Removal of micropollutant by using hydrocavitation/ozone

Organic micropollutants (OMPs) have been found in water bodies all over the world, and they have the potential to impact the environment. OMPs can enter water bodies from a variety of sources and flow routes. One significant source is effluent from conventional wastewater treatment plants, where many OMPs are not completely removed. Therefore, advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have been extensively explored and executed to degrade refractory OMPs. The AOPs involve the generation of hydroxyl radicals (HO^.), which are powerful oxidants capable of destroying a wide range of OMPs in water. The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of hydrodynamic cavitation in combination with ozone (HC+O₃) to degrade succinic acid (the emerging contaminant). Cavitation is a process that involves the formation and collapse of bubbles as a result of a local pressure drop, which can produce strong reactive species (HO^.) in liquid. The combination of HC and O₃ speeds up the formation of HO^. in liquid. The treatment was carried out with varied nozzle pressures and O₃ concentrations at a nozzle office diameter of 300 micrometers. The results demonstrated that HC+O₃ could efficiently remove SA, with around 41% removal observed at a nozzle pressure of 48 bar, at an O₃ concentration of 7.4 mg/L and at an initial concentration of 100 mg/L.