Combination of advanced oxidation processes and active carbons adsorption for the treatment of simulated saline wastewater

In the present work, an integrated process combining three different technologies, i.e. heterogeneous photocatalysis, homogeneous ozonation and adsorption on granular activated carbon (GAC) was used for the treatment of a synthetic solution simulating saline wastewater. The synergistic effects between the different methods enhance the oxidation rate of the organic com- pounds in the integrated process, so that its use may result sustainable. It has been found that a relatively low oxidation rate is sufficient to obtain the highest synergy between the three technologies and to maximize the performances. In particular, coupling ozonation and photo- catalysis resulted in 20% enhancement in terms of reaction rate with respect to the sum of the rates of the single technologies. The contemporary presence of GAC and photocatalytic ozonation led to further enhancement of the whole system efficiency, obtaining a reaction rate 15% higher than the sum of the rates of the above mentioned single technologies.