ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Removal of alkylphenols from industrial wastewater by means of ozone-based processes and fenton reaction

Oľga Čižmárová, Barbora Urminská, Ján Derco, Angelika Kassai, and Ronald Zakhar

Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

E-mail: olga.cizmarova@stuba.sk

Received: 9 December 2020  Accepted: 31 October 2021

Abstract:

Alkylphenols belong to the group of synthetic specific substances and their effective removal requires non-traditional processes, novel approach and technologies. Advanced oxidation processes are effective for degradation of most organic substances, toxic and persistent pollutants. They produce highly reactive and nonselective radical intermediates, such as hydroxyl radical. The Fenton reaction is the most widely studied and used. In this paper, ozonation and selected ozone-based advanced oxidation processes including ozonation combined with granular activated carbon, Fe-modified zeolite and Mn-modified zeolite were studied for alkylphenols and their ethoxylates removal from a pre-treated industrial wastewater. Fenton reaction was also studied. Ozonation with subsequent adsorption on granulated activated carbon was used as reference processes. It was observed that the 4-octylphenol was completely removed by all ozone-based advanced oxidation processes during applied reaction time. The removal efficiencies of 4-nonylphenol and nonylphenol ethoxylates were gradually increased by the application of ozonation combined with the Fe-modified zeolite and Mn-modified zeolite.

The highest removal efficiencies (87.7% for 4-nonylphenols, 100% for other alkylphenol derivatives) were achieved by ozonation combined with granular activated carbon. This process also showed the highest affinity for the removal of individual components as well as total pollution expressed in the chemical oxygen demand (66%) and total organic carbon (87%) terms in comparison with other studied processes. Ozonation combined with granulated activated carbon was the most efficient method with a high potential for the practical use based on the comparison of alkylphenol concentrations, chemical oxygen demand and total organic carbon values.

Keywords: Adsorptive ozonation; Alkylphenols; Fenton reaction; Ozonation; Ozone-based AOPs

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-021-01963-7

Chemical Papers 76 (3) 1851–1859 (2022)