OXIDATION OF 2,4-DINITROTOULENE USING FENTON REAGENT - REACTION-MECHANISMS AND THEIR PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

With the strict regulations of present times, chemical oxidation holds tremendous potential for destructive treatment of hazardous wastes wh ich are resistant to biological oxidation. Fenton's reagent has proved to be an inexpensive and powerful oxidant which has been shown to oxi dize a wide variety of organics.In this paper, 2,4 dinitrotoluene (2,4 DNT) was chosen as a model compound following previous work where 2,4 DNT was subjected to oxidation by hydrogen peroxide in the presence o f medium power UV source. Various factors that are important to optimi ze the oxidation of organics were studied. The effect of aeration, ste p dosing and the role played by the ferric ions on oxidation of 2,4 DN T were verified in this experimental study. The results of our work sh ow that 2,4 DNT can be effectively oxidized in aqueous solutions with Fenton's reagent. At a H2O2: DNT: Fe2+ ratio of 20:1:2.5 (molar), 2,4 DNT was completely removed in 5 hours. Finally, the results and the re action intermediates of the oxidation of 2,4 DNT with Fenton's reagent vis-a-vis the H2O2/UV system are discussed.