THE ALBAIDA PLANT: FIRST COMMERCIAL STEP IN SOLAR DETOXIFICATION

摘要

Solar Photocatalysis is today the most successful photochemical application of solar photons, with several relevant projects under way. This is due not only to the fact that solar detoxification is an outstanding demonstration of how well suited solar energy is to environmental conservation, but also because, contrary to most photochemical processes, it is non-selective and can be employed with complex mixtures of contaminants. As a result, the number of references and related patents on photocatalytic removal of toxic and hazardous compounds from water and air, during the last years, can be counted by thousands and the number of applications and target compounds are numerous. Due to the strong activity carried out during the last years, the PSA has become the reference all over the world in the development and escalation of solar photocatalytic applications to the treatment and degradation of hazardous water contaminants. Among other relevant projects it should be cited the SOLARDETOX (1997-2000) and the CADOX (2003-2006, under execution). This research and development activity, mainly focused on the technology development, has culminated with the first commercial project implemented by the Spanish company ALBAIDA, with the objective of recycling the large amount of pesticides bottles from the greenhouse agriculture activity in the Almeria province. The project focuses on the problem of the disposal of empty plastic pesticide bottles, which still contain small quantities of pesticide residue. The designed recycling process includes a plastic shredding step, followed by an industrial washing process, which gives rise to relatively small quantities of water contaminated with remaining pesticides (some hundred mg L~(-1) of Total Organic Carbon content), which have to be treated and eliminated. The accomplishment of this recycling process has two main obstacles: the implementation of an efficient system to the selective collection of used pesticide bottles and the effective integration of different technologies to make possible the plastic recycling process. Solar Photocatalytic Water Detoxification provides an adequate remedy to a problem without a clear alternative solution. This paper describes the design process of the plant and its erection and setup.