Photocatalytic Degradation of PAHs Contaminated Soil in South Pars Economic and Energy Zone with TiO2 Nanocatalyst

Heterogeneous photocatalytic degradation of Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) contaminated soil in the Pars Economic and Energy Zone was carried out under laboratory conditions to evaluate the potential use of this technology for in situ remediation. Analysis of soil samples show that contaminated soil is primarily related to the concentration of phenanthrene. Hence phenanthrene is used for photocatalytic degradation under laboratory conditions. Soil samples were spiked with two phenanthrene concentrations (50 and 100 mg kg-1), loaded with catalyst TiO2 and exposed to uv light with 125 W power. Different catalyst loads (1, 2, 3 and 4 % w/w) were tested in phenanthrene contaminated soil (50 mg kg-1) for up to 16h exposure. Both the catalyst and phenanthrene concentration show no influence on the kinetics of the phenanthrene degradation. The results indicated that the optimum removal condition was at 2% w/w catalyst and 100% w/w water with 85% degradation efficiency. The degradation efficiency of other PAHs was also assessed with the optimum condition. This paper shows that photocatalytic is a particularly important methodology, in which a major process is being made in the oxidative methods for the degradation of organics such as PAHs in contaminated soil.