Abstract
AbstractThis paper deals with the physicochemical treatment of petrochemical wastewater emanating from a purified terephthalic acid (PTA) manufacturing unit. The PTA wastewater has a very high chemical-oxygen demand (COD=3,530 mg·dm−3) and contains various acids like terephthalic acid (TA), benzoic acid (BA), acetic acid, and p-toluic acid (p−TA), in addition to aldehydes. The treatment of this wastewater with 1 N sulfuric acid (pH 2.0) at 25°C resulted in the removal of 53.2% of the COD, >90% of TA, and >60% of BA in the form of solid precipitate. Subsequent treatment of the clear supernatant with granular activated carbon (GAC) resulted in an overall removal of >99% of TA and BA in addition to 82.7% of the COD. The GAC is basic in nature with its pH at the point of zero charge being 8.3. It was also predominantly microporous with a BET surface area of 134.69 m2·g−1. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy of the GAC, before and after the adsorption of PTA wastewater components, was carried out to unde...
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