Treatment of MSW landfill leachate by a thin gap annular UV/H2O2 photoreactor with multi-UV lamps

The treatment of leachate from landfills is a major disposal problem for municipal solid waste. The leachate is generally recalcitrant to be treated according to complicated characteristics and high color intensity resulting further threat for environment and human health. In this work, the designed thin gap annular photoreactor with 4-UV lamps in UV/H2O2 process was proposed to decolor and remove chemical oxygen demand (COD) from the landfill leachate for solving this environmental problem. Meanwhile, the operating parameters such as UV dosage, hydrogen peroxide concentration and leachate strength were evaluated. The landfill leachate treated with the maximum dosage of 4-UV lamps and 232.7 mM of hydrogen peroxide concentration achieved 72 and 65% of color and COD removal efficiencies in 300 min. As for less concentrated leachate of 20% strength, 91% of color and 87% of COD were removed within only 120 min. From the experimental results, the UV/H2O2 process in this work was an effective pre-treatment or treatment technology for landfill leachate.