Treating contaminated effluents and groundwaters
First Claim
1. A method of treating a liquid effluent or groundwater containing organic contaminants comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a liquid effluent or groundwater containing organic contaminants;
(b) contacting the liquid effluent or groundwater at a pH of between about 2 and 4 with hydrogen peroxide and transition metal ions, the hydrogen peroxide and transition metal ions being present in effective amounts based on the concentration of the organic contaminants in the liquid effluent or groundwater; and
(c) irradiating the liquid effluent or groundwater with UV light, the UV light having a polychromatic output between about 200 to 400 nm and an input power of at least about 1 Kw to decompose the organic contaminants;
wherein the ratio of hydrogen peroxide to transition metal ions is about 10;
1 to 1;
1 and is selected so as to favor the absorption of UV light by the hydrogen peroxide and the organic contaminant relative to the absorption of UV light by transition metal ions in step (c).
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of treating a liquid effluent or groundwater containing organic contaminants is provided. The liquid effluent or groundwater containing the organic contaminants is contacted with hydrogen peroxide and transition metal ions. The hydrogen peroxide and transition metal ions are present in effective amounts based on the concentration of the organic contaminants in the liquid effluent or groundwater. The liquid effluent or groundwater is then irradiated with UV light having a poly- chromatic output between about 200 to 400 nm to decompose the organic contaminants. The ratio of hydrogen peroxide to transition metal ions is selected so as to favor the absorption of UV light by the hydrogen peroxide in the irradiation step.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. A method of treating a liquid effluent or groundwater containing organic contaminants comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a liquid effluent or groundwater containing organic contaminants; (b) contacting the liquid effluent or groundwater at a pH of between about 2 and 4 with hydrogen peroxide and transition metal ions, the hydrogen peroxide and transition metal ions being present in effective amounts based on the concentration of the organic contaminants in the liquid effluent or groundwater; and (c) irradiating the liquid effluent or groundwater with UV light, the UV light having a polychromatic output between about 200 to 400 nm and an input power of at least about 1 Kw to decompose the organic contaminants; wherein the ratio of hydrogen peroxide to transition metal ions is about 10;
1 to 1;
1 and is selected so as to favor the absorption of UV light by the hydrogen peroxide and the organic contaminant relative to the absorption of UV light by transition metal ions in step (c). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification