Combined use of O3/H2O2 and O3/Mn2+ in flotation of dairy wastewater

Abstract This work investigated the degradation of organic matter present in synthetic dairy wastewater by the combination of ozonation (ozone (O3)/hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)) and catalytic ozonation (ozone (O3)/manganese (Mn2+)) associated with dispersed air flotation process. The effect of independent factors such as O3 concentration, pH and H2O2 and Mn2+ concentration was evaluated. For the flotation/O3/H2O2 treatment, the significant variables (p ≤ 0.05) were: O3 concentration (linear and quadratic effect), H2O2 concentration linear and quadratic effect, pH values (linear and quadratic effect) and interaction O3 concentration versus pH. For catalytic ozonation, it was observed that the significant variable was the linear effect of O3 concentration. According to the desirability function, it was concluded that the optimal condition for the treatment of flotation/O3/H2O2 can be obtained in acidic solution using O3 concentrations greater than 42.9 mg L-1 combined with higher concentrations of H2O2 to 1071.5 mg L-1. On other hand, at pH values higher than 9.0, the addition of O3 may be neglected when using higher concentrations than 1071.5 mg L-1 of H2O2. For flotation/ozonation catalyzed by Mn2+, it was observed that metal addition did not affect treatment, resulting in an optimum condition: 53.8 mg L-1 of O3 and pH 3.6.