Photolytic Ozonation for Protection and Rehabilitation of Ground-Water Resources: A Mechanistic Study

摘要

The cleanup of ground-water resources which have been contaminated by anthropogenic organic compounds is difficult and expensive. Most treatment methods merely transfer the contaminant to another phase, such as an adsorbent or the atmosphere. A treatment process which produces harmless by-products, could be set up on-site, and does not require the transport of hazardous materials is very desirable for such cleanup operations. Photolytic ozonation, the combination of ozone treatment and ultraviolet irradiation, is an oxidative water treatment process which is capable of converting almost any organic pollutant completely to carbon dioxide and water. It is potentially a very 'clean' solution to many contamination problems. There has been disagreement in the scientific literature concerning the effectiveness of the process, due largely to a lack of understanding of the chemistry which is involved. Photolytic ozonation was studied at the laboratory scale, to understand and, if possible, model the complex chemical reaction mechanism, so the process can be more economically optimized.