Optimization of salicylic acid removal by electro Fenton process in a continuous stirred tank reactor using response surface methodology

Abstract

AbstractThe aim of this work is to apply the response surface methodology (RSM) to optimize several operating conditions that significantly affect the removal of salicylic acid (SA) from aqueous solution by electro Fenton (EF) process. Optimization of the EF process for the removal of 100 mg/L of SA solution was carried out using a face centred central composite design in RSM to investigate the joint influence of four variables (catalyst concentration, pH, voltage and electrolysis time) at three different levels. 70.45% of SA was removed at the optimum catalyst concentration of 5.10 mg/L, pH of 2.42, voltage of 2.70 V and electrolysis time of 6 h. A validation experiment was performed under the operating conditions predicted by the models.