Modeling of petroleum wastewater treatment by Fe/Zn nanoparticles using the response surface methodology and enhancing the efficiency by scavenger

Abstract

The petroleum wastewater caused to serious problems in the aqueous and soil environments, therefore treatment of petroleum wastewater has extremely been in the center of attention in recent years. Phenol is one of main petroleum compounds. The photocatalytic removal of phenol from the wastewater by the use of scavenger and nanoparticle is discussed in this research. In this research, Fe/Zn bimetal nanoparticle is synthesized and used by a new and simple method. Based on the results, this nanoparticle has solved the issue of its removal from the water (after the treatment) using its exclusive magnetic property. Using the Hydrogen peroxide as a scavenger has significantly increased the efficiency of the nanoparticle in photocatalytic treatment. The independent parameters studied in this research include the phenol initial concentration, light source power, retention time, pH and the nanocatalysts concentration. The Hydrogen peroxide was used with the constant concentration of 0.01 M. The experiment design was performed by response surface methodology. Based on the results, the removal efficiency was increased by increasing in nanocatalyst concentration, pH, UV source power and retention time. Also removal efficiency decreased by increasing in initial phenol concentration. According to the FESEM result, nanomaterial has dimensions less than 50 nm. The removal efficiency has been obtained as 89% in the optimum condition (pH equal to 5.23, light source power equal to 43.53 w, phenol concentration equal to 50 ppm, Nano concentration equal to 1.57 g/l and the time equal to 58.6 min).