Wine distillery wastewater degradation. 1. Oxidative treatment using ozoneand its effect on the wastewater biodegradability

Laboratory-scale experiments were conducted to investigate the impact of oz onation on the degradability of wine distillery wastewaters, usually called vinasses, with the goal of developing combined chemical-biological methods for their treatment. Chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen deman d (BOD), total organic carbon (TOC), and ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nn ( UV254) were taken as reference parameters to follow the pollution level. Th e vinasses were treated both directly; and after being mixed with domestic sewage. Ozonation of pure vinasses required high ozone doses to achieve a s ignificant efficiency for removing the organic matter. Mixing vinasses with domestic sewage allowed higher degradation rates with ozone. Ozone was als o demonstrated to be an appropriate oxidizing agent to improve vinasses's b iodegradability and organic matter removal. A mathematical model of the ozo nation kinetics based on the film theory concept is also presented.