Contribution of temperature and photon absorption on solar photo-Fenton mediated by Fe3+-NTA for CEC removal in municipal wastewater

• Published in: Applied catalysis. B, Environmental Vol. 294; p. 120251
• Main Authors: Soriano-Molina, P., Miralles-Cuevas, S., Oller, I., García Sánchez, J.L., Sánchez Pérez, J.A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 05.10.2021; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Absorption; Advanced oxidation process; Contaminants; Continuous flow; Effluents; Imidacloprid; Insecticides; Iron; Irradiance; Micropollutant; Municipal wastewater; Neutral pH; Photon absorption; Photons; Pollutant removal; Reaction mechanisms; Temperature effects; VRPA; Wastewater; Wastewater treatment; Micropollutant; Irradiance; Neutral pH; VRPA; Advanced oxidation process
• ISSN: 0926-3373; 1873-3883
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apcatb.2021.120251

[Display omitted] •Study of temperature and photon absorption on CEC removal by Fe3+-NTA photo-Fenton.•IMD removal was 1 % photolysis, 10 % Fenton, 9 % Fe3+-NTA photolysis, 80 % photo-Fenton.•Scaling-up was carried out in raceway pond reactor with actual MWWTP effluents.•More than 80 % of IMD was removed with low reaction times around 30 min.•Treatment capacity was improved by increasing liquid depth, despite de lower VRPA. Solar photo-Fenton process with ferric nitrilotriacetate has great potential for contaminant of emerging concern (CEC) removal from municipal effluents. To scale-up the process, gaining know-how about the effect of temperature and photon absorption is fundamental. This work presents for the first time an in-depth study about the effect of both variables on the reaction mechanism. To this end, imidacloprid (IMD) was selected as a surrogate CEC (100 μg/L). The experimental plan comprised two steps: (i) lab-scale experiments in simulated effluents, and (ii) experiments at pilot-scale in raceway pond reactors with actual effluents. Despite the process being photo-limited in the volumetric rate of photon absorption range of 103–413 μE/m3·s, the increase in the liquid depth from 5 to 15 cm allowed improving the treatment capacity, achieving more than 80 % of IMD removal with reaction times around 30 min. These results provide the necessary knowledge for photoreactor design and continuous flow operation.