E. Oliveros et al., INDUSTRIAL-WASTE WATER-TREATMENT - LARGE-SCALE DEVELOPMENT OF A LIGHT-ENHANCED FENTON REACTION, Chemical engineering and processing, 36(5), 1997, pp. 397-405
The feasibility of a large scale application of the light-enhanced Fen
ton reaction has been investigated for the treatment of a highly conta
minated industrial waste water containing toxic aromatic amines (dimet
hyl anilines or xylidines) as the main pollutants. The Fenton reagent,
a combination of hydrogen peroxide and a ferrous salt, is a potent ox
idizing agent of organic compounds in acidic aqueous solution, and UV/
visible irradiation may significantly enhance the degradation rates. P
reliminary laboratory rests on the model compounds, 2,4- and 3,4-xylid
ine have been performed for selecting appropriate experimental conditi
ons. Subsequent experimentation on the industrial waste water at a lar
ge scale level (3000 mg Cl-1, 500 l) has been carried out using an exp
erimental design methodology for the simulation and the evaluation of
the effects of the two critical factors, hydrogen peroxide and ferrous
ion concentrations. The results indicate that the light-enhanced Fent
on reaction is a most effective treatment process under acidic conditi
ons and is a realistic alternative to adsorption of xylidines on activ
ated carbon as used at present. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.