Advanced Oxidation Process of Sulfolane in Wastewater Using Fenton Reagent

Toxicity from industrial wastewater remains a problem even after
conventional activated sludge treatment process, because of the persistence of some
toxicant compounds. Among chemical processes, the advanced oxidation process
(AOP) has been used to reduce the organic load or toxicity of different wastewaters.
AOPs are based on the generation of hydroxyl free radicals, which have a high
electrochemical oxidant potential. The generation of hydroxyl radicals involves the
combination of classical oxidants, such as H202 or O3 with UV radiation or a catalyst.
The formed radicals react with organic materials breaking them down gradually in a
stepwise process. The generation of hydroxyl radicals can be achieved by a variety of
reactions, such as ozone/UV, hydrogen peroxide/UV, Fenton Oxidation, photo-Fenton,
or titanium dioxide/hydrogen peroxide/solar radiation. The advantage of AOPs is that
they effectively destroy the organic compounds, converting them mainly to carbon
dioxide and water. Sulfolane is widely used as an industrial solvent to purify natural gas
where large amounts of waste contains Sulfolane to be disposed off to wastewater
during the downtimes is produced. The present study is to investigate the effects of
H2O2 concentration, Iron concentration, pH and temperature of the treatment of
wastewater containing abundant Sulfolane by Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP)
using Fenton reagent. This process consists of Ferrous salts combined with hydrogen
peroxide under acidic conditions. The test series conducted consists of test series A:
H202: Fe2+ = 1:1 (1 mole ofH202to 1mole ofFe2+), test series B: H202: Fe2+ = 1:2
(1 mole ofH202to 2 mole ofFe 2+), test series C: H202: Fe 2+ =2:1 (2 mole ofH202
to 1 mole of Fe 2+), test series D: The effect of pH for pH 2, 3, 4-5, 7-8 and test series
E: the effect of temperature for 27°C, 40°C and 60°C. Advanced Oxidation Process
using Fenton reagent is effective at enhancing the biodegradability of wastewater. This
reaction allows the generation ofhydroxyl radicals as shown in reaction (1):
Fe 2+ + H202 • Fe3+ + OH" +OH# (1)