What Is Advanced Oxidation?
Chemical oxidation technologies: these include Fenton reagent oxidation and ozone oxidation. The former uses Fe2+ to catalyze H2O2 into hydroxyl radicals, while the latter enhances treatment performance through photocatalysis or combination with activated carbon [1-2]. Ozone bubble columns and catalytic ozonation can raise ozone utilization to 2.3 times that of conventional processes
Electrochemical catalysis: hydroxyl radicals are generated at the anode surface. When treating phenolic wastewater the COD removal rate reaches more than 85%, but electrode corrosion remains a problem [1]
Engineering challenges: in supercritical water oxidation, catalyst development is still the bottleneck to wider adoption, while photocatalytic oxidation suffers from catalyst deactivation [1] [3]
Photocatalytic technology: with TiO2 as the catalyst, ultraviolet excitation generates electron-hole pairs that degrade pollutants. The equipment is simple, but quantum efficiency still needs to be improved [1] [3]
Decolorization of printing and dyeing wastewater: Fenton oxidation achieves a decolorization efficiency of 98.5% for Reactive Brilliant Red X-3B
Pharmaceutical wastewater treatment: catalytic ozonation shortens the degradation half-life of tetracycline antibiotics to 15 minutes
Landfill leachate treatment: electrochemical oxidation can reduce COD from 8,000 mg/L to below 150 mg/L
Industrial park wastewater treatment: in the upgrading and retrofit of the municipal wastewater treatment plant in the Zhangzhou Taiwanese Investment Zone, Fujian Province, ozone-based advanced oxidation was integrated with bio-augmentation technology to treat industrial wastewater. The effluent met discharge standards, with some indicators reaching Class IV surface water level, creating the conditions for subsequent reuse of the tail water [5]
Glass fiber industrial wastewater treatment: advanced oxidation is used to treat wastewater from the glass fiber industry that contains refractory substances such as organic resins and coupling agents. Reuse is achieved through a combined process, and the case was selected as one of Chongqing's model green and low-carbon cases for 2025. [6]
Hydroxyl radicals have an oxidation potential of 2.8 V and destroy the molecular structure of organic compounds through pathways such as electron transfer and addition reactions [2]. Electro-Fenton technology adopts a continuous Fe2+ supply system, raising radical yield by 40% compared with conventional processes [1]. Supercritical water oxidation forms a homogeneous reaction system above 400 degrees C, achieving an organic mineralization rate of 99.6% [3]
Fast reaction: the reaction rate constant of hydroxyl radicals is 10^6-10^10 M-1s-1, ten times faster than ozone [2]
Non-selective degradation: refractory organics such as phenol and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons can be treated at the same time [2]
Supporting resource recovery and near-zero discharge: in combined processes such as chemical coagulation + hydrolysis acidification + biological treatment + MBR + ultrafiltration + RO + ozone advanced oxidation, advanced oxidation effectively breaks down residual refractory organics so that the wastewater meets high-quality reuse standards. Practical engineering applications (such as the Chongqing glass fiber wastewater treatment project) show that such technology combinations can significantly raise the industrial wastewater reuse rate and help high-salinity organic chemical wastewater achieve near-zero discharge. [6]
Wet oxidation technology: divided into wet air oxidation (operating pressure 0.5-20 MPa) and catalytic wet oxidation, in which heterogeneous catalysts lower the reaction temperature to 125-320 degrees C [1] [3]
