The Feasibility of Using Combined Fenton-SBR for Antibiotic Wastewater Treatment

The first part of this study examined the effect of operating conditions on Fenton pretreatment of an antibiotic
wastewater containing amoxicillin and cloxacillin. The optimum H2O2/COD and H2O2/Fe2+ molar ratios
were 2.5 and 20, respectively. Under the optimum operating conditions, complete degradation of the antibiotics
occurred in 1 min. In the second part of this study, a bench-scale SBR was operated for 239 days and fed
with Fenton-treated wastewater under different operating conditions. BOD5/COD ratio below 0.40 of the
Fenton-treated wastewater had negative effect on the SBR performance. Hydraulic retention time (HRT) of
12 h was found suitable for the SBR and increasing HRT to 24 and 48 h did not significantly improve the
SBR efficiency. Statistical analysis (two-way ANOVA) was made on the results to optimize the H2O2/Fe2+
molar ratio and Fenton reaction time and it was found possible to reduce the Fe2+ dose and increase the Fenton
reaction time. Under the best operating conditions (H2O2/COD molar ratio 2.5, H2O2/Fe2+ molar ratio
150, Fenton reaction time 120 min and HRT 12 h), the combined Fenton-SBR process efficiency was 89% for
sCOD removal and the SBR effluent met the discharge standards. Combined Fenton-SBR is a feasible process
for antibiotic wastewater treatment.