Degradation of oily effluents using immobilized photocatalyst: Laboratory experimentation and plant design

Abstract

In the present work, a simple and flexible solar detoxification system is proposed for the removal of oil contaminants from oily wastewaters. The proposed system can be installed on oil production platforms or on the nearest coastline. Experiments on photocatalytic degradation of oily wastewater were conducted using an immobilized TiO2 catalyst on Pyrex glass tubes (fixed in the focal line of the compound parabolic collector (CPC) using the dip-coating technique). Solar irradiation was the main energy source, while UV irradiation was tested for comparison purposes. The effects of volume flow, initial oil concentration, and addition of hydrogen peroxide on oil degradation were tested. Using an artificial UV lamp and an initial oil concentration of 120 ppm, an oil degradation percentage of 75 % was achieved at a flow rate of 18 ml/s. The results of the effect of initial oil concentration showed oil degradation of 53, 65, 77 and 79 % for initial concentrations of 120, 80, 60 and 40 ppm, respectively. The addition of 0.9 M H2O2 and 1 M H2O2 improved hydrocarbon degradation and resulted in degradation levels of 87 % and 100 %, respectively. The design characteristics of the plant are described based on a capacity of 100 tons of oil spill.

Keywords

• Wastewater
• Oily water
• Detoxification
• Design
• Advanced Oxidation Technology
• (AOT)