Decolorization of cationic red X-GRL by wet air oxidation: performance optimization and degradation mechanism

Performance Optimization and Toxicity Effects of the Electrochemical Oxidation of Octogen

Octogen (HMX) is widely used as a high explosive and constituent in plastic explosives, nuclear devices, and rocket fuel. The direct discharge of wastewater generated during HMX production threatens the environment. In this study, we used the electrochemical oxidation (EO) method with a PbO2-based anode to treat HMX wastewater and investigated its degradation performance, mechanism, and toxicity evolution under different conditions. The results showed that HMX treated by EO could achieve a removal efficiency of 81.2% within 180 min at a current density of 70 mA/cm2, Na2SO4 concentration of 0.25 mol/L, interelectrode distance of 1.0 cm, and pH of 5.0. The degradation followed pseudo-first-order kinetics (R2 > 0.93). The degradation pathways of HMX in the EO system have been proposed, including cathode reduction and indirect oxidation by •OH radicals. The molecular toxicity level (expressed as the transcriptional effect level index) of HMX wastewater first increased to 1.81 and then decreased to a non-toxic level during the degradation process. Protein and oxidative stress were the dominant stress categories, possibly because of the intermediates that evolved during HMX degradation. This study provides new insights into the electrochemical degradation mechanisms and molecular-level toxicity evolution during HMX degradation. It also serves as initial evidence for the potential of the EO-enabled method as an alternative for explosive wastewater treatment with high removal performance, low cost, and low environmental impact.

Kinetics of catalytic treatment of coking wastewater (COD, phenol and cyanide) using wet air oxidation

Coking wastewater (CWW) is known as a highly polluting effluent. This study deals with the degradation of pollutants in terms of COD, phenol and cyanide present in CWW using catalytic wet air oxidation (CWAO) process. CWAO was carried out in batch mode using various catalysts. The investigated operating parameters are initial pH (pH i ) 3–11, temperature (T) 100–160 °C, air partial pressure (p air) 2–6 MPa, catalyst mass loading (C w ) 2–5 g/L and treatment time (t R ) of 0–6 h. Among various catalysts, the copper chloride was proved to be best for degradation of pollutants. The optimum conditions were evaluated for the degradation of organic compounds as T 130 °C, p air 8.8 MPa, C w 3 g/L and t R  = 6 h. The maximum percentage reduction of COD, phenol, and cyanide was achieved through experiment at T 160 °C, p air 12.2 MPa, C w 5 g/L and t R 6 h as 97.32%, 97.94% and 99.87%, respectively. The kinetics studies were also performed to evaluate the rate constant (k), and reaction order with respect to COD, phenol, CN, CW and p air.

Kinetic study of glyphosate degradation in wet air oxidation conditions

Glyphosate is one of the most widely used herbicides in the world against perennial and annual weeds. It has been reported to be a micro pollutant, and its degradation in different wastewater treatment processes must be studied. For that purpose, the kinetics of wet air oxidation of glyphosate was studied in an autoclave reactor at a temperature range of 423-523 K and under a total pressure of 15 MPa. Oxidation reactions obeyed the first-order kinetics with respect to glyphosate concentration. The activation energy for glyphosate oxidation was found to be equal to 68.4 kJ mol-1. Furthermore, the possible reaction intermediates and main end products of glyphosate degradation in the wet air oxidation process were identified and quantified using UV-spectrophotometry and liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry. A degradation pathway for glyphosate oxidation was proposed.

Process optimization for microcystin-LR degradation by Response Surface Methodology and mechanism analysis in gas-liquid hybrid discharge system

A gas-liquid hybrid discharge system was applied to microcystin-LR (MC-LR) degradation. MC-LR degradation was completed after 1 min under a pulsed high voltage of 16 kV, gas-liquid interface gap of 10 mm and oxygen flow rate of 160 L/h. The Box-Behnken Design was proposed in Response Surface Methodology to evaluate the influence of pulsed high voltage, electrode distance and oxygen flow rate on MC-LR removal efficiency. Multiple regression analysis, focused on multivariable factors, was employed and a reduced cubic model was developed. The ANOVA analysis shows that the model is significant and the model prediction on MC-LR removal was also validated with experimental data. The optimum conditions for the process are obtained at pulsed voltage of 16 kV, gas-liquid interface gap of 10 mm and oxygen flow rate of 120 L/h with ta removal efficiency of MC-LR of 96.6%. The addition of catalysts (TiO₂ or Fe²⁺) in the gas-liquid hybrid discharge system was found to enhance the removal of MC-LR. The intermediates of MC-LR degradation were analyzed by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. The degradation pathway proposed envisaged the oxidation of hydroxyl radicals and ozone, and attack of high-energy electrons on the unsaturated double bonds of Adda and Mdha, with MC-LR finally decomposing into small molecular products.

The adsorption and mass-transfer process of cationic red X-GRL dye on natural zeolite

The adsorption behavior of natural zeolite was studied in order to determine the adsorption capacity and mass-transfer process of cationic red X-GRL (C(18)H(21)BrN(6)) onto the adsorbent. The adsorption tests to determine both the uptake capacity and the mass-transfer process at equilibrium were performed under batch conditions, which showed rapid uptake in general for the initial 5 min, corresponding to 92% total removal. The equilibrium adsorption capacity value (q(e,cal)) in pseudo-second-order kinetics was 13.51 mg/g at 293 K and the whole adsorption process was governed by physical adsorption with an endothermic, endothermic spontaneous nature. Adsorption tests indicated that the zeolite has great potential as an alternative low-cost material in the treatment of X-GRL drainage. However, the mass-transfer process to determine the rate-controlling steps showed that both film diffusion and pore diffusion were important in controlling the adsorption rate. The adsorption process was governed by film diffusion while pore diffusion was poor because the X-GRL molecules could not penetrate into the zeolite easily. The X-GRL molecules were only adsorbed on the external surface of the zeolite. Hence, to improve the adsorption capacity of natural zeolite further, modification to expand its micropores is necessary.

Treatment of a non-azo dye aqueous solution by CWAO in continuous reactor using a Ni catalyst derived from hydrotalcite-like precursor

Catalytic wet air oxidation (CWAO) of a Basic Yellow 11 (BY11) aqueous solution, chosen as a model of a hardly biodegradable non-azo dye was carried out in a continuous-flow trickle-bed reactor, using nickel supported over hydrotalcite precursor calcined at 550°C. An increase in the reaction temperature (120-180°C), and a decrease in dye concentration (1000-3000 ppm) or liquid flow rate (0.1-0.7 mL min(-1)) enhanced the CWAO performance in a 30 and 19% for the variation of the temperature and concentration respectively. After a small leaching observed within the first hours, the catalyst proved to be very stable during the 65-day reaction. The CWAO process was found to be very efficient, achieving BY11 conversion up to 95% and TOC conversion up to 85% at 0.1 mL min(-1) and 180°C under 5 MPa air.

Decision criteria for the selection of wet oxidation and conventional biological treatment

The suitability of wet oxidation or biological treatments for the degradation of industrial wastewaters is here discussed. Advantages of these operations, either singly or in combination, are discussed on the basis of previous experimental results from laboratory and industry. Decision diagrams for the selection of conventional biological treatment, wet oxidation or a combination of both techniques are suggested according to the type of pollutant, its concentration and the wastewater flow rate.

Kinetic analysis of C.I. Acid Yellow 9 photooxidative decolorization by UV-visible and chemometrics

A kinetic study of the C.I. Acid Yellow 9 photooxidative decolorization process, using H(2)O(2) as oxidant, was carried out by chemometric analysis of the UV-visible data recorded during the process. The number of chemical species involved in the photooxidative decolorization process was established by singular value decomposition (SVD) and evolving factor analysis (EFA). Information about the different chemical species along the process was obtained from the spectral and concentration profiles recovered by soft multivariate curve resolution with alternating least squares (MCR-ALS). This information was complemented by mass spectrometry (MS) to postulate a reaction pathway. The dye photooxidative decolorization process involved consecutive and parallel reactions. The consecutive pathway consists of a first stage of dye oxidation followed by the rupture of the azo linkage to form smaller molecules that are degraded in a subsequent stage. The parallel reactions form products that are undetectable in the UV-visible spectra. Kinetic constants of the reactions postulated in the photooxidative process were retrieved by applying a hybrid hard and soft MCR-ALS resolution. All constants were similar for the consecutive stages and higher than those obtained for the parallel reactions.

Porous SnIn4S8 microspheres in a new polymorph that promotes dyes degradation under visible light irradiation

Porous SnIn(4)S(8) microspheres were initially synthesized through a facile solvothermal approach and were investigated as visible-light driven photocatalysts for dyes degradation in polluted water. The photocatalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, N(2) adsorption-desorption, and UV-vis diffuse reflectance techniques. Results demonstrated that the as-synthesized SnIn(4)S(8) was of a new tetragonal polymorph, showing a band-gap of 2.5 eV, a specific surface area of 197 m(2) g(-1), and an accessible porous structure as well. The photocatalytic activity of the porous SnIn(4)S(8) was evaluated by decomposition of several typical organic dyes including methyl orange, rhodamine B, and methylene blue in aqueous solution under visible light irradiation. It is demonstrated that porous SnIn(4)S(8) was highly photoactive and stable for dyes degradation, showing photocatalytic activity much higher than binary constituent sulfides like In(2)S(3), SnS(2), or even ternary chalcogenide ZnIn(2)S(4) photocatalyst. The excellent photocatalytic performance of porous SnIn(4)S(8) is the consequence of its high surface area, well-defined porous texture, and large amount of hydroxyl radicals.

NaNO(2)/FeCl(3) catalyzed wet oxidation of the azo dye Acid Orange 7

A combination of ferric chloride and sodium nitrite significantly improved the wet oxidation of the azo dye Acid Orange 7 (AO7) in acid aqueous media (pH 2.6) under moderate conditions (T=150 degrees C; oxygen pressure=0.5 MPa). To evaluate the catalytic system, wet oxidation of AO7 was carried out at temperatures between 90 and 150 degrees C and oxygen pressures ranging from 0.1 to 0.5 MPa. The effect of initial solution pH from 2.6 to 11.4 and the amount of catalyst on the degradation of AO7 were also investigated. AO7 initial concentration was kept 200 mg L(-1). The degradation process was monitored by UV-visible spectroscopy, HPLC, IC (ion chromatography), GC-MS and TOC analysis. At 150 degrees C and 0.5 MPa oxygen pressure, 56% TOC was removed after 4h of treatment, while no obvious TOC removal were achieved without catalyst at the same experimental condition. The main degradation products were some small organic acids: formic acid, acetic acid, pyruvic acid, oxalic acid, succinic acid (identified and quantified by IC) and phthalic acid (identified by GC-MS).