Application of novel catalytic-ceramic-filler in a coupled system for long-chain dicarboxylic acids manufacturing wastewater treatment

To gain systematic technology for long-chain dicarboxylic acids (LDCA) manufacturing wastewater treatment, catalytic micro-electrolysis (CME) coupling with adsorption-biodegradation sludge (AB) process was studied. Firstly, novel catalytic-ceramic-filler was prepared from scrap iron, clay and copper sulfate solution and packed in the CME reactor. To remove residual n-alkane and LDCA, the CME reactor was utilized for LDCA wastewater pretreatment. The results revealed that about 94% of n-alkane, 98% of LDCA and 84% of chemical oxygen demand (COD) were removed by the aerated CME reactor at the optimum hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 3.0 h. In this process, catalysis from Cu and montmorillonites played an important role in improving the contaminants removal. Secondly, to remove residual COD in the wastewater, AB process was designed for the secondary biological treatment, about 90% of the influent COD could be removed by biosorption, bio-flocculation and biodegradation effects. Finally, the effluent COD (about 150 mg L^-1) discharged from the coupled CME-AB system met the requirement of the national discharged standard (COD ≤ 300 mg L^-1). All of these results suggest that the coupled CME-AB system is a promising technology due to its high-efficient performance, and has the potential to be applied for the real LDCA wastewater treatment.