Assessment of Converter Sludge from Esfahan Steel Company as a Persulfate Nano-Activator for Permeable Reactive Barriers (Prbs) in Landfill Leachate Treatment

Abstract

The present research studies the performance of Converter Sludge (CL)as a nano-activator of persulfate (PS) in Permeable Reactive Barrier (PRB) as an in-situ technology for leachate treatment.In batch experiments, the acidic conditions (pH = 3) have been the most suitable for removal operations, where COD and NH₃ removal efficiencies are 69.15% and 60.96%, respectively. The Box–Behnken design (BBD) has been employed to optimize three parameters, namely PS/ COD ratio, CS dose, and pore volume (PV), using COD and NH₃of leachate landfill as the target pollutant. The BBD is considered a satisfactory model to optimize the process. Under optimal conditions (PS/COD ratio: 3.47, CS dose: 3.09 g L^-1,and PV: 4.27), the measured values of the COD and NH₃ removal efficiencies have been 74.2 and 66.8, respectively, all within the 95%-prediction intervals, which indicate the model's success in predicting removal values. The biodegradability (BOD₅/COD) of the real leachate has been enhanced from 0.25 to 0.77, with the toxicity of real leachate getting decreased by more than 90%.