Date of Award

3-1-2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Engineering Management

Department

Department of Systems Engineering and Management

First Advisor

Willie F. Harper, Jr., PhD.

Abstract

Guar Gum (GG) is one of the problematic water pollutants connected to hydraulic fracturing. There is a pressing need to investigate appropriate unit operations that can be employed to protect the aquatic environment. This study investigated the use of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in the advanced oxidation process (AOP) of GG. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal provided mixed results, depending on the concentration of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in solution, and was between (0-95%) for H2O2-to-GG ratios between 7.0 and 176.3 g H2O2/g GG. COD removal was greatest at the lowest H2O2-to-GG ratio of 7.0 g H2O2/g GG. Additionally, the COD removal was near 0% at the higher H2O2-to-GG ratio of 176.3 g H2O2/g GG. These results were partially explained by the measured relative absorbance of GG and H2O2, which showed that H2O2 absorbed 8 times more UV light than GG. This means that the hydroxyl radicals were not inhibited by the absorbance of the GG. The AOP effluent was not chemically identical to the influent and a small pool of transformation byproducts were likely present in the effluent. UV LED/H2O2 AOP treatment of GG had no statistically significant effect on microbial respiration.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-ENV-MS-18-M-193

DTIC Accession Number

AD1056464

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