REMOVAL OF ORGANIC COMPOUNDS BY OXIDATION-COAGULATION WITH POTASSIUM FERRATE

The aqueous solutions for five organic "priority pollutants" were selected for oxidation and coagulation studies by use of potassium ferrate. Naphthalene and Trichloroethylene were successfully removed from waste streams with proper pH control. Nitrobenzene was oxidized very slowly by ferrate. Bromodichloromethane and 1,2-dichlorobenzene were not removed from aqueous streams under the oxidation test conditions.; The Ames test was utilized for assessment of the toxicity or mutagenicity of possible by-products of potassium ferrate oxidation. The results indicate that the potassium ferrate treatment did not produce products that were detectable by the Ames test as mutagenic. A tentative conclusion may be drawn that the Ames test can be used as a measure of the performance of other oxidative treatment processes where mutagenic by-products might be formed.; A comparative study of the efficiency of removal of organic pollutants by coagulation with ferrate and alum was conducted using Jar test. Potassium ferrate oxidation-coagulation is not a satisfactory process for removal of Nitrobenzene, 1,2-dichlorobenzene and Bromodichloromethane. Ferrate by itself does not form a floc surface on which the priority pollutants might be sorbed. It is necessary to provide a coagulant aid. Alum coagulation is not a satisfactory process for removal of those pollutants either.; The efficiency of ferrate and alum using paddles versus gas (N(,2)) in the flocculation process was compared. The removal efficiencies of Naphthalene, Trichloroethylene, Bromodichloromethane and 1,2-dichlorobenzene were higher than those obtained using paddles. However, it is the stripping which accounts for the removal of the volatile compounds which cannot be effectively removed by either ferrate or Alum.