Advanced Oxidation Process Based Sulfate Radical (AOP-SR) in a UV Reactor to Remove Pentachlorophenol from Aqueous Media

In recent years, due to water shortages and rapid industrial growth, the treatment and reuse of industrial wastewater has become of great importance. Phenol and its derivatives can be mentioned as wastewater pollutants that have a destructive effect on the environment. Pentachlorophenol (PCP) is one of these derivatives that may be carcinogenic to humans, and wastewater treatment containing PCP is required. Therefore, the aim of this study was to remove PCP from aqueous media.

Effective operating parameters such as initial PCP concentration (25, 50, 100, and 150 mg/L), persulfate concentration (25, 50, 75, and 100 mg/L), solution pH (5, 7, 9, and 11), and reaction time (10, 20, 30, and 40 min) were investigated. After the removal of PCP, an experimental design based on an orthogonal array using the Taguchi method was proposed.

Based on the results, 98.78% of PCP in the optimal conditions (initial concentration of PCP of 25 mg/L, concentration of sodium sulfate (Na-PS) of 20 mg/L, pH = 11, and reaction time of 40 min) was removed. In this process, the COD and TOC removal rates were 82.3% and 61%, respectively. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that persulfate is the most effective factor in the removal of PCP in the persulfate/UV process.

Persulfate/UV processes as an advanced oxidation process, powerful and environmentally friendly, can be used in wastewater treatment containing phenolic compounds, including PCP.