Patent ID: 8038938

Claim:
A process employing a photocatalytic reactor and an ozone gas to produce hydroxyl radicals for removing ammonium, nitrite and organic matter, and to purify and disinfect, waste water from a confined aquaculture system, the process being based on Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP), the photocatalytic reactor being based on UV light sources and a supported photocatalyst based on titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ), wherein the photocatalyst is supported over glass plates fixed within the reactor at a pre-established distance from the UV light sources, where a portion of waste water from the confined aquaculture enters into a closed recirculating circuit, an ozone gas is introduced into the recirculating waste water, and the waste water containing the ozone gas is fed in a lower end of the photocatalytic reactor and submitted to a strong turbulence while passing through perforations in a support that forms the floor of the reaction chambers, wherein the recirculating waste water containing the ozone gas is treated within the photocatalytic reactor through heterogeneous photocatalysis, wherein the hydroxyl radicals (OH.) are produced by the destruction of the ozone gas by the UV light and by irradiating the photocatalyst with the UV light, and wherein the treated water is adjusted to a pH and returned to the confined aquaculture.