초록
Radiation treatment with gamma-rays and electron-beams was used to remove polyvinyl alcohol(PVA), one of the main components of dyeing wastewater. PVA was effectively decomposed by radiation treatment, thus the removal was near 100 % at an initial PVA concentration of 44 mg/L. However, total organic carbon(TOC) removal was less than 5 % due to lower transformation of PVA to $CO_2$. This directly indicates the radiation treatment alone is not appropriate for the complete decomposition of PVA. In this sense, the improvement of biodegradability($BOD_5/COD$) of PVA by radiation treatment was studied. Both gamma-ray and electron-beam treatments significantly increased the biodegradability of PVA by transforming non-biodegradable PVA to biodegradable by-products. This suggests radiation treatment, especially electron-beam treatment that showed better improvement of biodegradability, can be used as a pre-treatment of biological degradation process of PVA.