title: Photo-oxidation of cork manufacturing wastewater.
abstract: Several photo-activated processes have been investigated for oxidation of a cork manufacturing wastewater. A comparative activity study is made between different homogeneous (H2O2/UV-Vis and H2O2/Fe2+/UV-Vis) and heterogeneous (TiO2/UV-Vis and TiO2/H2O2/UV-Vis) systems, with degradation performances being evaluated in terms of total organic carbon (TOC) removal. Results obtained in a batch photo-reactor show that photo-catalysis with TiO2 is not suitable for this kind of wastewater while the H2O2/UV-Vis oxidation process, for which the effect of some operating conditions was investigated, allows to remove 39% of TOC after 4 h of operation (for C(H2O2)=0.59 M, pH=10 and T=35 degrees C). The combined photo-activated process, i.e., using both TiO2 and H2O2, yields an overall TOC decrease of 46% (for C(TiO2)=1.0 gl(-1)). The photo-Fenton process proved to be the most efficient, proceeds at a much higher oxidation rate and allows to achieve 66% mineralization in just 10 min of reaction time (for C(H2O2)=0.31 M, T=30 degrees C, Fe2+:H2O2=0.12 (mol) and pH=3.2).
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Engenharia Química, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Carla A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Luis M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Madeira
authors.forename: Rui A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Boaventura
authors.forename: Carlos A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Costa
mesh_terms: D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D007221:Industry; D007700:Kinetics; D010083:Oxidants, Photochemical / Q000737:chemistry*; D010777:Photochemistry / Q000379:methods; D024301:Plant Bark / Q000737:chemistry; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D010083:Oxidants, Photochemical; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C009495:titanium dioxide; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide; D014025:Titanium