Biodegradability enhancement of a leachate after biological lagooning using a solar driven photo-Fenton reaction, and further combination with an activated sludge biological process, at pre-industrial scale

• Pre-industrial plant for leachate treatment using chemical and biological systems.
• Leachate biodegradability enhancement using a solar photo-Fenton reaction.
• Nitrogen removal using biological nitrification and denitrification processes.

This work proposes an integrated leachate treatment strategy, combining a solar photo-Fenton reaction, to enhance the biodegradability of the leachate from an aerated lagoon, with an activated sludge process, under aerobic and anoxic conditions, to achieve COD target values and nitrogen content according to the legislation. The efficiency and performance of the photo-Fenton reaction, concerning a sludge removal step after acidification, defining the optimum phototreatment time to reach a biodegradable wastewater that can be further oxidized in a biological reactor and, activation sludge biological process, defining the nitrification and denitrification reaction rates, alkalinity balance and methanol dose necessary as external carbon source, was evaluated in the integrated system at a scale close to industrial. The pre-industrial plant presents a photocatalytic system with 39.52 m2 of compound parabolic collectors (CPCs) and 2 m3 recirculation tank and, an activated sludge biological reactor with 3 m3 capacity.Leachate biodegradability enhancement by means of a solar driven photo-Fenton process was evaluated using direct biodegradability tests, as Zahn–Wellens method, and indirect measure according to average oxidation state (AOS), low molecular carboxylic acids content (fast biodegradable character) and humic substances (recalcitrant character) concentration. Due to high variability of leachate composition, UV absorbance on-line measurement was established as a useful parameter for photo-Fenton reaction control.

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