Increasing concentrations of pharmaceutical compounds and their metabolites in aquatic environment threatens both aquatic species and human health. Many pharmaceuticals are persistent in the environment and resistant to conventional water treatment; hence, alternate treatment techniques are required to remove these compounds from water. Aqueous phase electrical discharge has been demonstrated to successfully remove a range of pharmaceutical compounds from water. This technique is characterized by the simultaneous generation of highly reactive species and physical effects within the aqueous solution to be treated.
The present study investigates and optimizes the efficacy of pulsed corona discharges generated in water for the treatment of carbamazepine (CBZ) in a relatively clean water matrix by varying the solution pH, solution conductivity, gas type injected, and gas flow rate injected.
A point-to-plane reactor configuration was employed to produce plasma channel- streamers. In this geometry, the electrical discharges were produced directly within the aqueous phase to be treated by charging a 1nF pulse forming capacitor using a high voltage (25 KV) DC power supply through 10 MΩ resistor to generate discharges within the water at a 30 HZ pulse repetition rate.
Solution pH, solution conductivity, gas type, and gas flow rate were optimized to maximize the removal efficacy of CBZ removal by pulsed corona at the laboratory scale. The CBZ degradation rate (concentration decrease over time) was monitored using LC/MS/MS, with overall degradation ranging from 14-94% depending on the experimental conditions. The results demonstrate that higher CBZ removal efficiency is achieved under lower pH and conductivity conditions. Moreover, enhanced degradation efficiency is obtained when gas, and particularly oxygen, is bubbled through the high voltage hollow electrode, especially at higher flow rates. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc) / Pharmaceuticals are being released into the environment at an increasing rate due to population growth and a rising dependence on these compounds. Pharmaceuticals are resistant to many common water treatment methods; however, electrical discharge generated within the water to be treated (pulsed corona discharge) is an emerging water treatment technology that has been shown to successfully treat many pharmaceuticals. In the present work, pulsed corona discharge has been used to treat carbamazepine present in a relatively clean water matrix. Removal was maximized by optimizing the solution pH, solution conductivity, type of gas bubbled through the electrode, and gas flow rate. The best removal was achieved in solutions with lower pH and conductivities where oxygen was bubbled through the electrode at a relatively high rate.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/22313 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Pourzarea, Roya |
| Contributors | Dickson, Sarah, Civil Engineering |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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