UV-applications
Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP)
Elimination of plant protection products / pesticides in industrial wastewater
Elimination of plant protection products / pesticides in industrial wastewater
Enviolet develops, designs, and manufactures various UV oxidation systems for the degradation of pesticides in industrial wastewater through advanced oxidation (AOP). The goal of UV oxidation is to degrade pesticides and crop protection products in chemical industry wastewater through advanced oxidation to achieve specific targets for each application.
Our oxidation systems treat both wastewater from pesticide synthesis and wastewater from formulation plants, where various agrochemicals are blended into ready-to-use products. Typical treatment objectives include:
- Degradation of pesticides/crop protection products to an acceptable level so that wastewater can be discharged.
- Reduce the carbon footprint as well as the costs of incineration and transportation.
For this application of AOP, Enviolet develops complete UV oxidation processes, taking into account the specific challenges (e.g., solubility of the target substances in the oxidation process) in the treatment of agrochemical wastewater using UV-based advanced oxidation processes.
Typical compound classes degraded in our Advanced Oxidation processes for agrochemical wastewater treatment include:
- Wastewater contaminated with insecticides, such as chlorpyrifos, permethrin, imidacloprid, cypermethrin, chlorantraniliprole, and metamtrin
- Wastewater contaminated with fungicides, such as mancozeb, azoxystrobin, tebuconazole, difenoconazole, flutriafol, paclobutrazol, tebuconazole, thiabendazole, and cyproconazole
- Wastewater contaminated with herbicides, such as glyphosate, 2,4-D, atrazine, chlorotoluron, metazachlor, diflufenican, metobromuron, MCPA, and lenacil
- Wastewater contaminated with acaricides, such as propargite and abamectin
Many manufacturers incinerate their pesticide-contaminated wastewater at extremely high prices and on a limited basis. The cost is a very large carbon footprint. Complete destruction of pesticides is also possible through photooxidation, essentially a combustion in the aqueous phase, but at a much lower cost and with a minimal carbon footprint.
Wastewater treatment by UV oxidation at a European agrochemical manufacturer (formulation)
"Cold combustion" in the aqueous phase is better than incinerating wastewater!
The subframe-mounted system was commissioned at a European manufacturer (formulator) of various agrochemicals (pesticides). The UV oxidation system treats approximately 7 m³ (approximately 1000 m³/year) of toxic industrial wastewater heavily contaminated with various pesticides daily using an advanced oxidation process.
The UV-based AOP used can reliably remove up to 70 different pesticides (e.g., glyphosate) from the formulation process and reduce them below the required limit. In this example, the COD (CoD) is also reduced by >90% to <500 mg/L. The treated water can then be safely discharged into the municipal sewer system.
The project demonstrates an excellent ROI, as the costs for external disposal of wastewater and concentrates are eliminated and the user can discharge the wastewater directly. Furthermore, the treatment achieves optimal efficiency by reducing COD as much as possible, but just enough to improve biodegradability and meet the requirements of the municipal wastewater treatment plant.
Furthermore, the AOP treatment process is highly sustainable because it eliminates the need to incinerate the wastewater, significantly reducing the carbon footprint.
UV oxidation of wastewater from pesticide production (synthesis)
Sustainable wastewater treatment through UV oxidation without contaminated substreams.
The synthesis/production of pesticides generates wastewater that can rarely be treated using conventional methods. In this example, a well-known Chinese pesticide manufacturer generates approximately 75–80 m³/d (UV oxidation plant designed for a maximum of 120 m³/d) of heavily contaminated wastewater. The COD in the raw wastewater is approximately 80 g/L. The wastewater is highly toxic and completely non-biodegradable.
The UV-based Advanced Oxidation process implemented in the enviolet plant pretreats the wastewater with UV oxidation (wastewater pretreatment by UV oxidation). The COD of the wastewater is significantly reduced by UV oxidation, and its toxicity is eliminated by advanced oxidation. The biodegradability of the wastewater is massively increased by AOP, so that the wastewater stream pretreated by UV oxidation can be successfully treated further in a biological treatment stage. After the biological treatment supported by enviolet UV oxidation, the wastewater is discharged directly into a surface water body at approximately 120 mg/L.
In the chemical and pharmaceutical industries in particular, we treat wastewater with very high organic loads in a large number of such UV oxidation plants, offering users an extremely cost-effective solution. Recently, users have also been benefiting from the very low carbon footprint of these environmentally friendly solutions.
