Esta es la presentación flash para la participación de Ciencia Joven 2026 de Naomy Pessoa Chaves

[00:00:02]Hello, my name is Naomi and I'll present the work entitled pilot scale electrochemical production of ozone and hydrogen peroxide for wastewater treatment.

[00:00:10]Water scarcity is becoming a critical challenge, especially in Mediterranean regions, driven by climate change, population growth, and recurring droughts. This increases pressure on fresh water resources and makes wastewater reuse an essential alternative, although it requires a strict control of microbiological quality.

[00:00:28]This work was developed in the southern region, where rural areas face limited infrastructure and high vulnerability to water scarcity. The objective was the development of a portable electrochemical system for decentralized wastewater treatment based on in situ oxidant generation for disinfection.

[00:00:45]This system produced hydrogen peroxide and ozone electrochemically, and when combined, they generate the hydroxyl radicals through the electro-peroxone process, which are responsible for the high disinfection efficiency.

[00:00:58]For the hydrogen peroxide production, a dual cathode configuration with gas diffusion electrodes was used. A stable operation was achieved with faradaic efficiencies up to 80%, although performance was affected by the GDE flooding in high loads.

[00:01:12]For the ozone production, a membrane electrode assembly cell with a boron-doped diamond anode was developed, enabling efficient gas phase ozone generation and faradaic efficiencies up to 50%.

[00:01:25]The pilot plant integrated both units in a portable system operating at up to 1 cubic meter per hour. Hydrogen peroxide was injected into the water line, while the ozone was introduced through a venturi system.

[00:01:38]For the ozone module, the unit includes four ozone reactors operating in parallel, together with a complete pumping system and a single outlet for the direct concentration analysis using an ozonemeter.

[00:01:51]Meanwhile, for the hydrogen peroxide module, this module has two electrochemical reactors with four cathodes operating in parallel.

[00:02:01]Tests were carried out using the operating units and equally content in water was evaluated. A total of 1 cubic meter of water was treated including 25 liters of waste water containing the bacteria previously subjected to control bacterial growth.

[00:02:15]Different peroxide to ozone ratios were tested achieving a three to four logarithmic reductions in the E. coli.

[00:02:23]And to assess real-world applicability, 1 cubic meter of waste water from a treatment plant was treated using the pilot system and the ozone alone achieved partial disinfection while the combination of ozone and hydrogen peroxide resulted in a complete E. coli inactivation highlighting the benefits of the electron peroxone process.

[00:02:43]In conclusion, a portable pilot system for the in situ production of hydrogen peroxide and ozone was successfully developed and demonstrated. Both electrochemical units showed a stable performance and effective disinfection.

[00:02:56]Thank you for your attention.