Study of the feasibility of an integrated biological-photocatalytic decontamination process for the treatment of a PCB-polluted waste water obtained from a soil washing

The aim of this study was to implement the decontamination process of water effluents deriving from the soy lecithin-assisted washing of an aged PCB-contaminated soil through the integration of a photocatalytic approach with a biological treatment. Effluents have been subjected to the integrated treatment in a batch system consisting of a mechanically stirred bioreactor, connected to an annular photocatalytic reactor with dispersed titanium dioxide. A biological treatment and a photocatalytic one have been used as controls. The integrated approach was shown to have no advantages, if compared to the photocatalytic-alone treatment, both in terms of extent and rate of the process.