Ozone Catalytic Oxidation Technology: An Environmental Innovation in Pharmaceutical Wastewater Purification

1. Introduction

Wastewater discharged by pharmaceutical production is rich in organic compounds that are difficult to biodegrade, heavy metals and biotoxic components, posing a severe challenge to water environment safety. If such wastewater is not properly purified before entering natural water bodies, it significantly harms ecosystem stability and public health. For example, wastewater from the production processes of a well-known pharmaceutical manufacturer has a chemical oxygen demand (COD) exceeding 6,000 mg/L, far above the national discharge limit. As a leading enterprise in the environmental technology industry, SINOKLE has focused its innovation and application efforts on developing ozone catalytic oxidation technology since its founding. Leveraging the highly efficient oxidizing properties of ozone molecules and the synergistic action of specific catalysts, the technology rapidly converts stubborn organic pollutants in pharmaceutical wastewater into harmless substances while significantly reducing key pollution indicators such as COD and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), achieving thorough wastewater purification and providing a systematic solution to the pharmaceutical wastewater treatment dilemma that is both environmentally sound and highly efficient.

2. SINOKLE's core technology — the CDOF process

The ozone cyclonic dissolved gas flotation system, abbreviated CDOF, is an innovative wastewater treatment unit integrating advanced ozone oxidation, cyclone-enhanced mixing and dissolved gas flotation separation.

Through the advanced oxidation action of ozone, the unit effectively removes organic matter, ammonia nitrogen, suspended solids, colour and other pollutants from wastewater.CDOF unit uses multiple catalytic oxidation, including homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. Homogeneous catalysis mainly raises the ozone decomposition rate by adding catalysts such as metal ions; heterogeneous catalysis uses porous catalyst supports to improve catalyst stability and activity. These catalysts effectively lower the energy required for the reaction, promoting spontaneous ozone decomposition in water to generate more hydroxyl radicals (·OH) and thus enhancing overall oxidation efficiency.

Cyclone technology creates turbulence to intensify contact between ozone and wastewater; dissolved gas flotation exploits the colloidal destabilization and demulsification functions of ozone, reducing the flocculant dosage needed in flotation and improving final effluent quality, achieving efficient, integrated wastewater purification.CDOF Figure. SINOKLE's

unit CDOF During operation, ozone rapidly dissolves and disperses uniformly in the wastewater under pressure, greatly accelerating the reaction rate. Compared with conventional processes, the required reaction time is significantly shortened and the equipment footprint is only one-third or less of conventional solutions.

Thanks to multiple catalytic oxidation, ozone utilization can exceed 99%. SINOKLE's

system is designed for fully automatic, closed, pressurized operation, reducing the need for manual intervention, making O&M simple and reliable, eliminating any risk of ozone leakage, and producing no harmful by-products throughout the treatment flow — fully in line with modern industry's pursuit of green, low-carbon and sustainable development.

CDOF Figure. Pilot test site for wastewater treatment at a large pharmaceutical plant in Inner Mongolia

3. Proprietary patented heterogeneous ozone catalyst

The

unit is packed with an ozone catalyst independently developed by SINOKLE. Its high catalytic efficiency, long service life and extremely low component leaching rate, deep oxidation capacity, catalytic reaction under pressure, synergy of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalytic oxidation, and hydrodynamic cavitation catalysis work together across multiple stages and levels of catalytic oxidation, ensuring consistently stable and reliable treatment performance.

Based on extensive literature research and many experiments, SINOKLE's R&D team went through countless formulation adjustments and preparation process improvements; the core materials include high-efficiency active metal oxides, stable supports and special additives. For the active metal oxides at the heart of the catalytic reaction, we selected precious-metal and transition-metal composites combining high activity and selectivity, and used nanotechnology to control particle size within 10 nm, greatly increasing the catalyst's active surface area and reaction efficiency. The result is SINOKLE's proprietary ozone catalyst. It not only delivers outstanding catalytic performance, achieving efficient oxidative decomposition of pollutants at lower ozone dosage, but also excellent stability, maintaining high catalytic activity over the long term and effectively reducing operating costs. During development, SINOKLE also built a complete catalyst performance and stability evaluation system, comprehensively assessing key indicators by simulating real wastewater treatment environments.

Figure. SINOKLE ozone catalyst. CDOF test. 4. Application of ozone catalytic oxidation in pharmaceutical wastewater treatment CDOF Take a large pharmaceutical enterprise in Inner Mongolia as an example. The COD concentration of wastewater from its production processes reaches several thousand mg/L, far above the national discharge standard. The company previously used conventional biological treatment, achieving only about 15% COD removal, with long treatment cycles and low efficiency that could not meet environmental regulatory requirements.

Faced with this situation, SINOKLE applied its proprietaryFaced with this situation, SINOKLE applied its proprietary CDOF process to treat this pharmaceutical wastewater with remarkable results.