engleski

Degradation of Diclofenac by Photo-AOPs ; Photooxidation vs. Photocatalysis

The pharmaceuticals are of particular concern due to their ubiquity in the aquatic environment and their health effects. Since primary and secondary wastewater treatment (WWT) technologies are not specifically designed to remove some of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) and their metabolites, pharmaceuticals are detected in different environmental matrices worldwide ; in WWT plant effluents, surface, ground and drinking waters. The goal of the study was to evaluate capability of photo-assisted advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) for the removal of Diclofenac (DCF), a common non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug and one of the most widely available drugs in the world that showed adverse effects in different organisms even at very low concentrations. For that purpose, UV-C/H2O2 and UV-A/TiO2 process were applied. The influence of key operating parameters of applied photo-AOPs (oxidant/catalyst concentration and operating pH) was investigated using the combination of full factorial experimental design with response surface methodology (RSM). The operating conditions yielding the highest mineralization/degradation rates for each applied photo-AOP were determined. The efficiency of both processes was compared in terms of treatment time required to achieve referent mineralization extents (10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 75% and 90%), where the changes in biodegradability and toxicity were compared.

water treatment; photocatalysis; photooxidation; diclofenac

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