Degradation Kinetics of Landfill Leachate by Continuous-Flow Catalytic Ozonation

Landfill leachate contains a variety of compounds, many of which are chemically and biologically recalcitrant. The aim of this study was to convert a batch/semicontinuous reactor into a continuous tubular reactor for catalytic ozonation of landfill leachate with Fe2+ and develop a kinetic model for the degradation of organic carbon in leachate. The reaction volume was kept constant throughout the experiments by controlling the inflow of air, ozone, and catalyst solution and the outflow of foam. The kinetic model revealed TOC scission rate constants ranging from 3.5 × 106 to 4.45 × 107 L mol–1 s–1 and showed good predictive capacity (R2 = 0.9999). The use of a continuous reactor for catalytic ozonation and the kinetic model developed for the degradation of organic carbon in landfill leachate are innovations that can provide important technical information to support process scale up. For instance, the developed model was able to predict the amount of reagent and the operating conditions that are necessary to achieve a specific level of TOC removal, which is essential information to design a full-scale system for treating landfill leachate.