Accelerated transformation of sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate surfactant in the UV/chlorine process: Kinetics and formation of chlorinated disinfection by-products

Abstract

The degradation kinetics of Sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS) surfactant in the UV/chlorine process was comprehensively investigated, and the formation of chlorinated disinfection by-products (Cl-DBPs) were determined. Results showed that the degradation of SDBS by UV, chlorine and UV/chlorine all followed pseudo-first-order kinetics. The rate constant by UV/chlorine in ultrapure water was approximately 3 times higher than the sum of those by UV and chlorine, and decreased from 0.297 to 0.063 min−1 with pH increasing from 5.0 to 9.0. Water matrices such as NO3−, HCO3− and natural organic matter (NOM) inhibited the degradation efficiency to a certain extent. The second-order rate constant of SDBS with HO• was determined as 2.84 × 109 M−1 s−1. Through using different probes, the main contributors to SDBS degradation were found to be UV, HO• and reactive chlorine species (RCS). Meanwhile, 64.0 μg L−1 trichloromethane (TCM) and 8.7 μg L−1 chloral hydrate (CH) were simultaneously formed within 30 min of UV/chlorine treatment. The concentration of total organic chlorine (TOCl) (424.0 μg L−1) was obviously higher than those of TCM and CH. In addition, 414 unknown by-products formed during UV/chlorine treatment were detected by mass spectrometry at a high confidence level, including 64 monochloro-DBPs and 2 dichloro-DBPs. Although UV/chlorine process accelerated SDBS degradation, the associated DBP formation deserves enough attention.