Advanced Purification of Pharmaceutical Wastewater by the Coupling of In Situ Electrocoagulation and Catalytic Ozonation: Multi-Field Synergistic Enhancement of Ozone Mass Transfer

To synchronously remove suspended solids (SS) and refractory organic contaminants in the effluent of pharmaceutical wastewater and achieve the reclaimation, a novel advanced wastewater purification technology was studied herein by in situ coupling electrocoagulation and catalytic ozonation (named ECCO). This study proposes a novel multiscale synergistic water treatment strategy integrating electrochemical ozone activation, floc-catalyzed ozonation, and catalytic ozonation to achieve efficient ozone mass transfer and contaminant degradation, which was confirmed by experimental results and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The dual-electrode Fe/Fe configuration enhanced ozone-electrode contact efficiency, while the CuMn2O4/LR placement at the reactor bottom significantly improved ozone decomposition and mass transfer. Moreover, the dual-electrode the dual-electrode Fe/Fe combined with bottom-positioned CuMn2O4/LR catalyst in ECCO achieved near-complete Ibuprofen (IBP) removal (>99%) and 54.7% TOC mineralization. Furthermore, ECCO can achieve complete removal of various residual pharmaceuticals, including amoxicillin (AMX), ciprofloxacin (CIP), and carbamazepine (CBZ), while effectively reducing 50.8% chemical oxygen demand (COD) and toxicity (luminescent bacteria inhibition rate decreased from 60 to 9%). At last, the developed noncontinuous kinetic model (R2 = 0.858, p < 0.05) accurately predicted IBP degradation in real time under the various boundary conditions. It provides a predictive tool and a theoretical foundation for reactor scale-up and smart water quality management in diverse wastewater treatment scenarios.