CHEMICAL KINETICS OF OZONATION AND OTHER PROCESSES USED FOR THE TREATMENT OF WASTEWATER CONTAINING PHARMACEUTICALS: A REVIEW
In the last decade, considerable interest has developed regarding the presence of pharmaceuticals and threat due to their presence in the water but comparatively little has been studied to understand and counter the potential effects of these pharmaceuticals. A number of reports about the ozone treatment of pharmaceutical wastewater have been published over the years but no comprehensive review has been published, especially during the last decade. Thus the aim of this paper is to present a review of treatment of wastewater containing pharmaceuticals by ozone and other advanced oxidation processes. An attempt has been made to assess the effect of ozonation and kinetics of different chemical reactions taking place during the treatment of wastewater mainly containing pharmaceuticals. It was observed that rate of degradation of some of the pharmaceuticals, especially antibiotics, is affected greatly by pH i.e. ozonation rate improved at higher pH compared to low. For the processes studied, it can be concluded that high removal efficiencies for pharmaceuticals can be achieved by alkaline ozonation and O3/H2O2. The study will give technical overview and useful information to the engineers and researchers who will work for the betterment of research activities in this field in future.