Enhancement in Wastewater Treatment Processes via High Frequency Acoustic Waves

Proper treatment of wastewater is seen as an alternative to alleviate the issue of global water pollution. This thesis focuses on the enhancements in biological processes for wastewater treatment via high frequency acoustic waves, low intensity ultrasound and plasma, where severalfold improvement in treatment efficiencies can be achieved. As biological treatment itself is not sufficient to produce good quality effluent, this thesis also demonstrates a potential nanofiltration system using graphene-epoxy filter media actuated by surface acoustic waves (SAWs) as wastewater post-treatment. Filtration efficiencies above 99% can be attained for nanoparticles at different sizes (as small as 5-nm) via this system. Based on these studies, we can see the potential of high frequency acoustic waves in contributing to the future development of integrated wastewater treatment processes, which leads to more sustainable and efficient wastewater treatment practices.