Application of Sonolysis in the Development of a Water Recycling/Purification

Plant for the Treatment of Chemical, Nuclear and Biological Pollutants

Most of the commercial building complexes, small to medium scale industries and local authorities
do not recycle water due to the complex nature of the contaminants and the lack of simple, effective
and accessible water treatment methodologies/technologies. The proposed development of a water
treatment plant will address these difficulties and enable effective treatment to occur in numerous
settings including commercial and domestic applications.

Such capability makes this technology feasible for a range of applications such as (but not restricted
to):
 Small to medium scale chemical industries (e.g., paper mills, pharmaceutical, pesticide): In
Hyderabad, heavy metal pollution (Zn, Pb, etc.) of soils resulting from irrigation using
industrial wastewater is causing major health concerns. The proposed water treatment plant
can be customised to remove metal and chemical pollutants and reduce the negative health
impacts.

 Mining: Significant amounts of wastewater contaminated with a variety of pollutants are

released and stored. The proposed water treatment plant would significantly reduce the level
of pollutants in mine effluent and water recycled and used on site.

 Radioactive contaminants: The plant can potentially be used at nuclear power stations to
remove radioactive wastes from cooling water as well as improve site safety where low‐level
radioactive contamination is a potential issue (e.g., geothermal power stations).

 Commercial and public buildings: Many complexes (e.g., shopping and office complexes,
hospitals) use substantial amounts of water for sanitary purposes. Their effluent contains
chemical and biological contaminants and significant concentrations of pharmaceutical
wastes. The plant could be used to make this water fit for release or secondary use (e.g.,
irrigation).

Accordingly, attention will be given to technologies appropriate to incorporation in the modular

water treatment plant capable of treating up to 1000 ML/year of wastewater from the sources
mentioned above. Particular attention will be given to the use of Sonolysis, an advanced oxidation
process which acts through formation of hydroxyl radicals and involves ultrasonic irradiation under
different frequencies and background gases. In this phenomenon hydrogen peroxide having high
oxidation potential is formed and organic contaminant degradation occurs by free radical generation
within bubbles with subsequent transfer of these radicals to the bubble-water interface where
majority of the degradation occurs.

Kinetic and Mathematical modeling will be carried out to help improve our understanding of free
radicals behaviour and the interplay between free radical generation and contaminant degradation at
the same time analysing how the different parameters affect the rate of the degradation process. Use
of simple probe organic molecules to further clarify the key processes involved in degradation is also
proposed.

This will be followed by examining the cost of scale-up of sonolysis technology in order to assess
the possibility of full scale implementation. This treatment plant can be adapted for wastewater
treatment in several other areas than those mentioned above due to the versatility of the components
and developed methodologies. The complexity of the reactors required and the power costs
associated with this technology make it an extremely challenging, exciting and potentially
economically beneficial project and thus worthy of investigation.