Scale-up Fenton process: study and optimization in piggery wastewater treatment Article uri icon

abstract

  • BACKGROUND: In the present study, the Fenton process was used as an effective method to treat several contaminants present in wastewaters. The case study is a pig farm located in the community of Loma de Zempoala, Guanajuato, Mexico, where the Fenton process in continuos flow assisted with sunlight was used to treat a real piggery wastewater. RESULTS: First, an optimization of the operational parameters at laboratory scale was carried out by experimental design Taguchi L9. Experimental data showed the following degradation efficiencies: chemical oxygen demand (COD) = 95%25 ± 1.%25; total organic carbon (TOC) = 53%25 ± 9%25; Color = 99%25 ± 1%25. To maximize the degradation of organic matter a Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was employed to define the following operational parameters: pH = 3, reaction time = 60 min, molar ratios hydrogen peroxide (H2O2):COD = 1.5 and H2O2:ferrous ion (Fe2%2b) = 1.5. As a second step, the scaling of the process in continuous flow was carried out, and the experimental data were adjusted appropriately to a kinetic model of pseudo-first-order, reaching a 98%25 degradation of organic matter at 250 min. CONCLUSION: In this study, the Fenton process assisted with sunlight is faster than the traditional method because the incident light has a catalytic effect together with the ferric ion, improving the formation of hydroxyl radicals; as a consequence, the treated effluent presents the quality indicated by the Mexican environmental legislation. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI). © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI)

publication date

  • 2021-01-01