UV/H2O2-assisted forward osmosis system for extended filtration, alleviated fouling, and low-strength landfill leachate concentrate

The forward osmosis (FO) membrane process is a good option for treating complex wastewater, such as landfill leachate, owing to its high rejection. However, organic membrane fouling and the generation of high-strength concentrate hamper efficient and environmentally friendly operation. To overcome these limitations, an integrated FO system combined with UV/H2O2 oxidation is proposed in this paper. Changes in the heterogeneous organic composition of the leachate were tracked along the treatment processes via size exclusion chromatography and excitation emission matrix combined with parallel factor analysis, which allowed us to pinpoint the organic fractions responsible for FO membrane fouling and evaluate their removal efficiency. Three fluorescent components, including tryptophan-like (C1), fulvic-like (C2), and humic-like (C3) components, were identified in the landfill leachate. A separate UV/H2O2 oxidation system led to selective removal of the organic leachate fractions, causing membrane fouling by similar to 80% along with the overall removal of bulk leachate by similar to 45%. Compared to traditional FO, the integrated system resulted in improved filtered volume (by 40%), decreased overall membrane resistance (by 30%), complete flux recovery after physical cleaning, and 50% reduction of organic carbon in the membrane concentrate. Moreover, the concentrate from the integrated FO system was characterized by a much lower abundance of large molecules, which is beneficial for the reclamation of concentrate due to its high biodegradability. This study demonstrated the effectiveness of UV/H2O2 oxidation as an integrated option for an FO system used for extended filtration, membrane fouling mitigation, and the production of low-strength landfill leachate concentrate.