Advanced Oxidation Technologies (AOTs) for Water and Wastewater Treatment Workshop (1.2 CEUs)

The course takes the participant from a state of little or no knowledge of Advanced Oxidation Technologies (AOTs) to the state where the participant will be able to design an AOT unit for a water, wastewater or industrial wastewater treatment plant.

Background
There is increasing concern about micro-pollutants in drinking water. These comprise endocrine disrupting compounds, pharmaceutical products, personal care products, pesticides, herbicides, etc. that may be present in microgram per litre quantities or less. The absolute effect of these micro-pollutants is unclear; however, some utilities are taking the attitude that they should be removed if possible. There are many industrial wastewaters that contain pollutants that must be removed or detoxified before discharge into a river or sewer.
 
Advanced Oxidation Technologies (AOTs) offer attractive treatment options. AOTs involve the generation (often by UV light) of hydroxyl radicals, which can attack and oxidize almost all organic contaminants.

Objectives

• The course aims to achieve a(n):
• Thorough understanding of the fundamentals of Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) for the removal of contaminants or the detoxification of contaminated waters
• Understanding of Photochemistry and its application to AOPs.
• Realization of the importance of rates and rate constants in AOPs.
• Detailed understanding of the concept of Electrical Energy per Order and its economic significance.
• Practical view of how AOPS are applied in water, wastewater and industrial wastewater treatment plants.

• Engineers involved with the design, operation, management and maintenance of water and wastewater treatment plants.
• Consulting engineers seeking a better understanding of Advanced Oxidation
• Engineering students in environmental engineering programs

Program Outline
Session 1 Fundamentals of Advanced Oxidation

• What is Advanced Oxidation?
• Properties of the hydroxyl radical
• AOT mechanism
• Types of AOTs

Session 2 UV and visible light driven AOTs

• Terms and definitions of UV light
• Photochemistry concepts and the Laws of Photochemistry
• Rates of photochemical reactions
• Quantum yields

Session 3 Fluence-based rate constants

• Time-based rate constants
• Collimated beam measurements
• Conversion to fluence-based rate constants
• Fundamental meaning of fluence-based rate constants

Session 4 Economics of AOTs

• Figures of Merit for AOTs
• Electrical Energy per Order and its relation to fundamental parameters
• Comparison of the economics of AOTs

Session 5 Examples of AOT treatment

• Photodegradation of N-Nitrosodimethylamine
• UV/H2O2 treatment of methyl-t-butyl ether

Session 6 Case studies from a survey of installed AOT facilities

• Have a much better understanding of Advanced Oxidation and its uses in removing contaminants and detoxifying contaminated waters
• Understand the concept of Electrical Energy per Order and its importance in the economic evaluation of AOTs
• Design AOT units for water and wastewater plants

Instructor
Dr. James R. Bolton has a BA and MA from the University of Saskatchewan and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge.

He served as Executive Director (and Editor of IUVA News) of the International Ultraviolet Association from 1999 to 2007; he is President of his consulting firm, Bolton Photosciences Inc. and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta.