Transformation of dissolved organic matters in a papermaking industrial park wastewater treatment plant

The transformation of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the wastewater treatment plant of a papermaking industrial park was investigated by conventional chemical analysis, UV-vis spectroscopy, gel chromatography, and three-dimensional fluorescence. The results indicated that the wastewater treatment plant effectively removed organic pollutants from the integrated industrial park wastewater. The UV-vis spectroscopy and gel chromatography analyses showed that hydrolysis acidification degraded macromolecular substances into small molecules and decreased the humification degree, and the proportion of small molecules increased after advanced oxidation treatment. DOM from the integrated industrial park wastewater decomposed into five fluorescent components: tryptophan-like proteins, aromatic proteins, humic-like substances, fulvic-like substances, and tyrosine-like proteins. The hydrolysis acidification process increased the amount of aromatic proteins and humic- and fulvic-like substances in the DOM, whereas advanced oxidation effectively degraded the proteins- and humic-like fluorescent substances.