Abstract
In the present study, UV-light-driven advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have been employed for the degradation of 4-tert-Butylphenol (4-t-BP) in water under continuous flow conditions. The effects of varying space time (10, 20, 40, 60 and 120 min) and oxidant dosage (88.3 mg/L, 176.6 mg/L and 264 mg/L) were examined. 4-t-BP degradation efficiency in the UV-induced AOPs followed the order of UV/H2O2 (264.9 mg/L) ≈ UV/Fe2+/H2O2 > UV/Fe3+/H2O2 > UV/H2O2 (176.6 mg/L) > UV/H2O2 (88.3 mg/L) > UV/Fe-TiO2 > UV/TiO2 > UV, while UV/Fe3+/H2O2 was the most efficient process in terms of Total Organic Carbon (TOC) removal (at the space time of 60 min) among those tested. The combination of UV with 88.3 mg/L H2O2 enhanced pollutant removal from 51.29% to 93.34% after 10 min of irradiation. The presence of H2O2 contributed to the highest 4-t-BP and TOC removal values. Interestingly, the increase in space time from 20 to 60 min resulted in surpassing of the activity of the Fe-TiO2 over commercial TiO2, although it had an almost negligible positive impact on the performance of the UV/H2O2 system as well as H2O2 concentration. The results obtained showed that more than 80% of 4-t-BP could be successfully degraded by both heterogeneous and homogeneous AOPs after 60 min.
Highlights
The contamination of water with various chemical compounds found in various types of water bodies [1,2,3] at low concentrations [4] has attracted increasing attention.These compounds have been termed as emerging pollutants (EPs) and include persistent organic compounds such as pharmaceuticals, personal care products (PCPs), and endocrine disruptive compounds (EDCs) with a high potential of bioaccumulation [5].Among these pollutants, EDCs constitute a family of organic compounds that affect natural hormones [6]
In order to gain insights into the performance of various UV-activated processes in continuous flow mode, a series of experiments in the absence of any catalyst and oxidant was performed by varying the space time (10, 20 40, 60 and 120 min)
Total Organic Carbon (TOC) removal did not significantly increase with increasing the space time above 20 min and the values observed were considerably lower than the corresponding values for 4-t-BP degradation (Figure 2B)
Summary
The contamination of water with various chemical compounds found in various types of water bodies [1,2,3] at low concentrations [4] has attracted increasing attention These compounds have been termed as emerging pollutants (EPs) and include persistent organic compounds such as pharmaceuticals, personal care products (PCPs), and endocrine disruptive compounds (EDCs) with a high potential of bioaccumulation [5]. Among these pollutants, EDCs constitute a family of organic compounds that affect natural hormones [6]. Its toxicity [18,19] and persistence [20,21] impose the elimination of 4-t-BP in water
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