The effect of surfactants on the ozonation of o‐cresol in aqueous solutions in a rotating packed contactor

Abstract

Steady‐state dissolved ozone concentrations were maintained relatively constant for experiments on ozone dissolution conducted in the presence of various amounts of sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and Triton X‐100 (TX‐100), an anionic surfactant and a nonionic surfactant, respectively. Ozonation in a rotating packed contactor has been shown to be feasible for achieving nearly complete decomposition of o‐cresol within about 10 minutes of reaction time for most experiments conducted. The temporal decomposition behaviour of o‐cresol in aqueous solution by ozonation was described by a two‐step pseudo‐first‐order reaction kinetics. Even though the presence of SDS and TX‐100 slightly affected the decomposition rate constant of o‐cresol by ozonation in the rotating packed contactor, the mineralization of total organic carbon was apparently reduced with the addition of SDS and TX‐100.