The Study of Phenol Removal from Aqueous Solutions Using Oxidizing Agents of Peroxide Hydrogen, Persulfate and Periodate Activated by Ultrasound

The percence of organic compounds resistant to biodegradation has become one of the most important environmental challenges in the chemical and petrochemical industry in this century. Phenol or hydroxyl benzene as an aromatic hydrocarbon discharged into the environment through certian industrial effluents which, thereby, pollutes water resources. This study examined the performance evalution of oxidizing agents of peroxide hydrogen, persulfate and periodate activated by ultrasound for removal of phenol from aqueous solutions.
In this experimental study, the treatability of polluted effluent using US/S2O8, US/IO4 and US/H2O2 with a frequency of 40 kHz for the treatment of contaminated aqueous phenolic compounds were investigated. The effects of operational parameters such as the concentration amount of persulfate(0.001-0.005 M), peroxide hydrogen (0.004-0.1M),and periodate (0.001-0.005 M),, in different contact times in pH of (3,7 and 10) and the impact of changes in the ionic strength in the contact times were selected as the variables of the study.
The results of this study showed that increasing the concentration of oxidation significantly increases the removal efficiency and then a decreasing trend was observed in the removal of phenol. So that, optimal concentration of persulfate, periodate,and hydrogen peroxide were selected as 0.003M 0.004M 0.1 M/l, respectively. Study of different changes of pH showed that all three processes had the most removal efficiency at pH= 3 and ionic strength has reduced the US/S2O8 process efficiency and had no effect on the other processes.
The results of this study indicated that combined ultrasonic and persulfate process in the optimal conditions had the highest efficiency compared to the other processes. Therefore, persulfate can be used as a good oxidizer together with ultrasonic waves to remove phenol in aqueous solutions.