Evaluation of Fenton Pretreatment and MBBR Reactor Performance for Leachate Biodegradability Improvement
Author
Term
4. term
Publication year
2025
Submitted on
2025-06-04
Pages
75
Abstract
The Master’s thesis investigated the impact of Fenton oxidation, as a pretreatment method to enhance the biodegradability of landfill leachate, hence improve subsequent treatment performance in a Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR). Leachates with varying COD levels were screened for optimal Fenton conditions (acidic pH, Fe2+:H2O2 ratio of 1:5, 30-minute reaction time), and subsequently applied prior to 24- hour MBBR experiments. Fenton treatment led to significant COD reductions in the Denitrification reactors—up to 73% for Odense and 68% for Aarhus leachates. The results from OUR measurements, TOC, and OXC suggested that the treated leachates were already highly biodegradable. Moreover inhibition analysis showed no detectable inhibitory elements. These results implied characteristics of young leachates. This indicates that Fenton primarily removed readily degradable organics, rather than converting refractory compounds into more bioavailable forms. In general the MBBR showed good performance, due ammonium oxidization and COD reductions.
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