Ozone Degradation of Lignin.pdf

Michniewicz M, Stufka-Olczyk J, Milczarek A. Ozone Degradation of Lignin; its Impact Upon the Subsequent Biodegradation. FIBRES TEXTILES in Eastern Europe 2012; 20, 6B (96): 191-196. 191 Ozone Degradation of Lignin; its Impact Upon the Subsequent Biodegradation Ma?gorzata Michniewicz, Jadwiga Stufka-Olczyk, Anna Milczarek Institute of Biopolymers and Chemical Fibres ul. M. Sk?odowskiej-Curie 19/27, 90-570 ?ód?, Poland E-mail: michniewicz@ibwch.lodz.pl Abstract The possible use of ozone and advanced oxidation processes (AOP) to degrade and elimi- nate lignin compounds from aqueous solutions, and the determination of the required ozone dose are the primary objectives of this study. The influence of the oxidation methods on the subsequent biological decomposition of the by-products was also investigated.During ozonisation of the alkalilignin aqueous solutions, the polymer is degraded to a degree de- pending on the ozone dose. Lignin content decreased by about 40 to 96.6% at an ozone dose of 0.1 and 3.6 mgO3/mgCOD, respectively, accompanied by a drop of COD in the range of 8.8 - 69.6%. An ozone dose of about 1 mgO3/mgCOD is required to reduce the lignin content by more than 80%; at such a dose, the reduction of COD was about 35%. Lignin proved to be a substance that is practically insusceptible to biodegradation under the test conditions. An increase of the susceptibility to biodegradation of the lignin disintegration products could have been observed at an appropriately high dose of ozone. Key words: degradation, lignin, ozone, advanced oxidation process, biodegradation. biological treatment of the joint wastewa- ter streams comprises the final step. Most promising amongst the physical-chem- ical methods are advanced oxidation processes (AOP), with the use of ozone, ozone and UV irradiation, H2O2 and O3 or all of the agents together [11 - 13]. Lignin is one of the three main chemi- cal constituents of plant matter (cellu- lose and hemicellulose are t