Treatment of partially stabilized landfill leachate using combinations of coagulation, Fenton oxidation and granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption

Abstract

This study investigated the treatment performances of coagulation, Fenton oxidation, granular activated carbon adsorption and combinations between them aiming to provide an efficient method for the treatment of partially stabilized leachates. Leachates were collected from Ouled Fayet landfill (Algeria) , samples were characterized with a low biodegradability (BOD5/COD ratio about 0.15), COD of 8294 mg/l and pH around 8. The sequence of stages implemented was: (a) Coagulation /flocculation (COD removal ≈ 71 % with FeCl3 dosage of 1.6 g/l at pH 5); (b) Fenton oxidation (COD removal ≈ 74.6% using 5g/l of H2O2, H2O2/ Fe(II) molar ratio = 6 at pH 3.5); (c) Coagulation/flocculation followed by Fenton oxidation (>86 % of COD removal was achieved) ; (d) Fenton oxidation followed by coagulation/flocculation (COD removal ≈ 81.7% ) and (e) Granular activated carbon adsorption after coagulation and Fenton process ( very good reduction in COD : 94.2% )