Application & Case Studies of Boron Doped Diamond Materials

In Pharmaceutical Wastewater Treatment

Pharmaceutical Wastewater Treartment: Source & Impacts,Solution

Wastewater from the oil and gas industry can differ in each plant (crude oil extraction, cracking, fuel oil and gas utilization, etc.) and fluctuate over time

Although pharmaceuticals improve health and welfare in intended uses, the constant release of pharmaceuticals into the environment through manufacturing, consumption, excretion, and improper disposal also poses risks that require better understanding and management.

Pharmaceutical pollutants entering the environment via wastewater treatment plant discharge and contamination from manufacturing or disposal sites threaten public, their biological activity and toxicity also endanger aquatic ecosystems, food supplies, and drinking water sources.

Certain pharmaceuticals like antibiotics and steroids disrupt hormonal systems in fish and other wildlife. The overuse of antibiotics has increased bacterial resistance, complicating medical care. As new pharmaceuticals are frequently introduced, the scope of their long term impacts on non-target organisms and the development of resistance remain uncertain without environmental monitoring and regulation.

Pharmaceutical Industry

Pharmaceutical Residues in Freshwater *source:OECD

Pharmaceutical Residues Are to Remove Via Standard Wastewater Treatment Porcess

Application of EAOP in Pharmaceutical Wastewater Treartment

Comprehensive solutions including green design, disposal programs and targeted advanced treatment can help curb this pervasive threat

Mineralization of Pharmaceutical Wastewater via Electrochemical Oxidation Process

Advanced treatment using processes like electrochemical advanced oxidation process (EAOPs) can degrade refractory pollutants not removed by conventional means. Emerging electrochemical advanced oxidation technologies that generate reactive oxygen species, provide an environmentally compatible approach for oxidizing pollutants from pharmaceutical wastewater into harmless end products.

Due to their ability to fully decompose recalcitrant organic pollutants into harmless end products and their environmentally compatible nature, EAOPs are among the most promising technologies for treating pharmaceutical compounds and other refractory contaminants. EAOPs are well suited for the treatment of pharmaceutical pollutants and other bio-refractory organic contaminants, given their high efficiency in mineralizing these compounds into basic ions and molecules and their sustainable, eco-friendly characteristics.

These characteristics make EAOPs very promising for treating pharmaceutical and other recalcitrant contaminants that are hard to remove by other means.

Boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes are chemically inert electrodes with exceptional properties including a wide potential window, high oxygen evolution overpotential, electrochemical stability, and suitability for the detection of various chemical species at low concentrations.

Hydroxyl Radicals & Pharmaceutical Wastewater Treartment

Water is a polar molecule with separate positive and negative ends. When water is electrolyzed, its opposite charges cause it to split into ions at the electrodes. The hydrogen atoms, which form the positive end of water, are attracted to the negative cathode. There, hydrogen ions gain electrons and form hydrogen gas. The oxygen atom forms the negative end of water and is attracted to the positive anode. At the anode, hydroxide ions lose electrons and form oxygen gas.The half-reactions are:Cathode: 2H+ + 2e- -> H2 (Hydrogen ions gain electrons to form hydrogen gas)Anode: O2 + 2H2O + 4e- -> 4OH- (Hydroxide ions lose electrons, and oxygen and water form oxygen gas)In summary, water splits into hydrogen and hydroxide ions when electrolyzed due to its polar nature. The hydrogen ions gain electrons at the cathode to produce hydrogen gas, while hydroxide ions lose electrons at the anode to produce oxygen gas and regenerate water. The reactions at the cathode and anode work in tandem to separate water into its components through the transfer of electrons between electrodes.

Electrolytic water masstransfer process

BDD electrode can effectively degrade all kinds of organic pollutants according to lab tests and large scale pharmaceutical wastewater treatment projects

Pharmaceutical wastewater has a complex matrix, containing high concentrations of organic pollutants that are hard to break down biologically, elevated levels of salts, and compounds that are toxic to microorganisms.