Removal of phenol in aqueous solutions by ferrous activated persulfate in the present of UV irradiation

Organic aromatic compounds as common environmental pollutants can be existing in the effluent of different industries in concentrations ranging from trace quantities to hundreds of milligrams per liter. Phenol compounds extremely have been used in pharmaceutical, wood industry and paper and dyes industries which introduced to environment via effluents. This study was done to evaluate the efficacy of persulfate activated by Fe2+ in the present of UV for removal of phenol from aqueous solutions. This photocatalytic degradation experiment was performed in batch mode using a 2.5 L cylindrical reactor equipped with low-pressure Hg vapor lamp of 55 W for wavelength production of 253.7 nm. The effects of operating parameters such as pH of the solution (pH: 3-10), different initial persulfate concentration (10-75 mmol/l), initial Fe2+ concentration (5-30 mmol/l) and initial phenol concentration (10-100 mg/l). Concentration changes of phenol were determined using UV–VIS spectroscopy at the wavelength of 500 nm. Degradation of phenol was significantly decreased with increasing of pH from 3 to 10, whereas the highest phenol removal rate was 82% at pH=3 in 45 min contact time. Also, the phenol removal rate is depending on initial persulfate and Fe2+ concentration. The degradation of phenol by this photocatalytic followed first order rate decay kinetics (R2>98%(. Under optimum operational conditions, the removal of TOC was obtained to be 61% in 45 min contact time. This study indicated that activation of persulfate by Fe2+ in the present of UV process could serve as a novel treatment technique for removal of phenol in aqueous solution.