Wastewater Treatment without additional Chemicals

Hydroxyl radicals are so short-lived (life span of a few nanoseconds) that they are very difficult to detect directly. 

It is easier to prove the effectiveness of CONDIACELL® cell products for wastewater treatment. The CONDIACELL® cell products offer an optimized solution for various applications in total oxidation or electrochemical water polishing. 

In the recent past the products of the CONDIACELL® cell model CC5000 have been used in industrial applications and the proof of effectiveness of the pollutant decomposition has been positively demonstrated several times.  

The treatment of waste water that is difficult to biodegrade or contains toxic organic substances is very complex and limited in its effect with conventional water treatment technologies. 

In most cases, incineration is the only way to safely dispose of these liquid wastes. To avoid the transport of these liquid wastes, EAOP® is a very efficient alternative to thermal incineration.

The resulting highly oxidative hydroxyl radicals carry out a "cold incineration" by oxidizing all organic compounds by means of water electrolysis.

In most cases, the treated water can be discharged directly or into a biological clarification stage.

Total oxidation with EAOP® has a high potential to achieve the goals of waste water treatment for, among other things, production waste water containing organophosphates (C-P) or halogenated hydrocarbons (C-X (X = F, Cl, Br, I) and for the production of plastics, plasticizers, flame retardants, extinguishing agents, biocides or pesticides. 

Due to the reliability and efficiency of EAOP® with DIACHEM® diamond electrodes, BASF has been relying on this innovative technology for wastewater treatment since 2009. The aim of this application is the oxidation of phosphorus(III) molecules. The electrolysis cells treat up to 5 cubic meters per cell and hour. 

The demand for the EAOP® as an alternative technology for oxidative wastewater treatment with its specific, highly functional properties is clearly demonstrated by the large number of projects for treatment processes in industry that are currently underway in cooperation with CONDIAS and its partners.

Due to the steady increase in concentration in the natural water cycle persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic pollutants currently pose hazards to humans, fauna and flora.

For the degradation of ecotoxic pollutants in small or even very large quantities of water, the Electrochemical Advanced Oxidation Process EAOP® is qualified as a treatment step mainly before or after biological treatment.

In all cases of Electrochemical Water Polishing the treatment goal is to degrade organic pollutants down to a few mg/l or even μg/l. Compared to other AOPs, the EAOP® is much more energy efficient for treatment objectives of water polishing/purification. 

The water treatment targets are of great importance for waters containing active pharmaceutical ingredients such as antibiotics, halogenated/fluorinated hydrocarbons, organophosphates, complexing agents, halogenated surfactants, hormones or other ecotoxic, persistent ingredients in very low concentrations.

For further research activities on EAOP® as the fourth wastewater treatment after biological treatment, CONDIAS has been participating in the BMBF research project "RISK-IDENT" since 2011. The research project was aimed at the evaluation of previously unidentified anthropogenic trace substances as well as strategies for risk management in the aquatic system. CONDIAS aimed to investigate and qualify the use of EAOP® as an option of the 4th clarification stage for the degradation of trace substances. The investigations yielded a positive result with regard to the large effective range, energy efficiency and handling compared to known technologies such as ozonation and activated carbon absorption. No ecotoxicological effect of the EAOP® for the removal of trace substances could be determined in the project.

In industrial applications EAOP® has been used in Sweden since 2010 for waste water treatment in the electroplating industry. The aim of the treatment is to degrade the highly toxic and environmentally harmful molecule aniline from a concentration of several mg/l to below 0.1 mg/l.