A comparison between conductive-diamond electrochemical oxidation and other advanced oxidation processes for the treatment of synthetic melanoidins.

In this study, three technologies classified as Advanced Oxidation Processes (Conductive-Diamond Electrochemical Oxidation (CDEO), ozonation and Fenton oxidation) have been compared to treat wastes produced in fermentation processes, and characterized by a significant color and a high organic load. Results of CDEO seem to strongly depend on the addition of an electrolyte salt, not only to decrease the energy cost but also to improve efficiency. The addition of sodium chloride as supporting electrolyte improves the removal percentages of organic load, indicating the important role of mediated oxidation processes carried out by the electrogenerated oxidants (hypochlorite). Fenton oxidation and ozonation seem to be less efficient, and mainly Fenton oxidation favors the accumulation of refractory compounds. The differences observed can be explained in terms of the contribution of hydroxyl radicals and other specific oxidation mechanisms involved in each technology.