title: Removal of petroleum hydrocarbons from contaminated groundwater by the combined technique of adsorption onto perlite followed by the O3/H2O2 process.
abstract: Groundwater contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons was treated using a combined system of adsorption onto powdered expanded perlite (PEP) followed by the O3/H2O2 process. The pretreatment investigations indicated a high capacity for PEP to remove petroleum hydrocarbons from the contaminated water. An experimental total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) adsorption capacity of 275 mg/g PEP was obtained at the natural pH of water. The experimental data fit best with the Freundlich isotherm model and pseudo-second-order adsorption model. The second phase of the experiment evaluated the performance of the O3/H2O2 process in the removal of residual TPH from pretreated water and compared the results with that of raw water. The O3/H202 process attained a maximum TPH removal rate for the pretreated water after 70 min, when 93% of the residual TPH in the effluent of the adsorption system was removed. Overall, the combination of adsorption onto PEP for 100 min and the subsequent treatment with the O3/H2O2 process for 70min eliminated over 99% of the TPH of highly petroleum-contaminated groundwater, with initial values of 162 mg/L. Therefore, we can conclude that the developed treatment system is an appropriate method of remediation for petroleum-contaminated waters.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran. moussavi@modares.ac.ir
authors.forename: Gholamreza
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Moussavi
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bagheri
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D000537:Aluminum Oxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D060587:Groundwater / Q000737:chemistry; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000737:chemistry; D010126:Ozone / Q000737:chemistry; D010578:Petroleum; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D006838:Hydrocarbons; D010578:Petroleum; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C003076:Perlite; D010126:Ozone; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide; D000537:Aluminum Oxide