Proceedings

With ever tightening water quality standards and the emergence of new pollutants that cannot be removed by traditional treatment processes, it is imperative that as an industry we look to explore more advanced technologies. Such pollutants include; pharmaceuticals and personal care products, hormones, and other endocrine disrupting substances, as well as recalcitrant pesticides such as metaldehyde. The primary advanced technologies used for the treatment of these trace substances are either an advanced oxidation process such as UV/peroxide or photocatalysis, or a PAC (Powdered Activated Carbon) adsorption system, both of which typically come with high operational costs. The C-ION advanced oxidation process developed by SFC Umwelttechnik and delivered by Trant Engineering is an innovative alternative that is able to provide the same level of trace-substance removal but at a fraction of the operational costs. The system is based on the dispersion of a non-thermal plasma that is generated from ambient air within the ionisation cell of a submerged plasma-turbine unit. The plasma then reacts with the surrounding water and generates highly reactive radicals that degrade the trace-substances as is typical of an advanced oxidation process. Thus, no costly chemicals are required and the only operational costs are for the turbine and the ionization cell. As well as for the treatment of trace substances, the C-ION process can also be used for the suppression of bulking sludge, hardly degradable COD removal, and membrane cleaning, among others.