Removal of Phenolic Compound from Synthetic Phenol Solution by Using Bentonite Supportive Iron Catalyst
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Date
2019-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Due to their industrial relevance, phenolic compounds (PC) are amongst the most common
organic pollutants found in many industrial wastewater effluents. The potential detrimental
health and environmental impacts of PC necessitate their removal from wastewater to meet
regulatory discharge standards in order to ensure meeting sustainable development goals.
Searching for low cost, accessible, simple implementation and environmentally friendly
catalyst has been one of the concerns of researchers in recent years. Therefore, the aim of
this study was to investigate the efficient phenol removal from a synthetic aqueous solution
using bentonite supported iron catalyst. Heterogeneous Fenton process was performed to
evaluate the performance of the prepared catalyst and the effect of hydrogen peroxide
concentration, reaction time, catalyst dosage and pH of solution on the removal process are
investigated. The synthesized catalyst has then characterized the pH of zero points of the
charge and bulk density was determined, FT-IR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD),
Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) analysis was performed. Catalyst selection was
optimized using the D-optimal experimental design by varying the ratio of bentonite to iron
and the temperature of calcination. The result revealed that the iron to bentonite ratio of
1:5 and calcination temperature of 493°C has a high ability to remove the phenolic
compound from the aqueous solution. The efficiency of phenol removal by bentonite
support iron catalyst was evaluated in a batch system. Different parameters such as
hydrogen peroxide concentration (2000, 4000, and 6000 mg/L), contact time (60, 90 and
120 min), catalyst dosage (1000, 1500 and 2000 mg/L) and pH (3, 3.5 and 4) were studied.
The experimental results were analyzed. The optimal mineralization reaction process
conditions for phenol removal were maximized at hydrogen peroxide concentration 4137
mg/L, reaction time 85.5 min, catalyst dosage 1445 mg/L and pH. 3.45 with 98.64%
removal efficiency of phenol was obtained. The results of this study revealed that bentonite
support iron catalyst has the suitable potential for removing phenol from aqueous solutions
and hence a reduction of TOC by the application of heterogeneous Fenton process.
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Keywords
Phenol removal, Bentonite clay, Batch experiments, Heterogeneous Fenton process, Catalyst reusability