Electron beam treatment for the removal of 1,4-dioxane in water and wastewater

Electron beam (e-beam) treatment uses accelerated electrons to form oxidizing and reducing radicals when applied to water without the useof external chemicals. In this study, electron beam treatment was used to degrade 1,4-dioxane in several water matrices. Removal improvedin the progressively cleaner water matrices and removals as high as 94% to 99% were observed at a dose of 2.3 kGy in secondary effluent.1,4-dioxane removal was confirmed to be primarily through hydroxyl radical oxidation. The calculated electrical energy per order was foundto be 0.53, 0.26, and 0.08 kWh/m(3)/order for secondary effluent (Avg. TOC 9.25 mg/L), granular activated carbon effluent (TOC 3.46 mg/L), andultrapure water, respectively, with a 70% generation and transfer efficiency applied.