Optimization of Fenton Oxidation Process for Degradation of 1-Butyl-3 Methyl Imidazolium Chloride (BMIMCL) Using Response Surface Methodology

Abstract

The degradation of 1-butyl 3-methyl imidazolium chloride (BMIMCl) ionic liquid (IL) by Fenton oxidation has been studied. The optimization of operating parameters for maximum degradation of BMIMCl has been carried out using the Central Composite Design (CCD) of Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The three independent input parameters selected were the dosage of Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2), the dosage of iron (Fe2+), and the pH of the output or response selected was Total Organic Carbon (TOC) removal efficiency. Experiments were carried out according to the experimental design provided by CCD. For TOC Degradation, the model’s R2 and R2adj correlation coefficients between experimental and model-predicted values were 0.9769 and 0.9561, respectively. This indicates a satisfactory correlation of experimental results with model-predicted values. The optimum values of operating parameters for maximum degradation were found to be H2O2=307 mM (X1), Fe2+=1.1 mM (X2), and (pH)=3.3 (X3), for a reaction time of 120 min. For these operating parameters, the experimental result for TOC removal efficiency was found to be 72.89% as compared to the model-predicted value of 73.67%. These results indicate that the values were closely correlated with each other and thus the model was validated satisfactorily. Overall, the results indicate that the BMIMCl ionic liquid can be effectively degraded by the Fenton oxidation process.