Determination of optimum conditions for removal of Acid Orange 7 in batch-recirculated photoreactor with immobilized TiO2-P25 nanoparticles by Taguchi method

Abstract

This study investigated the optimum conditions in the removal of model contaminant C.I. Acid Orange 7 (AO7) in batch-recirculated photoreactor with immobilized TiO2-P25 nanoparticles. The effect of different operational parameters such as initial concentration of AO7, volume of solution, volumetric flow rate, time of the reaction, and power of light source were studied and optimized by Taguchi method. Sixteen experiments were performed to examine the effect of the parameters on the removal of AO7. To reduce the error, each experiment was repeated three times and the signal/noise (S/N) was calculated. Results indicated that the power of light source was the most effective parameter in comparison to others. Based on the S/N ratio, the optimized conditions for the removal of AO7 in batch-recirculated photoreactor were initial concentration of AO7 (20 mg L−1), volume of solution (500 mL), volumetric flow rate (140 mL min−1), time of reaction (60 min), and power of light source (13 W).