Sonochemical decomposition of dinitrotoluenes and trinitrotoluene in wastewater.
Mineralization of dinitrotoluenes (DNT) and 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) in wastewater was conducted under ultrasonic irradiation. The batch-wise experiments were carried out to elucidate the influence of various operating parameters on the sonolytic behavior, including power intensity, acidity of wastewater, reaction temperature and oxygen dosage. It is remarkable that the nitrotoluenes contained could be almost completely decomposed by the sonochemical oxidation method, wherein the pyrolytic reaction was responsible for the destruction of organic compounds. During the sonication tests, the influence of reaction temperature on the degradation of nitrotoluenes is the most significant, followed by power intensity, acidity of wastewater and oxygen dosage. Based on the spectra obtained from gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer (GC/MS), it is suggested that 2,4,6-TNT is preliminarily denitrated to 2,6-DNT. The denitration of 2,6-DNT and/or 2,4-DNT results in the formation of o-mononitrotoluene, which proceeds with the cleavage of nitro group into toluene, followed by oxidation of methyl group and decarboxylation. In this study, it is believed that the sonolytic technique established is promising for wastewater disposal in toluene nitration processes.
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National Yunlin University of Science & Technology, Yunlin 640, Taiwan, ROC. chenwen@yuntech.edu.tw
Wen-Shing
WS
Chen
Guo-Chao
GC
Huang
D003653:Decarboxylation; D007220:Industrial Waste / Q000517:prevention & control; D008903:Minerals; D010100:Oxygen; D013010:Sonication; D014050:Toluene / Q000737:chemistry*; D014303:Trinitrotoluene / Q000737:chemistry; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
D007220:Industrial Waste; D008903:Minerals; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D014303:Trinitrotoluene; D014050:Toluene; D010100:Oxygen