Performance of Ozone Reactor in Treating Stabilized Landfill Leachate: Efficiencies and Limitations

Ozone has a high oxidation level and is typically used to improve the removal of organic and inorganic components. In this study, we investigated the performance of ozone in the removal of COD and color from mature landfill leachate with low concentration of COD and different volumes of samples (2, 5, and 10 L). The highest removal of COD (22%) and color (88.3%) was obtained in the lowest volume of ozonated sample. We studied ozone decomposition during 1 h of reaction time and found increases in ozone decay with increasing sample volume. Ozone consumption for COD removal was calculated, and the highest amount of consumed ozone (0.54 Kg/ Kg COD) corresponded to the highest removal of COD in the lowest sample volume. Biodegradability, as measured by lab scale aeration, increased from 23% to 42% after ozonation of dilute leachate. Findings indicate that the performance of ozone improves with decreasing sample volume, and that biodegradability of stabilized leachate is improved by ozonation.