated AOPs technologies in tradeoffs between cost-effectiveness assessment and DBPs-related toxicity control of the disinfected waters containing iopamidol.