Study of Different Advanced Oxidation Processes for Wastewater Treatment from Petroleum Bitumen Production at Basic pH

Effluents from production of petroleum bitumens were submitted to treatment by three different AOPs at basic pH (i.e., O₃, H₂O₂ and the combination of O₃ and H₂O₂, a so-called peroxone). The paper presents studies on the identification and monitoring of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) degradation present in the effluents and formation of byproducts, COD, BOD₅, sulfide ions, biotoxicity, and biodegradability changes during treatment. Peroxone at 25 °C with a ratio of oxidant in relation to the COD of the effluents (<i>r</i>_ox) of 0.49 achieved 43% and 34% of COD and BOD₅ reduction resulting in the most effective AOP studied. S^2– ions were effectively oxidized in all technologies studied. Ozonation at 25 °C and with a <i>r</i>_ox of 0.34 was the most effective process to degrade VOCs. Decrease in the biotoxicity was reported in O₃ and peroxone processes. Byproduct formation in different AOPs was reported. These reductions revealed that these technologies are effective if used as pretreatment methods.