Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP)

Spartan offers advanced oxidation processes (AOP) for industrial water treatment applications including ground water
remediation, wastewater treatment and pretreatment. For more information on AOP you can review the information on
this page including the various links, call us at 800-492-1252 or e-mail us at info@spartanwatertreatment.com.

Advanced oxidation processes (AOP) combine ozone (O3), ultraviolet (UV), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and/or catalyst
to offer a powerful water treatment solution for the reduction (removal) of residual organic compounds as measured by
COD, BOD or TOC. All AOP are designed to produce hydroxyl radicals. It is the hydroxyl radicals that act with high
efficiency to destroy organic compounds. The chart below shows the oxidizing power of hydroxyl radicals versus other
oxidants.

Oxidizing Agent EOP (mV) EOP vs Cl2

Hydroxyl Radical 2.80 2.05

Oxygen (atomic) 2.42

1.78

Ozone 2.08 1.52

Hydrogen peroxide 1.78

.30

Hypochlorite 1.49 1.10

Chlorine 1.36 1.00

Chlorine dioxide 1.27 0.93

Oxygen (molecular) 1.23 0.90

The advanced oxidation process (AOP) is successfully used to decompose many hazardous chemical compounds to
acceptable levels, without producing additional hazardous by-products or sludge which require further handling. The term
advanced oxidation processes refers specifically to processes in which oxidation of organic contaminants occurs primarily
through reactions with hydroxyl radicals. AOPs usually refer to a specific subset of processes that involve O3, H2O2,
and/or UV light. The most widely applied advanced oxidation processes (AOP) have been:

Advantages of Advanced Oxidation Processes

Rapid reaction rates
Small foot print
Potential to reduce toxicity and possibly complete mineralization of organics treated
Does not concentrate waste for further treatment with methods such as membranes
Does not produce materials that require further treatment such as "spent carbon" from activated carbon absorption
Does not create sludge as with physical chemical process or biological processes (wasted biological sludge)
Non selective pathway allows for the treatment of multiple organics at once

Disadvantages of Advanced Oxidation Processes

Capital Intensive
Complex chemistry must be tailored to specific application
For some applications quenching of excess peroxide is required

The selection of a specific advanced oxidation process is application dependent. Spartan evaluates each client's
application to see which AOP fits best based on the type of compounds to be removed, treatment objectives,
concentrations, site considerations, budget, etc. For example, for higher COD removal rates,
UV/Ozone/Peroxide/Catalyst systems can be more effective as illustrated below:

Advanced oxidation processes are designed to both efficiently produce and use hydroxyl ions for these oxidation. They
have a wide range of applications, mainly for Oxidation of refractory compounds, TOC & COD reduction in:

Gas effluent treatment
water reclaim / reuse / recycling
drinking water supplies
industrial & municipal wastewater
process water, ultra-pure water
electronic & pharmaceutical industries
medicinal baths, sanatoriums, hospitals
cooling water systems
fish hatcheries and farm

AOP can act on organic compounds in water in several ways: convert one compound into another (conversion),
conversion with a reduction in toxicity and mineralization (breaking the organic down to CO2 and inorganic salts). In
some cases, discharge permits simply require conversion from a compound of interest to another compound that is not
covered by the permit. For example, some permits require taking phenol to a fraction of a ppm. In other cases,
permitting authorities require the toxicity of the compound/wastewater to be reduced prior to discharge. In some cases,
mineralization is needed as measured by a reduction of TOC.

Spartan supplies both conventional advanced oxidation process for organic oxidation (organic removal) as well as
proprietary AOP in conjunction with our partner ESCO International (ESCO International Brochure). ESCO supplies the
proprietary CATADOX advanced oxidation processes (AOP). CATADOX is ESCO's proprietary AOP employing
H2O2/O3/UV/Catalyst for situations where conventional processes are not efficient (CATADOX Information Bulletin).