Photocatalytic Degradation of a Chemical Industry Wastewater: Search for Higher Efficiency

In the present research, an annular photocatalytic reactor system was designed and operated to quantify the degradation of a real case chemical company wastewater. The photocatalytic degradation process was analyzed and optimized varying some critical operating variables such as pH, catalyst (TiO 2 ) loading, H 2 O 2 concentration (oxidant agent) and light intensity to find the best criterion warranting a high level of degradation. It was demonstrated that a pH of 7.0 and an amount of 2.0 g/L ofTiO 2 resulted in a cleanup allowable level for discharge to river. Furthermore, photo-degradation by H 2 O 2 /TiO 2 /UV process was much more efficient (97%) with respect to the processes carried out individually by H 2 O 2 /UV(92%) orTiO 2 /UV (89%). It is remarkable that the optimum concentration of H 2 O 2 was 11.6mM, and increasing the intensity of light accelerated degradation reaction. Careful selection of industrial wastewater reflected the capability predicting the level of contamination of wastewaters.