Evaluation of Floating Diesel Fuel Removal from Water by Using Ferrate(VI) Oxidation Method

Although several studied have been carried out to use ferrate (VI) for wastewater treatment, there is no study on removal of floating diesel fuel from water by using ferrate (VI) oxidation process. The aim of this study is to remove floating diesel fuel from water by using ferrate (VI) oxidation process. In this study electrochemical method is utilized to generate ferrate (VI). With changing hydraulic retention time (HRT), pH and ferrate (VI) concentration, the optimum conditions of diesel fuel removal are determined. The results show that the optimum HRT for diesel fuel removal from water by using ferrate (VI) oxidation process is 10 min. Although increasing of HRT to more than 10 min can increase the performance of diesel fuel removal, this increment is not significant. The usage of ferrate (VI) in the range of 0.05 to 20 mg/L is able to remove 90 to 100% of diesel fuel from water. Acidic environment is the optimum condition for diesel fuel removal by ferrate (VI) oxidation process. However, decreasing pH to acidic condition do not have a big effect on the diesel fuel removal. This study reveals that diesel fuel can be removed by using ferrate (VI) oxidation process with high efficiency. However, more studies are needed to understand whether removal of diesel fuel by using ferrate (VI) oxidation process is an economic process.