Kinetic Models on Fenton Oxidation of Refractory Organic Pollutants in Aqueous Medium

Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) has been developed for the wastewater treatment through generation of highly reactive hydroxyl radical which offers a complete removal of organics owing to its greater efficiency in mineralization. Fenton’s oxidation, being one of the AOPs, has been widely used to degrade pollutants due to the nature of its simple reaction. Organic contaminants are oxidized into carbon dioxide and water by the powerful hydroxyl radical oxidant during the Fenton’s process. Irradiation of UV light to Fenton’s oxidation of the amine wastes will strongly accelerate the rate of degradation of pollutants. The major aim for the author to perform this study is to simulate and develop a unified kinetic models on Fenton oxidation of refractory organic compound with respect to different operating parameters with the aid of engineering simulation software. The models can be used to predict the steady-state performance for Fenton degradation of organic compound in wastewater. Among the operating parameters being tested include the initial pH effect, the initial concentration of hydrogen peroxide and the effect of ferrous iron concentration. A kinetic study has been conducted on the chosen organic compound based on the availability of data from existing literature. The kinetic model developed was tested against several systems of different organic compounds, including phenol, guaiacol and monoethanolamine, to determine the feasibility of the model to predict the degradation of organic compounds in Fenton’s reaction. The development of the model can be further improved in the future with the availability of data obtained from experimental procedure.