Efficiency of Ciprofloxacin (CIP) Removal from Pharmaceutical Effluents Using the Ozone/Persulfate(O3/PS) Process

A newly emerging environmental problem is the discharge of pharmaceutical effluents containing antibiotic compounds. Compared to common methods, the ozone/persulfate process is a novel measure for treating persistent pollutants. This process is highly efficient in removing pollutants by using the free radicals of sulfates as powerful oxidants. In this study, a semi-continuous reactor with a useful volume of 1 L was used to evaluate the performance of the ozone/persulfate process in treating the ciprofloxacin antibiotic at concentrations from 10 to 100 mg/L in the presence of 0 to 15 mM of persulfate in 30 min. The results showed that under the optimized operating conditions of pH = 3, persulfate dose = 10 mM, ozone dose = 1 g/h, and an initial antibiotic concentration of 10 mg/L, this method was capable of removing 96% of the contaminant. Moreover, the efficiency of the process was found to be a function of experimental conditions. Based on the results of this study, it may be concluded that the ozone/persulfate process can be considered as an appropriate process for treating persistent and non-biodegradable pollutants.