Photocatalytic treatment of organic pollutants in a synthetic wastewater using UV light and combinations of TiO(2), H(2)O(2) and Fe(III)

In this study, the photocatalytic treatment of an organic wastewater with/without phenolic compounds by means of ultraviolet irradiation, titanium dioxide and hydrogen peroxide was examined in an annular photoreactor. Specifically, the effect of initial total carbon concentration, catalyst loading and H(2)O(2) amount on the removal of total carbon was first examined in the case of a synthetic organic wastewater. The influence of partial carbon substitution by phenol, 2-chlorophenol, 2,4-discholophenol, trichlorophenol, and 4-nitrophenol on total carbon removal and target compounds’ conversion was studied keeping constant the initial organic carbon load. It was shown that the process applied was effective in treating the wastewater for initial total carbon 32 mg L(-1), 0.5 g L(-1) TiO(2), and 66.6 mg L(-1) H(2)O(2). Applying UV/TiO(2) and UV/H(2)O(2), 58% and 53% total carbon removals were achieved, respectively, but combining TiO(2) and H(2)O(2) did not result in a better performance in the case of the synthetic wastewater without any phenolic compounds. In contrast, when a phenolic compound was added, the addition of H(2)O(2) was beneficial, eliminating the differences observed from one phenolic compound to another. The total carbon removals observed were lower than the corresponding final conversions of the target phenolic compounds. Finally, the electric energy per order values were calculated and found to range in 52–248 kWh/m(3)/order, being dependent from the process applied and the phenolic compound present in the wastewater.