A Novel Low-Cost Method to Enhance Pharmaceutical Wastewater Treatment by Non-Thermal Plasma

Non-thermal plasma (NTP) technology is an emerging approach for the removal of organic pollutants from wastewater. Due to the increasing use of pharmaceuticals, these substances have become a rapidly growing category of water pollutants, making the treatment of pharmaceutical wastewater a critical issue. Despite the advantages of NTP, this technology faces challenges such as high energy consumption and cost-related issues. To address these challenges, this study employed Continuous Gliding Arc Discharge (CGAD) to reduce pharmaceutical pollutants in wastewater. The wastewater was stored under controlled conditions after treatment, and pollutant degradation (%d), energy yield (Ey), and treatment cost (Ct) were calculated, discussed, and examined in detail. Based on the results, pollutant degradation improved significantly, increasing from ۵۰.۱۱% to ۹۹.۴۱%. The energy yield nearly doubled, rising from ۵.۹۲۱ mg/kWh to ۱۱.۷۴۶ mg/kWh, while the treatment cost was equal to $۰.۳۶۱ for all different storage times.

Keywords:

Advanced oxidation process , Non-thermal plasma , Pharmaceutical wastewater , Energy yield , Pollution degradation , Cost calculation