In this study, The Fenton process was applied as a pretreatment method to t
reat industrial wastewater containing 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). The effect of o
xidant dosages on the decomposition of 4-NP and the reaction kinetics were
investigated. More than 99% of 4-NP was readily decomposed when the reactio
n was carried out at oxidant concentrations of 5 mM H2O2 and 5 mg/L Fe2+ fo
r 2 hours. The total nitrogenous compounds and the nitrogen gas evolved, ac
counted for 88% of the initial nitrogen concentration. However, the maximum
DOC removal efficiency was 30.6%; and only 1/3 of 4-NP was mineralized to
carbon dioxide by the Fenton process. 4-NP degradation profiles fitted well
into a pseudo first-order kinetic equation; degradation rate constant (min
(-1)) of 4-NP increased from 4.3x10(-3) to 66.1x10(-3) With increasing dosa
ges of H2O2 and Fe2+. In addition, the t value was calculated for studying
the significance of simulation by the t-test. It was found that the t value
was greater than the value for 99% confidence. This result suggested that
the 4-NP decomposition profile could be described by the pseudo first-order
kinetic equation. Biodegradability of 4-NP before and after the reaction w
as 0.018 and 0.594, respectively.