Improving organic matter and nutrients removal and minimizing sludge production in landfill leachate pre-treatment by Fenton process through a comprehensive response surface methodology approach

Landfill leachate (LL) represents a very complex effluent difficult to treat and to manage which usually requires a chemical pre-treatment. In this study, response surface methodology (RSM) was used to identify the optimum operating conditions of the Fenton process as a pre-treatment of LL in order to reduce the high organic content and simultaneously optimize the BOD5:TN:TP ratio. The dosages of Fenton process reagents, namely Fe2+ and H2O2, were used as variables for the implementation of RSM. Chemical oxygen demand (COD), five-days biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) removals (and simultaneously BOD5:TN:TP ratio), sludge-to-iron ratio (SIR) and organic removal-to-sludge ratio (ORSR) were selected as target responses. This approach considered the SIR and ORSR parameters which are a useful tool for assessing sludge formation during the process along with organic matter removal. The variables (H2O2 and Fe2+ concentrations) significantly affected the responses, as the role of oxidation mechanism is dominant with respect to coagulation one. The pH for the process was fixed to 2.8 while the treatment time was set to 2 h. The optimum operational conditions obtained by perturbation and 3D surface plot, were found to be 4262 mg/L and 5104 mg/L for Fe2+ and H2O2, respectively (H2O2/Fe2+ molar ratio = 2) with COD, BOD5, TN and TP removals of 70%, 67%, 84% and 96% respectively, while SIR and ORSR final values were 1.15 L/mol and 33.79 g/L respectively, in accordance with models-predicted values. Moreover, the initial unbalanced BOD5:TN:TP ratio (9:1:1) was significantly improved (100:6:1), making the effluent suitable for a subsequent biological treatment. The investigated approach allowed to optimize the removal of organic load and nutrients as well as to minimize the sludge formation in Fenton process, providing a useful tool for the operation and management of LL pre-treatment. •Comprehensive RSM approach for Fenton optimization treatment of landfill leachate.•Maximization of organic and nutrient removals and sludge production minimization.•COD, BOD5, TN and TP removals of 70%, 67%, 84% and 96%, respectively.•Final SIR and ORSR values of 1.147 L/mol and 33.79 g/L respectively.•Improvement of BOD5:TN:TP ratio from 9:1:1 to 100:6:1.