EMPIRICAL MODELLING OF BOD REDUCTION DURING TREATMENT OF LANDFILL LEACHATE USING SOLAR UV FACILITATED PHOTOCATALYTIC DEGRADATION

Authors: Aisien F.A, *Amenaghawon N.A, Ikponmwen O

DOI Info: N/A

ABSTRACT

The empirical modelling of the degradation of landfill leachate via heterogeneous photocatalytic degradation using zinc oxide (ZnO) in the presence of ultra violet (UV) radiation from sunlight was investigated in this study. Results obtained after characterising the raw leachate showed that its physico-chemical properties did not meet the requirements set by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) thus necessitating the need for the treatment. The reduction in the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of the leachate in the course of treatment was used to monitor the rate of degradation of the leachate. An empirical mathematical model was proposed to describe the rate of degradation and the kinetic parameters- degradation rate constant (k) and exponential order (?) were estimated in the course of validating the model. Model validation results show that the model was able to predict the experimental results to a high level of confidence indicating that there was a good fit between experimental and model predicted results. The BOD was observed to reduce in the course of treatment indicating a reduction in the organic pollutant load of the leachate. The final BOD of the treated leachate met the requirements of FEPA indicating that the treated leachate could be safely discharged into natural water bodies without fear of it causing any deleterious effect on the ecosystem.

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